Mayor Jacob Frey Blasts ‘Ridiculous’ Report Of Pentagon Readying Possible Troop Deployment To Minneapolis

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) slammed the Pentagon for ordering about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for possible deployment to Minnesota where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation.

Appearing Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper mentioned the soldiers who are on standby, prompting Frey to respond that “the act was clearly designed to intimidate the people of Minneapolis.”

“Here’s the thing: We’re not going to be intimidated. If the goal here is safety, we’ve got many mechanisms to achieve safety,” he said. Frey did not specify the methods he was referring to.

The mayor argued that the “best way to get safety is not to have an influx of even more agents, and in this case, [the] military in Minneapolis.”

“Right now we have about 600 police officers, and they’ve got 3,000 or so ICE agents and Border Patrol,” he continued, “[They’re] now talking about deploying 1,500 military? This is ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Frey added, “I never thought in a million years that we would be invaded by our own federal government.”

On Sunday, two U.S. officials told multiple outlets that up to 1,500 U.S. active-duty troops in Alaska are currently on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota.

The move came just days after President Donald Trump threatened in a Truth Social post to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to increasing tensions between protesters and federal agents in Minneapolis.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” he wrote in a Jan. 15 post.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem backed Trump’s remarks Thursday, telling reporters at the White House that the right-wing leader “certainly has the constitutional authority to utilize that.”

While deploying the military for domestic law enforcement reasons typically requires congressional authorization, Trump could potentially bypass Congress’ approval by invoking the 19th-century Insurrection Act (1807), which gives the president the power to use the military domestically to thwart domestic uprisings.

The law was last enacted by President George H.W. Bush during the Los Angeles riots in 1992.

In a separate interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, host Margaret Brennan questioned Frey over the comments he made earlier in the interview that ICE is “occupying force” in Minneapolis, asking him, “Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

“When you have 3,000 ICE agents and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] come to your city, when you’ve got this supposed threat of 1,500 military coming to your city, yeah, that’s very much what it feels like,” he responded.

Frey then added that “if the goal were safety, this is not how you get there.”

Watch a clip from Frey’s “State of the Union” interview below.