Pentagon readies 1,500 troops for potential Minnesota deployment, officials say

"The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government's deportation drive, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday. The US army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the midwestern state escalates, the officials said, though it is not clear whether any of them will be sent."

"Donald Trump has threatened to use the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces if Democratic officials in the state do not stop protesters from impeding immigration officials after a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Increasingly tense confrontations between residents and federal officers have erupted in Minneapolis since Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot behind the wheel of her car by ICE officer Jonathan Ross on 7 January."

"On Saturday, Jake Lang, an anti-Muslim, antisemitic, Christian nationalist who was pardoned by Trump for assaulting police officers during the Capitol riot in 2021, tried, and failed, to rally support for the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Just five people joined Lang's anti-Muslim rally, two holding a banner that read Americans Against Islamisation, at which he had promised to burn a Quran."

The Pentagon ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a potential deployment to Minnesota. The units were placed on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence escalates, although actual deployment remained uncertain. President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if state officials did not stop protesters from impeding immigration officers after an influx of ICE agents. Tensions in Minneapolis increased after ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good on January 7. An attempted pro-crackdown rally led by Jake Lang drew five supporters and large counterprotests. Mayor Jacob Frey warned that military deployment would exacerbate city tensions.

Read at www.theguardian.com