‘Prepare To Deploy’: Pentagon Puts 1,500 Troops On Alert For Minnesota Protests

Last Updated:January 18, 2026, 23:50 IST

The Pentagon readies 1,500 Alaska soldiers for possible Minnesota deployment amid protests over ICE actions and the shooting of Renee Good.

The Pentagon readies 1,500 Alaska soldiers for possible Minnesota deployment amid protests over ICE actions and the shooting of Renee Good, as tensions rise. (REUTERS/Seth Herald)

The Pentagon has placed about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska on prepare-to-deploy orders for a possible mission to Minnesota, where large protests have erupted against the federal government’s deportation drive, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday.

According to the officials, the United States Army issued the orders as a contingency measure in case violence escalates in the Midwestern state. They stressed that it remains unclear whether the troops will actually be deployed.

The move follows remarks by US President Donald Trump, who on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if state and local authorities fail to prevent protesters from targeting immigration officials. The warning came after a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel was sent to Minnesota.

Tensions rise in Minneapolis

Confrontations between residents and federal officers have intensified in Minneapolis since the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, who was killed on January 7 while sitting in her car by ICE officer Jonathan Ross. Protests have grown increasingly heated in the aftermath of the incident, although officials say that most demonstrations have remained peaceful.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey warned that any military deployment would only worsen tensions in the city, where the Trump administration has already sent around 3,000 immigration and border patrol officers.

“That would be a shocking step," Frey said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “We don’t need more federal agents to keep people safe. We are safe."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS’s Face the Nation that city authorities should establish a designated “peaceful protest zone" to manage demonstrations.

Trump has repeatedly cited allegations of misuse of federal social-welfare funds in Minnesota as justification for deploying immigration agents, and administration officials have frequently singled out the state’s Somali immigrant community.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, cautioned against deploying the military. “I think what he’d be doing is just putting another match on the fire," Van Hollen said on ABC’s This Week.

Insurrection Act still uncertain

If troops are ultimately deployed, it remains unclear whether the Trump administration would formally invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president to deploy active-duty military forces or federalise the National Guard to suppress domestic unrest.

Even without invoking the law, presidents have the authority to use active-duty forces for limited domestic roles, such as protecting federal property, a justification Trump cited last year when Marines were sent to Los Angeles.

In addition to active-duty soldiers, the Pentagon could also consider deploying newly created National Guard rapid-response units designed to handle civil disturbances.

“The Department of War is always prepared to execute the orders of the commander in chief if called upon," said Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, using the Trump administration’s preferred term for the Department of Defense.

News world ‘Prepare To Deploy’: Pentagon Puts 1,500 Troops On Alert For Minnesota Protests

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