Weekly Brief Jan. 20: Domestic Militarization Watch 

January 20, 2026

🚨Aggressive Tactics Used by ICE Spark Backlash Across Minnesota and Beyond

• Reports of excessive force used against peaceful protestors continues to raise concerns across the U.S., including an incident in California in which two demonstrators were blinded after being shot with “less-lethal” munitions by federal agents, highlighting how the Trump administration’s use of excessive force escalates conflict rather than de-escalating it (The Guardian, 17 Jan. 2026).
• In addition, ICE agents in Minnesota have been recording observers’ faces and license plates and following them home, raising serious privacy and First Amendment concerns (FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, 17 Jan. 2026).
• The State of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul filed a federal lawsuit claiming the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge is an unconstitutional “federal invasion” of state authority (Associated Press, 15 Jan. 2026). 
• Additionally, a federal judge ruled that immigration agents in Minneapolis cannot detain or use tear gas on peaceful protesters or observers without reasonable suspicion, underscoring growing concerns that Trump’s actions reflect a broader pattern of the use of force to suppress peaceful dissent (NPR, 16 Jan. 2026). 

📢 Trump Threatens Domestic Military Presence in Minnesota: Active Duty Troops and Minnesota National Guard on Standby 

• Federal officials have confirmed that the Pentagon has placed 1,500 active-duty Army soldiers from Alaska on “prepare-to-deploy” orders for possible deployment to Minnesota, escalating federal involvement in protests triggered by the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis resident by an ICE agent. This pre-positioning signals aggressive readiness to use military forces against U.S. communities (Military.com, 19 Jan. 2026).
• Trump repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to authorize the troops to act as domestic law enforcement in response to protests, a threat critics say reflects constitutional overreach and an effort to normalize the use of military force against civilians exercising their First Amendment rights. (NBC News, 15 Jan. 2026).
• Local leaders condemned the Pentagon’s troop standby as unnecessary and designed to intimidate communities rather than de-escalate tensions. (NPR, 18 Jan. 2026)
• Although no formal troop deployment has yet occurred, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz mobilized the Minnesota National Guard under state authority to support public safety — notably without requesting federal military intervention — underscoring state resistance to Trump’s aggressive immigration policing (USA Today, 17 Jan. 2026).
• In addition, the administration has approved keeping roughly 2,400 federalized National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., through the end of the year, extending a long-term federal military presence that critics argue prioritizes optics and control over evidence-based public safety solutions (ABC News, 16 Jan. 2026).