In a concerning turn of events, the state of Minnesota has found itself at the center of a brewing conflict between state and federal authorities. Over the past week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been deployed in large numbers to the state, ostensibly in response to a fraud investigation. However, their actions have been widely criticized as excessive, illegal, and often directed at US citizens, prompting a federal judge to attempt to place limits on the agency’s activities.
The Trump administration has further inflamed the situation by granting “absolute immunity” to ICE agents, effectively encouraging their lawless behavior. This has led to a series of disturbing incidents, including the shooting and killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, shortly after she had dropped her child off at school. ICE agents have also been accused of blinding protesters, firing tear gas at a family with six children, and violently dragging a woman from her car.
Rather than investigating these incidents and the officers responsible, the Justice Department has instead opened a criminal investigation into the Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz, and the Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey, accusing them of conspiring to impede federal agents. Renee Good’s widow is also under investigation, a move that has prompted six US attorneys in Minnesota to resign in protest.
As public outrage grows, ICE has escalated its actions, increasingly engaging in what appear to be random acts of violence regardless of immigration status. Governor Walz has placed the Minnesota National Guard on standby to support local law enforcement, while President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a move that would grant him sweeping domestic military powers and potentially sidestep recent Supreme Court limits on the use of federal troops in law enforcement.
This scenario closely mirrors a hypothetical exercise conducted by the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) at the University of Pennsylvania in 2024. In that exercise, a president carried out a highly unpopular law enforcement operation and attempted to federalize the state’s National Guard. When the governor resisted and the Guard remained loyal to the state, the president deployed active-duty troops, resulting in an armed conflict between state and federal forces.
While the location and sequence of events may differ, the core danger identified in the CERL exercise is now emerging in Minnesota: the possibility of a violent confrontation between state and federal military forces in a major American city. As the situation continues to escalate, the consequences may be nothing short of civil war, unless the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, heeds the federal court’s ruling and reins in the excesses of ICE agents.
