Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, has mobilised the state National Guard in response to protestors clashing with ICE agents over their excessive use of force.
Over the last few weeks, ICE agents have waged war in Minnesota in response to protests over the murder of Renee Nicole Good on January 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
ICE agents have continued to use excessive force, including tear-gassing an entire family with small children, and shooting a Venezuelan man in the leg.
Retaliation against Tim Walz
Over the weekend, a judge ruled that federal agents cannot retaliate against peaceful protestors. This includes stopping people in their cars if they are not obstructing operations.
The federal government is, of course, retaliating. The Justice Department has launched an investigation into Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. This is supposedly for obstructing federal law enforcement.
In response, Tim Walz accused the federal government of:
weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is continuing to arrest protestors. It claimed on X that
it is a federal crime and a FELONY if you lay a finger on law enforcement or destroy federal property.
But it’s not a FELONY for a masked and unidentified ICE agent to shoot an innocent woman in cold blood?
UPDATE. Last night in Minneapolis 12 anti-ICE agitators were arrested for assaulting law enforcement.
Reminder: it is a federal crime and a FELONY if you lay a finger on law enforcement or destroy federal property. https://t.co/htG7fqg6Kb
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 16, 2026
Of course, Mr Satsuma himself threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act on Truth Social.
If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.
In response to the administration’s violent masked agents and aggressive tactics, Walz has now mobilised the state National Guard to support the Minnesota State Patrol. He has not yet deployed them.
At Gov. Walz’s direction, the Minnesota National Guard have been mobilized and are staging to support local law enforcement and emergency management agencies. pic.twitter.com/9b0UpYyKkX
— Minnesota Department of Public Safety (@MnDPS_DPS) January 17, 2026
They are not deployed to city streets at this time, but are ready to help support public safety, including protection of life, preservation of property and supporting the rights of all who assemble peacefully.
— Minnesota Department of Public Safety (@MnDPS_DPS) January 17, 2026
National Guard spokesperson Andrea Tsuchiya told CNN that the National Guard is staged and ready to respond. Troops will:
help provide traffic support to protect life, preserve property, and support the rights of all Minnesotans to assemble peacefully.
Tim Walz is literally having to protect the people in his state from an angry dictator and his paramilitary forces.
If you didn’t already know the US is currently in a civil war, a governor calling up the state militia to support his people under attack by the president’s paramilitary forces should make it very clear. https://t.co/oZcmeRcYyJ
— Uju Anya (@UjuAnya) January 18, 2026
Democracy?
Of course, this is not normal behaviour from the president and his posse in any democratic country.
This is not normal. This is never necessary in a democratic country in peacetime.
It’s up to the majority of the American people in every town, city & state to tell elected officials loud & clear they need to put an end to Trump’s authoritarian madness. https://t.co/hQ6L29TZFT— Pete Receipts (@PeteReceipts) January 18, 2026
There has been nothing normal about the entirety of Trump’s presidencies – this term or the last. But Tim Walz taking a stand and mobilising the state National Guard is a positive move. It means that Trump would face some additional challenges if he attempted to use the Insurrection Act to federalise the National Guard.
Trump does have the power to do that – and remove forces from state command-and-control. However, states could file legal challenges and would have a strong case that the president is exceeding his authority. Additionally, the military’s actions could be seen as violating the Posse Comitatus Act. This states:
Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, or the Space Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
Basically, this means that members of the military may not participate in civilian law enforcement unless it is “expressly authorised” by statute or the Constitution.
Trump is an authoritarian dictator – and whether it’s his ‘peace board for Gaza‘, his overreach and threats to Greenland, invading Venezuela and kidnapping Maduro, or making his ICE agents wage war in his own country. He has shown time and time again that he does not give a shit about human life unless it’s his rich, white, powerful friends. He never has, and that’s not about to change.
Feature image YouTube/ NBC News & New York Post
By HG
This post was originally published on Canary.