Here’s why some say Trump’s threat to invoke Insurrection Act is so chilling

“When we look at the Insurrection Act of 1807, and how he’s using it as a tool to enforce his own reign over the country, we’ve got to be mindful of things like that,” said Democratic strategist Jamarr Brown.

President Donald Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 amid the violent escalations of federal officers in Minnesota swiftly drew a chilling effect for those who say such an act is not only unnecessary but a threat to U.S. democracy.

“There is no insurrection in Minneapolis. Donald Trump knows that since he incited an actual one on January 6. The best path forward is to get your masked and lawless ICE agents under control. Period,” said U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that the Insurrection Act was a “tool at the President’s disposal.”

While the Trump spokesperson acknowledged the pre-Civil War law has been “used sparingly,” she echoed the president’s Truth Social post blaming the violence in Minneapolis following the ICE fatal shooting of Renee Good on Democrats and “left-wing agitators.”

“Elected officials who are using their platforms to encourage violence against federal law enforcement officers, who are encouraging left-wing agitators to unlawfully obstruct legitimate law enforcement operations,” said Leavitt.

Jacob Thomas, a U.S. veteran and communications director at Common Defense, who has lived in Minneapolis for 12 years, told theGrio that it is Trump and his administration who are agitating the tensions on the ground.

“He is the one causing the chaos. His federal agents are the ones sowing terror in our communities, and he is creating the exact kind of preconditions that he wants to be able to implement the Insurrection Act,” Thomas told theGrio. “So many of our past presidents have tried to do everything they can to de-escalate situations and to bring people away from a brink like this, but he is actively encouraging it and throwing gasoline on the fire.”

Throughout U.S. history, the Insurrection Act was invoked during times of significant crises, such as during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s when states struggled to desegregate schools in the South due to violence from white agitators. President John F. Kennedy invoked the law in 1962 to suppress a riot at the University of Mississippi during desegregation on the campus and again in 1963 when Alabama Gov. George Wallace refused to allow Black students to attend the University of Alabama.

In 1965, after protesters marching against racist voting rights laws in Alabama were pummeled by law enforcement, President Lyndon B. Johnson invoked the Insurrection Act to protect marchers. The most modern use of the Insurrection Act was by President George W. Bush, who used it in 1992 after four white police officers were acquitted for the infamous Los Angeles beating of Rodney King.

Critics of President Trump say what is happening in Minneapolis is nothing compared to historic uses of the Insurrection Act.

“When we look at the Insurrection Act of 1807, and how he’s using it as a tool to enforce his own reign over the country, we’ve got to be mindful of things like that,” said Democratic strategist Jamarr Brown. “He didn’t use the Insurrection Act when [Trump supporters] stormed the Capitol. He didn’t use the Insurrection Act when [neo-Nazis] stormed through Charlottesville. But it is interesting that when people are standing up for the rule of law or standing up for human dignity, he wants to invoke it.”

Thomas excoriated the president for allowing “absolutely under-trained, untrained, trigger-happy” ICE agents to terrorize residents in Minneapolis, and argued Trump is “using that as this precondition and excuse just to create that kind of groundwork.”

Public polling shows a majority of Americans think Trump’s immigration operations are making cities less safe, and most disagree with the Trump administration’s claims that Renee Good’s death was the fault of her own and the “far-left.”

“He knows that his policies are unpopular, and this is a way to try and scare us all into quiet complacency. He wants to silence dissent, and this is his way of doing. It is trying to gin up enough chaos and fear that he can then pull that quote, unquote ‘trigger,'” Thomas told theGrio.

As a veteran, Thomas said military service members are “not trained in law enforcement” and deploying them to Minneapolis could place the military and protesters in “dangerous situations” with ICE agents on the ground.

Ultimately, he said protesters in opposition to ICE activity are protected by free speech under the Constitution.

“That is core to the values that I fought for, that I raised my right hand for to serve this country; to protect my communities and to protect my neighbors,” he said. “And to see Trump now trying to politicize the military and use the military against our own communities, our own citizens, is just anathema to everything that we served for.”

Brown slammed President Trump for being “selective” of when he wants to “follow the law.”

“Through his first administration, and even just over the last year in the second administration, we’ve seen how Donald Trump has worked to dodge the law,” said Brown. “He and his administration have worked to use the law to their advantage, to actually put a stake against their political enemies, which we’re seeing with the ICE raids across the country, which we’re seeing in court systems. We saw it with the redistricting fight that we had this past summer.”

Brown added, “It’s disappointing to see, but not surprising to see from an administration that is not about the rule of law.”