White House official says Minnesota leaders are staging 'insurgency against the federal government'

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller claimed Thursday that Minnesota officials are "clearly" staging “an insurgency against the federal government” through their rhetoric over federal immigration operations in Minneapolis.

Protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations have surged in Minneapolis over the past week, after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman who allegedly rammed the agent with her car. Minnesota officials argue that the shooting was unjustified, while federal officials counter that the agent acted in self-defense.

Miller was asked during an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show” whether the federal government was looking at possible charges against state officials, which Miller said would be up to the Justice Department.

“What I would say very clearly is that you only have to read their own words and hear their own words and judge their own conduct,” Miller said. “Understand that this is clearly an insurgency against the federal government. They are describing a federal government as an occupying force. Just think about that for a second.”

Miller noted that the federal government is responsible for administering the law, including federal immigration law, nationwide. 

“If you were to permit individual cities and states to ratify their own immigration laws for themselves, you wouldn’t have a republic and you wouldn’t have a country," Miller insisted. "That's the proposition that [Minneapolis Mayor Jacob] Frey, [Minnesota Attorney General Keith] Ellison and [Minnesota Gov. Tim] Walz are trying to test.”

The comments come the same day that Walz appealed to President Donald Trump to tone down dangerous rhetoric, but the White House rejected the plea, claiming Minnesota and city leaders "have done nothing but turn up the temperature, smear heroic ICE officers, and incite violence against them." 

"The Trump Administration will protect the American people and enforce the law without apology," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News. "The only statement Tim Walz should be making is an apology. He has repeatedly compared ICE officers to Nazis and lied about their important work, including in his speech just last night." 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.