MILWAUKEE — President Trump is threatening to invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to send military troops to Minneapolis, sparking debate about the scope and appropriate use of the federal law.

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The Insurrection Act gives the president authority to deploy military forces inside the United States, but legal experts say how and when it’s used remains open for debate.

“An extreme use of power, and that’s why it’s only been used 30 times,” said Michael Rosen, a Milwaukee union activist and advocate.

The law has been invoked throughout Rosen’s lifetime, though never during events he attended as a union advocate.

He’s not an expert on the law but a long-time observer. Rosen believes the act can be justified in certain circumstances, pointing to its use during the 1992 Los Angeles riots when state officials requested federal help, or to enforce school desegregation in the South during the 1960s.

“The use of the Insurrection Act is legitimate when the federal law, in this case, desegregation, is being broken and local law enforcement can not and will not enforce the law,” Rosen said.

Watch: We asked two people in Milwaukee about the Insurrection Act – here’s what they told us

We asked two people in Milwaukee about the Insurrection Act – here’s what they told us

In a Truth Social post, Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act “if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitator and insurrectionist.” However, Rosen disagrees with this approach.

The Insurrection Act has been used about 30 times by 17 presidents throughout American history.

Patrick Sobkowski, who has a legal background and teaches American history and constitutional law at Marquette University, explains the law’s broad scope.

“It gives the president pretty broad authority to determine whether there is a sufficient domestic emergency,” Sobkowski said.

He notes there’s a reason the act has been rarely used throughout history.

“People from both sides of the political aisle have just kind of accepted as the correct or proper thing to do, and in America, we tend to think that too much power in the hands of one person is not a good thing,” Sobkowski said.

Some legal experts say various versions of the more than 200-year-old law are due for another update to provide more clarity on when it can and cannot be used.

This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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