President Donald Trump has "certainly a legal basis" to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to unrest in Minneapolis, but his decision would be ultimately political, former acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf said on Newsmax on Saturday after a Minneapolis man was shot and killed by a federal law enforcement agent earlier in the day.
"Well, I think there's certainly a legal basis for him to do it, given the events over today and really the last couple of weeks," Wolf, now chairman for homeland security and immigration at the America First Policy Institute, told "The Count."
"I don't think there's a legal issue any longer," he added. "It's just a question for the president politically on when he wants to do that."
Trump on Saturday railed against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats, saying their anti-ICE rhetoric is "inciting insurrection," and potentially setting the stage to invoke the Insurrection Act in the state.
Walz on Saturday activated the National Guard in response to protests tied to the shooting.
Wolf also questioned how the Guard was being used, saying he had heard it was being deployed to protect local police facilities, "not federal law enforcement facilities, and certainly not ICE agents on the ground there."
"We need to watch the deployment of these National Guard by the governor," he said, adding it was "something that needs to be watched to see exactly what's going on there and to ensure that you've got ICE officers continuously to be protected."
Wolf criticized the responses to the shooting from Walz and Frey, calling them "unserious individuals."
"They are embarking on a campaign of disinformation," said Wolf. "I think they need to be investigated and certainly prosecuted if they have broken a law."
Wolf aimed at Walz's public comments about the Department of Homeland Security, saying he "flat-out" lied when he said the DHS is not a law enforcement agency.
"[It] is the largest law enforcement agency in the country, with over 70,000 law enforcement officers," said Wolf.
Asked about the role of local police, Wolf said officers were constrained by city and state leadership.
"I think they're in a very difficult situation," he said. "I think they want to do the right thing. They want to help federal law enforcement. They can't because of the mayor and the governor's policies."
Wolf said messaging from city and state officials had been inconsistent as tensions rose after the shooting.
"Well, which is it? Are they peacefully protesting, or is it getting so violent that you have to give up the intersection where this unfortunate incident happened, and you can't conduct an investigation?" he said.
"I think what it tells you is that the leadership, both at the mayor and the governor's level, there is no leadership," Wolf said. "They have lost control of their city. They have lost control of any type of messaging here."
Wolf said federal immigration enforcement would continue despite calls for it to stop.
"ICE isn't going anywhere," he said. "They're going to they're going to continue to do their mission."
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