Gov. Walz mobilizes Minnesota National Guard amid heated protests

As protests in Minnesota continue amid ongoing tension between demonstrators and federal agents in the area, Gov. Tim Walz and local safety officials announced on Saturday, Jan. 17, that the Minnesota National Guard has been “mobilized” and is on standby if needed.

In a Facebook post Saturday, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said, at “Gov. Walz’s direction,” that the Minnesota National Guard is mobilized and is “staging to support local law enforcement and emergency management agencies.”

The department further clarified in the post that troops had not been deployed.

The Minnesota National Guard “are not deployed to city streets at this time, but are ready to help support public safety, including protection of life, preservation of property and supporting the rights of all who assemble peacefully,” officials said in the post.

The order from Walz

The order comes after President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act, effectively giving him authority to deploy U.S. armed forces domestically. Minnesota has been in turmoil since the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother who was fatally shot Jan. 7 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross.

Good’s killing led to a news conference, where Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE, “Get the (expletive) out of Minneapolis.” The Justice Department has since launched an investigation into Frey and Walz, as federal officials suspect the two of conspiring to impede federal immigration enforcement in the state.

Clashes between federal agents and Minnesotans have taken place across the state. On Wednesday, a second ICE-involved shooting took place in Minneapolis, where a man was shot in the leg after three men reportedly hit the agent with broom sticks and shovels.

Minnesota National Guard to wear reflective vests if deployed

The Minnesota National Guard in an X post on Saturday said, “Members of the Minnesota National Guard are on standby, ready to assist local law enforcement and public safety agencies. If our members are activated, they will be wearing reflective vests … to help distinguish them from other agencies in similar uniforms.”

“These Minnesota National Guardsmen live, work, and serve in our state, and are focused on protecting life, preserving property, and ensuring Minnesotans can safely exercise their First Amendment rights,” the post continues.

According to the Minnesota National Guard’s 2024 annual report, the organization includes nearly 13,000 citizen-soldiers and airmen.

USA Today contacted the Minnesota National Guard on Saturday, Jan. 17, but has not received a response.

‘March Against Minnesota Fraud’ draws counterprotesters

Conservative influencer Jake Lang, who has nearly 74,000 followers on Facebook and who organized the “March Against Minnesota Fraud” on Saturday outside Minneapolis City Hall, was met by counter-protesters in Minneapolis, some of whom sprayed him with silly string and water.

Lang stood in front of Minneapolis City Hall around 1 p.m., where he made a fist bump in the air. A counter-protester was next to him and attempted to block Lang with a trash can cover with a fist painted on it. At one point, Lang grabbed the trash can lid and bent it. The counter-protester bent it back into shape. Such interactions led Anderson to call counter-protesters aggressive.

The counterprotest, organized by People’s Action Coalition Against Trump, rallied about 150 people across the street at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, which is different from the federal immigration courthouse at Fort Snelling where anti-ICE protests have consistently taken place this month.

The protest comes after former First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said that since 2018 at least half of the $9 billion paid through Minnesota’s Medicaid waiver programs could be fraudulent.

Counterprotesters voiced frustrations about U.S. Immigration and Customs agents being employed in mass to the North Star State. On Jan. 4, days before Good was fatally shot in south Minneapolis, more than 2,000 ICE agents were deployed to the state. The Department of Homeland Security has since said it plans to send hundreds more.

Contributing: Corey Schmidt, St. Cloud Times, part of the USA Today Network

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