President Donald Trump sits at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. On Friday, Trump said Minnesota officials had lost control amid anti-ICE unrest. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The law reportedly hasn't been invoked since the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which began after four police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King.
Despite Trump's threat, some Republicans are resistant to the idea of using the centuries-old law.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., seemed to downplay Trump's threat, placing his hope in local law enforcement's ability to "settle things down."
"Hopefully the local officials working with not only the federal law enforcement, ICE and other agencies, but also the local law enforcement officials will be able to settle things down," Thune told reporters.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., cast doubt on whether it would be appropriate to invoke the act, according to The Hill.
A Border Patrol Tactical Unit agent sprays pepper spray into the face of a protester attempting to block an immigration officer’s vehicle in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 7. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Trump has accused Walz, Frey and other local leaders of inflaming tensions and has blamed dangerous rhetoric for the doxxing and violence directed at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
On Thursday, he threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if the violence continued in Minnesota.
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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," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-no-need-invoke-insurrection-act-right-now-violent-anti-ice-protests-minnesota