"In October 2024, researchers at the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) at the University of Pennsylvania conducted an experiment in which a president ordered a widely condemned federal law enforcement operation in the city of brotherly love. To carry out the operation, the simulated president tried to federalize the Pennsylvania national guard, which the governor resisted. National guard troops who sided with the state followed suit, prompting the fictional president to order acting US military troops to march on Philly."
"According to CERL director Claire Finkelstein's breakdown of the simulation, newly published in the Guardian, the experiment culminated in a "violent confrontation" between state and federal forces in a major US metropolis. Finkelstein notes that the war gaming exercise included actual government officials and former senior military leaders, none of whom "considered the scenario unrealistic." The results were based off the assumption that during a rapidly evolving civil emergency like this, courts would be largely ineffective at stopping federal overreach."
"Though the early stages of the Philadelphia simulation closely match the brutal events citizens in Minneapolis have experienced at the hands of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the model diverges from reality in one key way: municipal and state officials don't seem interested in attacking ICE agents anytime soon. Under a 2025 municipal ordinance, for example, Minneapolis police are prohibited from cooperating with ICE agents, though they're also not authorized to interfere in federal enforcement activities."
In October 2024, a Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law war game had a president order a condemned law-enforcement operation in Philadelphia. The simulated president tried to federalize the Pennsylvania National Guard; the governor resisted and state-aligned guard units prompted the president to order U.S. military troops to march on the city, culminating in a violent confrontation between state and federal forces. The exercise included officials and assumed courts would be ineffective during a fast-moving emergency. Early stages resemble ICE operations in Minneapolis, but local officials remain non-cooperative rather than armed; Minneapolis police are barred from cooperating with ICE under a 2025 ordinance and cannot interfere.
Read at Futurism
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