House Freedom Caucus endorses Insurrection Act for Minnesota despite deaths

WASHINGTON (CN) — A group of right-wing House Republicans told President Donald Trump on Tuesday that he would have their support should he choose to invoke the Insurrection Act and call in the U.S. military to crack down on protests against immigration operations in Minnesota.

And the lawmakers from the House Freedom Caucus urged the president to keep U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal law enforcement in Minneapolis and elsewhere, just days after agents shot and killed a second U.S. citizen in an incident which has drawn broad bipartisan criticism.

“All Americans have the right to protest — including their right to speech and to bear arms consistent with our laws — but there is no right to thwart federal, state or local law enforcement and the state of order among our citizens,” the conservative voting bloc told Trump in a letter Tuesday. “The coordinated effort to stop law enforcement by politicians in Minnesota and around the country has caused chaos and led to the tragic deaths of two Americans in Minnesota. It must end.”

Residents of Minneapolis and people across Minnesota have for weeks protested the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown against the North Star State, during which federal agents have arrested dozens of people the White House claimed are criminals or who are in the country illegally.

Fury at the federal presence in Minnesota spiked this month after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in her car, an incident which the Homeland Security Department has claimed was self-defense. And both Democrats and Republicans have called for accountability this week after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers shot Alex Pretti, 37, multiple times after he had been wrestled to the ground by federal agents.

But despite bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement in Minnesota, the Freedom Caucus’ board of directors endorsed even more draconian measures for responding to demonstrations they said were coordinated by a “lawless, organized group of Marxists.”

In particular, the conservative House Republicans offered their explicit support for use of the 1807 Insurrection Act, a federal law allowing the president to deploy certain military forces within the country to quell civil unrest or insurrection. The lawmakers argued the act should be used to “maintain order in the face of unlawful obstructions and assemblages that prevent the enforcement of the laws of the United States.”

Trump himself has already threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, slamming Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in a social media post this month and saying he would send in troops to put an end to protests he claimed were backed by “professional agitators and insurrectionists.”

But in the days since Pretti’s death, the president has refused to offer his unwavering support for the federal agents who killed him and has appeared to soften his stance on Minnesota’s political leadership.

Trump on Monday said he spoke to Walz on the phone and that they “seemed to be on a similar wavelength.” The president added that Walz was “happy” to hear that the White House had dispatched border czar Tom Homan to the state.

In a separate post, Trump also revealed that he had spoken to Frey and that “lots of progress is being made.” Homan was slated to meet Tuesday with both the Minneapolis mayor and Walz.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon, the president offered similarly mixed messages. Trump refused to say whether he believed Border Patrol agents were justified in shooting Pretti over the weekend, contending that he wanted to wait for an investigation to run its course. But later on, he suggested Pretti — who was armed with a handgun before his shooting — should not have been carrying a firearm.

“You can’t have guns,” said the president. “You can’t walk in with guns. You just can’t.”

Minnesota allows gun owners to openly carry with proper permits and Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse, was licensed to carry a handgun. In video footage which circulated on social media, Border Patrol agents appeared to disarm Pretti moments before shooting him.

The Freedom Caucus, meanwhile, urged Trump to ensure the Homeland Security Department is fully funded as lawmakers in the Senate consider a final batch of appropriations bills which include the agency’s budget.

Democrats have said that they will not vote for spending legislation which funds the Homeland Security Department unless it is reworked to slap additional guardrails on ICE and other immigration enforcement. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Republican leadership on Tuesday to split the agency’s funding from the appropriations package, promising the other bills would “sail” through the upper chamber.

But the House’s conservative voting bloc told the president he should not allow Democrats to strip Homeland Security funding from the appropriations language. “We cannot support giving Democrats the ability to control the funding of our Department of Homeland Security.”

And they said members support alternative steps to ensure the Homeland Security Department is fully funded, including eliminating the Senate filibuster or moving an emergency budget reconciliation bill that can pass without Democratic support. The bloc would also back Trump if he chose to unilaterally shift existing appropriations to fund the agency, they wrote.

“We support you in standing up for the average hardworking American who wants to restore law and order, preserve our nation, defend common sense and remove the millions of violent criminal illegal aliens endangering our communities,” the Freedom Caucus said.

Though the House’s more conservative members are doubling down on the Trump administration’s immigration policy and even recommending more extreme measures, other Republicans have been openly skeptical of the Homeland Security Department’s conduct and rhetoric.

Multiple GOP lawmakers have demanded thorough investigations of Pretti’s shooting over the weekend and have called on the heads of ICE, Border Patrol and Citizen and Immigration Services to testify before Congress. Those officials are now expected to appear before the House Homeland Security Committee next month.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, meanwhile, is scheduled to testify in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the panel’s chairman, told reporters Tuesday afternoon that she had committed to appear at the committee but that he had not spoken to her since last weekend’s shooting.

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