Chabria: Memo to Minneapolis from California: Please don't take the bait

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Jan. 15, 2026

1:49 PM PT

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President Trump threatened on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Los Angeles in 2025 was the test case on how far Trump could go.

Dear Minneapolis:

We are sorry for what you are going through. We get it.

One day you’re living in a vibrant, multicultural city that, yeah, has its problems but is also pretty great. The next day, the president is calling you terrorists and insurrectionists and threatening to turn the U.S. military on you and your kids.

Been there.

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First off, thanks for standing up for Lady Liberty. The old gal had a rough year in 2025, and 2026 isn’t promising to be any better. She needs all the friends she can get, and the Twin Cities folks are true blue. And I’m not talking Democrat or Republican, because we’re past that.

It’s come down to deciding what kind of American you are. The kind who believes in the Constitution, rule of law and due process, or the kind who believes in strongmen, rule of the rich and armed authorities who will disappear you if you make them mad, citizen or not.

Minneapolitans have proven they’re on the righteous side of that divide.

World & Nation

The president’s threat comes a day after a federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Minneapolis man whom authorities said had attacked the officer with a shovel and broom handle.

Jan. 15, 2026

But here’s the thing — you’ve got to keep these protests peaceful. Being the entertainment capital of the world, we won’t deny that it’s riveting to watch video after video of ICE officers slipping on, well, ice like some klutzy Keystone Kops short. And the passion with which protesters are turning out, risking their own safety to protect strangers, is inspiring.

But don’t take the bait. Don’t cross the line. Don’t use physical violence, whether it’s throwing a water bottle or something more. President Trump threatened on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act, just like he did in Los Angeles before sending in the National Guard using a lesser authority. Even that turned out to be legally problematic, but he did it anyway.

“Minnesota insurrection is a direct result of a FAILED governor and a TERRIBLE mayor encouraging violence against law enforcement,” Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche wrote on social media after Trump’s post. “It’s disgusting. Walz and Frey - I’m focused on stopping YOU from your terrorism by whatever means necessary. This is not a threat. It’s a promise.

Whatever means necessary.

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This administration is salivating to invoke martial law. They bring it up every chance they get. Although the Insurrection Act has been used before — by President George H.W. Bush in Los Angeles in 1992 after the Rodney King beating — this is different.

Too many other guardrails of democracy have been demolished. Too much power has already been consolidated into the hands of one man.

If it happens, if the military is turned against citizens, a boundary will be broken that can’t be easily restored. We will likely then have military in streets of multiple American cities ahead of the November elections, which can only make this fragile turn at the ballot box more precarious.

Los Angeles in 2025 was the test case on how far Trump could go, and it seems it wasn’t far enough. Just like in Minneapolis, we had some folks who used violence — even though the vast majority of protesters were peaceful. Because Los Angeles is and has always been a city of activists — like Minneapolis — there were plenty of leaders willing and able to step forward and ensure that protesters policed themselves.

The result of that restraint was that at the end of the day, not even the so-called “journalists” of the right-wing propaganda machine could come up with enough shock-and-awe videos to convince the rest of America that the place was out of control.

California

Department of Justice lawyers argued at a hearing in Los Angeles that the state’s ban on police face coverings could unleash chaos across the country.

Jan. 14, 2026

Now the Trump machine is trying it with you, Minnesota. It’s not by chance that this trouble has landed on your doorstep. After the killing of George Floyd, Minneapolis showed it wasn’t afraid to show up for justice. No one ever doubted — Trump especially — that sending immigration full-force into your city would stir up trouble.

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Gov. Tim Walz said it himself on Thursday in his own social media post.

“We can — we must — speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully. We cannot fan the flames of chaos. That’s what he wants,” he wrote.

But also, please keep filming, please keep fighting. Thursday was also Martin Luther King Jr.’s actual birthday. In 1959, King made a little-known appearance on Minneapolis TV.

“I’m of the opinion that it is possible for one to stand firmly and courageously against an evil system, and yet not use violence to stand up against it,” he said then. “It is possible to love the individual who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does.”

Someone described Minneapolis the other day has having the inclusivity and quirkiness of San Francisco, but with the attitude of the Bronx — a fearsome combination.

Don’t let Trump exploit it.

In solidarity, California

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Insights

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Perspectives

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Ideas expressed in the piece

The sustained protests in Minneapolis represent a principled defense of constitutional governance and democratic rule of law against executive overreach, with the administration’s actions fundamentally transforming the nature of the conflict from immigration enforcement into a broader challenge to foundational American institutions.

The author draws parallels to experiences in California, cautioning that the Trump administration deliberately escalated federal enforcement operations in Minneapolis to provoke confrontation and create justification for invoking the Insurrection Act.

Acknowledging the emotional toll of ICE operations—including the fatal shooting of Renee Good and subsequent shooting of another person—the perspective emphasizes that protesters demonstrating concern for vulnerable neighbors reflects moral leadership and courage.

The author argues that maintaining peaceful, restrained protest tactics is essential because violence by any participants, even a minority, could provide legal justification for military deployment and martial law implementation, which would further erode democratic safeguards ahead of November elections.

This viewpoint aligns with Governor Tim Walz’s assessment that the situation in Minnesota represents not law enforcement activity but organized federal brutality, and calls for continued documentation of ICE conduct while maintaining nonviolence to deny the administration pretexts for escalation.

Different views on the topic

Federal officials assert that immigration enforcement operations target criminal conduct, with ICE agents engaged in lawful apprehension of individuals present in the country illegally.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche characterized the protests as violence and terrorism encouraged by state leadership, stating that “Minnesota insurrection is a direct result of a FAILED governor and a TERRIBLE mayor encouraging violence against law enforcement” and pledging to stop the governor and mayor “from your terrorism by whatever means necessary.”

Department of Homeland Security officials maintain that officers have acted in self-defense during several incidents, including the shooting of the Venezuelan national who was shot in the leg after fleeing a traffic stop and attacking federal officers with a shovel and broom handle.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem characterized the federal operation as “rapidly removing the criminal illegal aliens who found sanctuary” in Minnesota, with federal personnel working to “arrest and deport sickos, dirtbags, and fraudsters from across the state.”

Customs and Border Protection officials described Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s leadership as weak and accused his administration of encouraging lawlessness, asserting that federal officers would not tolerate attacks on agents.

President Trump’s invocation of the Insurrection Act threat framed continued demonstrations as obstruction of federal law enforcement authority, characterizing protesters as “professional agitators and insurrectionists.”

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