Extract from ABC News
State authorities have already activated the National Guard to maintain law and order in Minneapolis. (Reuters: Seth Herald)
In short:
Multiple US officials say 1,500 troops in Alaska could possibly be deployed to Minnesota.
The possible deployment comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell protests against immigration raids in the state.
Protests have intensified after the shooting death of a local resident, Renee Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government's deportation drive, two US officials have told Reuters.
The army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the Midwestern state escalates, the officials said, though it is not clear whether any of them will be sent.
Confrontations between residents and federal officers have become increasingly tense in Minneapolis, Minnesota's most-populous city, after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a US citizen and mother of three, on January 7 as she was driving away after being ordered to exit her car.
President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to use the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces if officials in the state do not stop protesters from targeting immigration officials after a surge in ICE agents.
Public anger at ICE is intensifying after the shooting of Renee Good this month. (AP: Mike Householder)
But if the troops are deployed, it is unclear whether the Trump administration would invoke the Insurrection Act.
Even without invoking the act, a president can deploy active-duty forces for certain domestic purposes such as protecting federal property, which Mr Trump cited as a justification for sending Marines to Los Angeles last year.
In addition to the active-duty forces, the Pentagon could also attempt to deploy newly created National Guard rapid-response forces for civil disturbances.
The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment on the order, which was first reported by ABC News.
Protests against the federal ICE deployment have escalated in recent weeks. (Reuters: Seth Herald)
Threat of troops follows immigration crackdown
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT," Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
The soldiers subject to deployment specialise in cold-weather operations and are assigned to two US Army infantry battalions under the 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska, the officials said.
Mr Trump, a Republican, has sent nearly 3,000 federal agents from ICE and Border Patrol to Minneapolis and neighbouring St Paul since early last week, as part of a wave of interventions, mostly to cities run by Democratic politicians.
He has said troop deployments in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Memphis and Portland, Oregon, are necessary to fight crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters.
But this month he said he was removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, which have faced legal setbacks and challenges.
Local leaders have accused the president of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence to justify sending in troops.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, against whom the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation, has mobilised the state's National Guard to support local law enforcement and emergency management agencies, the state Department of Public Safety posted on X on Saturday.
Mr Trump has repeatedly invoked a scandal around the theft of federal funds intended for social-welfare programs in Minnesota as a rationale for sending in immigration agents.
The president and administration officials have singled out the state's community of Somali immigrants.
The Insurrection Act is a federal law that gives the president the power to deploy the military or federalise National Guard troops inside the US to quell domestic uprisings.
Reuters
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