What to know about the Insurrection Act

President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota as tensions rise over two shootings involving federal immigration agents.

The 1807 Insurrection Act allows a president to deploy the military to enforce the law, particularly in cases of rebellion or civil unrest. That could include making arrests or conducting searches.

Invoking the law would override the Posse Comitatus of 1878, which bars the military from getting involved in domestic law enforcement.

The act can be invoked in situations where a state’s governor or legislature requests the deployment of troops. It can also be used against state leaders’ wishes if the president thinks an “unlawful obstruction” or rebellion make it impossible to enforce federal law through the normal judicial process, or, if state leaders are unable or unwilling to protect residents’ constitutional rights.

Trump has suggested using  the Insurrection Act threat before, including earlier this year  in response to protests against ICE and the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. The act has been invoked by several other presidents, including President Abraham Lincoln, at the start of the Civil War, and Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower,  John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, who all invoked it in southern states during the Civil Rights era. But it hasn’t been used in more than three decades.

Deema Zein takes a closer look.

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