@Reuteurs
(Minneapolis, Minnesota) – The political temperature surrounding the fatal ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis continues to rise, with critics now openly questioning whether Gov. Tim Walz is pushing the state toward a direct confrontation with the federal government- and whether that confrontation could cross into legally dangerous territory.
The latest escalation came after Rep. Nancy Mace warned that Walz appears poised to deploy the Minnesota National Guard in opposition to federal immigration enforcement. “Tim Walz is preparing to deploy the Minnesota National Guard against federal agents,” Mace said. “Someone remind him: Donald Trump is Commander in Chief. And federal authority supersedes state authority. That’s not opinion- that’s the Constitution.” She added bluntly, “What Walz is threatening has a name: insurrection.”
Vice President JD Vance echoed those concerns, warning that sanctuary-state officials may attempt to criminalize federal enforcement itself. “These people are going to try to arrest our law enforcement for doing their jobs,” Vance said, framing the moment as a test of whether federal authority will be upheld.
The rhetoric on social media has grown even more severe. One widely shared post on X declared, “The moment Walz puts a call out to the MN NG to deploy against federal law enforcement, is the very second you have him arrested for sedition.” President Trump has also weighed in, saying, “The Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis.”
At the local level, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey fueled the backlash during a press conference, telling federal agents, “And to ICE- get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” Rep. Ilhan Omar went further, disputing federal accounts of the shooting and demanding ICE’s departure. “You’re lying. There was no attempt to run the officer over and no ICE agents appear to be hurt,” Omar said. “Get out of our city.”
Others across the political spectrum urged restraint. Independent journalist Nick Shirley called the moment “absolutely tragic,” warning that Americans are “siding with fraudsters, illegals and crazy ideologies vs law enforcement enforcing laws,” and added that “common sense issues should not create more division.”
Meanwhile, progressive leaders outside Minnesota escalated the rhetoric in the opposite direction. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the incident as “murder,” writing, “This morning, an ICE agent murdered a woman in Minneapolis- only the latest horror in a year full of cruelty… As ICE attacks our neighbors across America, it is an attack on us all.”
Legal experts note that under the Constitution, federal law enforcement operations fall under federal authority, and any attempt by a governor to deploy state forces against federal agents would almost certainly trigger immediate court action- and potentially federal intervention. Walz’s office has not clarified whether any National Guard deployment is under consideration.
What began as a single deadly encounter has now metastasized into a national showdown over immigration enforcement, federal supremacy, and the limits of state resistance. The unresolved question facing Minnesota- and Washington- is whether this is political theater, or the early warning signs of a constitutional crisis in the making.
