After another shooting in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, chaos erupted. Protesters apparently “took the bait” and responded to ICE’s surge by shooting fireworks and assaulting agents. Agents responded by firing gas cannisters and flashbang grenades, and spraying OC in the faces of protesters. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saw his opening and went for it.
Beyond the disingenuous comparison of surging 3000 ICE agents, dwarfing the Minneapolis police force of 600, for no better reason than Trump hating those “garbage” Somalis, as well as former Democratic VP candidate Walz, Blanch threw in a word that isn’t thrown lightly. Insurrection.
Insurrection has a legal meaning and legal consequences, as set forth in 10 USC § 252.
Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.
Adding to the mix, Blanche tosses in “terrorism” as well. That too has a legal definition under 18 USC § 2331.
(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
Neither Walz nor Frey are terrorists under the law (nor is Renee Good, not that it’s relevant here), and yet the second in command of the United States Department of Justice accused a governor and mayor of committing terrorism in furtherance of an insurrection.
The consequence of such an accusation seems obvious. If, as Blanch claims, there is a “Minnesota Insurrection,” then Trump would have cause to invoke the Insurrection Act and put military troops on the ground to seize control of the state. Notably, the statute places the determination of whether an insurrection exists in the discretion of the president, although the courts may still consider whether it’s a legitimate determination or made of whole cloth. No doubt the president will be given great deference, but he can’t just declare an insurrection for kicks.
Of course, it’s also possible that Blanche’s twit was impetuous and thoughtless, lacking any consideration of the words he chose to use and their legal definitions and implications. Perhaps he was just pulling a Kristi Noem, saying whatever he felt needed to be said to defend the administration without regard to law, facts or consequences. But I wouldn’t bet on it. Lawyers tend not to use such words lightly, and Blanche in particular is attuned to the significance of such loaded legal language and the power it would put into Trump’s hands if he can get away with it.
The irony, of course, is that if there is any claim to an insurrection, the chaos giving rise to it was caused entirely by the outrageous behavior of ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis. This isn’t a matter of ICE being able to do its job, but about how the job is done, how the rights of Americans are respected in the process, how ICE honors or violates the Constitution in the process of doing its job.
If there is chaos, and there is, ICE is the cause and pushback against its dangerous and unlawful acts that would provide the rationalization for Blanche’s claim of insurrection would just as well be characterized as a defense of law and order, a defense of the Constitution and the constitutional rights of Minnesotans to which the governor is sworn to defend.
Can the Trump administration foment an insurrection by invading a state with federal agents on a whim and then take the opportunity to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring in those member of the military not deployed to Venezuela or Greenland to seize control from a Democratic governor and mayor? We may find out soon enough.
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“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.”
[Ed. Note: That didn’t take long.]
Trump has Todd Blanche, Pam Bondi, and Judge Jeannine. He can be tough and take hard action. All Richard Nixon had was Mel Laird, William Pierce Rogers, Agnew, and other weakilings, (one Henry Kissinger was not enough), and therein lies the difference between success and failure. If Nixon had Trump’s people, the Fish Hook and the Parrot Beak in Cambodia would have easily been conqured and then Ho Chi MInh would have had to agree to withdraw North Vietnamewse Troops from South Vitenam wait the two years after the full American withdrawal and then invade and take over South Vietnam. Nixon would then have been awarded the Nobel Peace prize instead of Kissinger three years later. President Trump is aware of the mistakes of the past and has taken the failings of prior administrations to heart. He absolutely refuses to make the same mistakes made by prior weakling presidents. And some of the readers of this blog say Presdient Trump never reads and is no true strudent of history. All I can say to that is, Ha! The Insurrection Act, that’s the ticket. Why didn’t Dr. Kissinger, who had his Ph.D. from Harvard, ever come up with brilliant ideas like that? (Maybe Nixon was right not to trust the Eastern intellectual elite). True, Vice president Vance went to Yale, and Secretary of War Hegseth went to Princeton, but Pam Bondi didn’t, Judge Jeannine didn’t. It will be different this time, President Trump knows who to listen to for good advice. It will all work out, just watch and be patient.
Is this parody?
I think that the bit about President Nixon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize indicates that the post is, in fact, parody.
Trump’s tweet all but seals the deal. He’s going to declare an insurrection and send in troops if for no other reason than he can. The power of POTUS is metastasizing and the morons don’t realize it’s never going to retract no matter who is in office. The republic is dead, long live POTUS.
To the shores of Tripoli, but NOT to Mississippoli. . .
Quoth our host: “Can the Trump administration foment an insurrection by invading a state with federal agents on a whim and then take the opportunity to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring in those member of the military not deployed to Venezuela or Greenland to seize control from a Democratic governor and mayor?”
Yes?
Make sure to have good message control to the groundlings when provoking the other side into throwing the first punch – that’s a time-honored tradition that the US dotgov uses as a playbook, though controlling that message is essential. I’d agree that the choice of word “insurrection” is no accident – it’s a tough one to work into day to day conversation, after all, and it brings with it, as our host points out, significant baggage that will give the Trump Administration a warm fuzzy.
Under 10 USC § 252, who gets to decide whether an insurrection is occurring? It seems to be the President has broad powers to make that determination, and organized interference with federal law enforcement–if unimpeded by the state and local governments–would provide the basis for the act’s invocation.
I look forward to seeing whether the Eighth Circuit or Supreme Court permits the inevitable injunction to stand. We will probably know by May.
The thing that I enjoy about the Trump Administration is that we are finally going to get solid rulings on many issues that appeared to be theoretical when we were in law school regarding the limits of presidential powers.
Well, if it’s going to be called an insurrection…
What in the world is this going to look like? The Army is going to take over the offices of the governor and the mayor and administer the state? Oy. And whatever happened to St. Paul?
Stephen Miller was quoted: “With the thousands of officers that we have now in response to the incredible threats and violence in Minnesota, there’s within that an opportunity to interdict large numbers of these insurrectionists and then use them to gain insight into these networks and deliver criminal consequences.” I did not think that the remit of ICE extended into this area.