The U.S. Pentagon has instructed about 1,500 active‑duty soldiers to prepare for potential deployment to Minnesota as large‑scale protests against the government’s deportation policy continue.
The units from the 11th Airborne Division, trained for cold‑weather operations, have been given prepare‑to‑deploy orders in case violence escalates. Defence officials did not specify whether the troops would be deployed, emphasising that the Pentagon routinely prepares for contingencies. President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy federal forces if state officials cannot quell the unrest.
Meanwhile, the FBI has sought volunteers from field offices nationwide for temporary duty in Minneapolis as demonstrations intensify. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche visited the city on Friday and said federal authorities would pursue those funding or organising unlawful activity linked to the unrest.
The protests began after Renee Nicole Good was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on 7 January. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the shooting as self-defence, while protesters and local officials have disputed the federal account and criticised the scale of the operation.
Governor Tim Walz has authorised the mobilisation of the Minnesota National Guard to support local law enforcement and emergency management.
Constitutional and political dimensions
The prospect of deploying troops has opened a legal and political front. The Insurrection Act — last invoked in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots — gives a president authority to use federal forces to suppress domestic disorder in specified circumstances. Civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers warn that military involvement in street protests could heighten confrontation and chill lawful dissent. The White House and its allies argue that federal action may be warranted if local authorities cannot guarantee public safety or protect federal facilities.
The dispute has sharpened partisan lines. Democrats say Mr Trump is using the unrest to frame a domestic show of strength; the administration says it is responding to threats against federal property and personnel. Defence and constitutional analysts caution that committing active-duty troops on US streets could strain civil–military norms and lower the threshold for military involvement in future domestic crises.eu
