Fox’s Tomi Lahren Hopes Trump Considers Insurrection Act After Minneapolis Shooting: ‘This Is Not 2020’

Fox News star Tomi Lahren said she hopes President Donald Trump will invoke the Insurrection Act to counter civil unrest in Minnesota following the shooting death of a man protesting against ICE and Border Patrol on Saturday.

The co-host of The Big Weekend Show said she had mixed emotions after the shooting. On the one hand, she said she wished Trump would “leave Minneapolis to its own devices” and let it be overwhelmed by “illegals and fraudsters.”

That would fit the demands of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D), after Frey urged the Trump administration to withdraw federal immigration agents from his city right after the shooting on Saturday.

“But them the other part of me is like ‘No, you need to make sure we have order and restore order in this country,'” Lahren said. “This is not 2020 and we need to reset that precedent and President Trump —  hopefully, if things get bad tonight — will consider the Insurrection Act.”

She was obviously referring to the protests and riots that followed the death of George Floyd in May 2020.

Her comments come after Border Patrol agents shot and killed a protester who was identified as 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Pretti was a local resident who was a “lawful gun owner.” 

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said during her own press conference on Saturday evening that Pretti interfered with an operation to apprehend a violent illegal immigrant and intended to “kill law enforcement” with his 9 mm handgun. Noem said Border Patrol agents “fired defensive shots” to protect themselves from Pretti.

Critics promptly accused Noem of delivering an account of the incident that differed from the footage. CNN anchor Jake Tapper, responding to Noem, posted the video of the shooting and asked “Is that what you see?”

Trump last week said he did not believe using the Insurrection Act was necessary, at least right now, to counter anti-ICE protests following the shooting death of Renee Good earlier this month. The act allows the president to deploy military members to domestic cities to clamp down on rebellions. George H.W. Bush was the last president to invoke it in 1992 to counter riots in Los Angeles.

Lahren and her Big Weekend Show co-hosts later asked reporter Steve Harrigan for another update from the streets of Minneapolis. Harrigan had reported earlier in the day that the tear gas the agents were using seemed to be “completely ineffective” and only added “more turmoil.”

Harrigan told Lahren that there was a lot of “hatred” among the protesters who were still out in freezing temperatures on Saturday night. “There is a lot of hate on the street,” he said.

Watch above via Fox News.

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