Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Jonathan Turley Compares Anti-ICE Resistance To Southern Governors Defying Civil Rights Laws

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George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Thursday President Donald Trump had the authority to invoke the Insurrection Act to address violent protests against immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, comparing the option to actions taken by presidents during the Civil Rights era.

Trump said in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social that he was willing to use his powers under that act to address the protests that escalated after a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot an illegal immigrant from Venezuela after he was ambushed. Turley told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he hoped the situation didn’t reach the point where Trump would invoke the legislation.

“The Insurrection Act is very generally worded. It allows a president to call out military force in order to enforce the laws of the United States. That was done by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy in very similar circumstances,” Turley said. “In those circumstances, you had local officials, including governors, who were extremely aggressive, anti-federal government, saying they would not assist in the enforcement of civil rights laws. These are obviously different laws, these are the immigration laws, but both are laws of the United States.”

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“And you have a governor here and a mayor who have been fueling the rage, telling people that they’re under attack, you have Democratic senators just this week saying democracy might not last till November,” Turley continued. “All of that is creating this very volatile situation. So, under the Insurrection Act, the president has a great deal of authority. What it gives the president is essentially a way around the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents him from using the military domestically. The Insurrection Act removes that barrier and allows him to call out troops, as did Eisenhower and Kennedy.”

Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis declared Minneapolis police would not cooperate with a federal immigration enforcement operation launched in the wake of a growing fraud scandal in Minnesota that officials say involved at least $9 billion in funds stolen by Somali scammers during a Dec. 7 interview with a local TV station. Frey also demanded that ICE “get the fuck out” of Minneapolis after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good during a Jan. 7 enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

During a May 16 commencement address at the University of Minnesota law school, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota compared ICE to the Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police, while claiming ICE agents were sending illegal immigrants to “foreign torture dungeons.”

“We’ve had these types of situations before. It’s very reckless, it’s very irresponsible, and people are being harmed on both sides,” Turley said. “But it’s clear that the governor, the mayor, do not want to ratchet down the rhetoric because they do see political advantage in this as the midterms approach and fraud investigations grow.”