As a veteran who’s stared down insurgency in its ugliest forms, I know the stench of rebellion when it poisons the air. Today, we peel back the layers of this domestic threat, exposing not just the street-level agitators but the puppet masters pulling the strings: public officials like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). These figures aren’t mere bystanders. They appear to be encouraging an internal insurgency, leading a coordinated assault on federal authority in defiance of our nation’s laws.
This looks like an orchestrated rebellion, a conspiring to usurp federal power and sabotage law enforcement missions critical to our security.
Take the recent “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota, a vital federal immigration enforcement effort by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to root out threats and uphold border integrity. Yet we see Walz and Frey slamming the operation as unconstitutional, filing lawsuits to halt it dead in its tracks, claiming it’s politically motivated and endangering public safety.
Walz has gone so far as to label ICE agents akin to the “Gestapo,” inflaming tensions and encouraging protesters to square off against federal officers. Frey echoes him, demanding ICE “get the [expletive] out of Minneapolis,” while expressing deep mistrust in federal investigations, like the FBI’s probe into an ICE-involved shooting.
Omar, alongside her fellow Minnesota congresswomen Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison, was denied entry to a federal detention facility, but rebuked the agency, demanding accountability and fueling the narrative that federal agents are the real villains. Omar has called for no accountability today, meaning none tomorrow. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez pushes for the prosecution of ICE agents involved in lawful operations, such as the tragic shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
All the discussion about the need to tone things down, use more restraint, and not agitate the local populace seems weak and even myopic, in my opinion. Elected Republican officials are worried about public perceptions of elections and votes, but wavering officials would be wise to consider that much of the nation supports immigration operations conducted by federal law enforcement. It is the small, vocal group of those protestors and insurgents who are causing these weak legislators to balk.
It seems to me that such actions amount to sedition and treason. The U.S. Code defines sedition as conspiring to “oppose by force the authority” of the United States or to prevent the execution of its laws. By suing to block federal operations, politicizing shootings to erode trust, and aligning with mobs that interfere with agents’ duties, these officials are doing exactly that.
Treason? When you levy war against the U.S. or adhere to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort, that’s the Constitution’s bar. As Andrew Jackson opined, “Secession, like any other revolutionary act, may be morally justified by the extremity of oppression; but to call it a constitutional right is confounding the meaning of terms [emphasis added].”
Encouraging resistance to federal immigration enforcement, which protects our sovereignty, crosses into aiding those who exploit our borders. It’s a slow-burn coup, disguised as “social justice,” a long-game strategy where state leaders usurp powers reserved to the feds under the Supremacy Clause. Please spare me the insurgents’ argument that they are fighting to preserve democracy ... this is a constitutional republic.
Picture the fallout: Protesters ripping safe boxes from federal vehicles, honking horns to disrupt operations, and throwing frozen water bottles and snowballs at agents, all while these public officials fan the flames instead of calling for calm. Frey praises demonstrators for “not taking the bait,” yet his words give cover to the chaos. Walz defies requests to cooperate, escalating attacks on our state daily. This leadership vacuum echoes the 2020 riots, when Walz and Frey were slammed for weak responses that allowed destruction to rage unchecked. It’s the same playbook: Exploit grievances, recruit the disillusioned, and strike at federal targets to sow discord.
We must demand accountability and complete this mission, prosecute these insurgents under sedition laws, and deploy the National Guard with firm rules of engagement. When violence erupts or federal missions are thwarted, decisive, deadly force must be returned as merited. Hesitation costs lives, as I’ve seen on foreign battlefields.
“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in,” Napoleon Bonaparte once noted. That time has arrived.
Troy Carico is a former infantry enlisted soldier (11B) and infantry officer with branch qualifications including counterintelligence (35E) and military intelligence (35D). He served with distinction in the U.S. Army for more than 22 years and is highly decorated and service-connected disabled. He also has prior service as a civilian intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency Great Skills Program and has served in numerous clandestine assignments throughout the world.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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