Dem lawmaker issues dire warning not to fall for Trump’s trap as protesters clash
Anti-Islam right-wing influencer Jake Lang stands under a sign displayed by a counter-protester referencing ICE, during Lang's "March Against Minnesota Fraud" which he launched amid allegations of fraud among the state's large Somali American community, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. January 17, 2026. REUTERS/Leah Millis

As protests continue to erupt in Minnesota following the ICE killing of Renee Good, Rep. Illhan Omar (D-MN) issued a stark warning Saturday, urging demonstrators not to fall into what she described as a trap set by President Donald Trump.

What appear to be thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, a majority of them seemingly protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in the city, though counter protests have also been reported.

However, the ongoing demonstrations, Omar feared, could backfire should they become violent given Trump’s recent escalating threats to invoke an 1807 law that would grant him broad authority to deploy the U.S. military to American cities. The protests are ongoing as of 2:30 p.m. ET, with ABC News reporting of protesters clashing with federal agents.

“We have a president that is itching to have a riot in this city so that he can invoke the Insurrection Act, and that is not something that we want,” Omar said Saturday during an appearance on MS NOW.

“We do not want the U.S. military in American cities and we want to make sure that he is not going to use the anger and frustration that Minnesota residents feel after they watched their neighbor get shot in the face in broad daylight to bring about more pain to our community.”

While the last time the Insurrection Act has been invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Trump has reportedly been weighing invoking the law in order to quash protests in Minneapolis over his deployment of thousands of federal immigration officials to the city.

As recently as Friday, Trump warned that it wasn’t a matter of “if,” but “when” he would be “forced to act” on quashing civil unrest in Minnesota, though he remained vague as to whether he was referencing invoking the Instruction Act.


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