Trump Can Invoke Insurrection Act, But It’s a Terrible Idea |
Eight days after an ICE agent shot and killed Renée Good in Minneapolis, and the day after another ICE agent shot and injured a protester in the same city, Donald Trump poured gasoline on the fire, as is his tendency. This Thursday morning Truth Social post by no means represents the first time the president has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to stop protests he doesn’t like. But given the circumstances, it’s likely the most serious:
There is little question that Trump has the power to do what he’s threatening to do. The Insurrection Act, first enacted in 1792, gives the president the power in certain circumstances to “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.” It’s the one big exception to the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits use of federal military assets in law enforcement. The Insurrection Act........