Right-wing media are describing pro-immigrant Minnesota activists using the language of war

“Civil war,” “insurgents,” “a guerilla tactical playbook” — these are just some of the ways MAGA pundits are describing civil resistance to Trump’s ICE rampages

Written by John Knefel & Sophie Lawton

Published

Right-wing media figures and outlets are using the language of war to characterize protests against the presence of violent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota.

The fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis on January 7 touched off a new round of protests in the region and across the country. President Donald Trump responded by threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows for the domestic use of the military against U.S. civilians in certain circumstances, days after Fox News host Laura Ingraham practically begged him to do so.

While some in right-wing media have referred to anti-ICE demonstrations as an “insurrection” since at least October, the overall tenor of right-wing rhetoric has escalated dramatically in recent days. Right-wing pundits have reacted to the pro-immigrant demonstrations by casting Minneapolis residents as “insurgents” who are using a “a guerilla tactical playbook” and looking to spark a “civil war” or engage in “violent terroristic extremism.” Here are some of the most egregious examples. 

  • Right-wing media call Minneapolis protesters “insurgents” and “terrorists” waging “guerilla warfare”

    • Fox’s Laura Ingraham opened her January 12 show with the phrase “an insurgency, not a protest,” and claimed that “insurgents besieged a hotel in Minneapolis where they thought that ICE was staying.” She went on to say that “they want to deliver vigilante justice” and asked her guest, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX): “could the Insurrection Act come into play?” Another guest described the Minneapolis crackdown as a “war … about the idea and concepts of what a citizen is.” [Media Matters, 1/13/26] 
    • Fox News host Jesse Watters said: “This is a Minnesota insurgency. They’re conducting guerrilla warfare against federal agents.” He added: “If the federal government doesn’t assert authority over this rebellion, the republic is going to fracture.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 1/15/26]
    • Fox’s Emily Compagno said that a purported protester instruction manual was like “a guerilla tactical playbook — it’s about how to assault, how to engage in felonious behavior.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 1/14/26]
    • Livestreamer Tim Pool referred to the protests as “violent terroristic extremism.” He also demanded that Trump “invoke the Insurrection Act. Round these people up.” [YouTube, Timcast, 1/15/26] 
    • Referring to a film depicting the battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993, MAGA influencer Benny Johnson said: “If it doesn't get under control Somali warlords, pirates, and fraudsters are going to bring Black Hawk Down to Minneapolis. Stealing government weapons is an actual insurrection.” He also said that it is “time for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 1/15/26; BBC, 2/9/25]  
    • MAGA podcaster and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon portrayed activists as violent, saying: “They're going to break into cars and take guns and take weapons and get ammo. Implying —and now they're all, every, you see these protests, they're throwing these firecrackers, they're almost like mini-bombs.” He later called for government escalation: “Mass deportations now. Insurrection Act first, troops second, mass deportations third.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 1/15/26]
    • The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh called on Trump to “wage war against the terrorists” and to “bring RICO and terrorism cases” like he “should have done after Charlie Kirk’s murder.” Walsh said: “They see her [Renee Good] as a casualty of a much, much larger war that they want to fight, and they’ll eventually get what they’re looking for unless the Trump administration immediately dismantles all of the groups that are organizing these attacks on federal law enforcement. They're all over the internet operating with impunity and with substantial financial assistance in many cases. Shut it down. Bring RICO and terrorism cases. Do what you should have done after Charlie Kirk's murder. Wage war against the terrorists because as the Renee Good case demonstrates very clearly, they're already waging war against us.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 1/12/26]
    • Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt Tonight featured a graphic that read: “DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST ICE.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 1/14/26]

  • Right-wing media accuse protesters, Democratic politicians of provoking a “civil war”

    • Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan claimed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz committed “essentially an act of civil war” when he considered deploying the Minnesota National Guard. Klavan went on to state “I’m not sure he can’t be arrested just for calling on it, for implying it.” [The Daily Wire, The Andrew Klavan Show, 1/9/26]
    • Streamer Asmongold agreed with a chat comment on his stream that said Walz “is causing a civil war between the state and the feds.” Asmongold also claimed “they need to charge this guy for sedition. … Same with that mayor in Minneapolis, they need to arrest both of them and put them up on the most extreme charges possible.” [YouTube, Asmongold TV, 1/15/26]
    • Megyn Kelly said, “We heard some of the most inflammatory rhetoric about the feds from a sitting governor since, like, the Civil War.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 1/15/26]
    • On Newsmax’s The Right Stuff, panel member Chris Plante asked, “At what point do we declare that Minnesota is engaged in civil war against the United States?” He continued: “They’re declaring war against the federal government, they’re crying the 10th Amendment like they did in the lead-up to the first Civil War that the Democrats created. They’re violently attacking the federal government. … Enough is enough — Insurrection Act.” [Newsmax, The Right Stuff, 1/15/26]
    • The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh said that Walz had been “preparing the entire state for their Fort Sumter moment,” referring to the opening battle of the American Civil War. Walsh said Walz has “been priming Minnesota to go to war with the federal government.” Walsh also claimed “the residents of Minnesota are waging a campaign of terrorism against federal law enforcement, which is carrying out lawful orders.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 1/15/26, 1/15/26]
    • On Fox News, MAGA legal activist and Article III Project founder Mike Davis characterized Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as “confederates” who are committing “textbook insurrection” and “textbook seditious conspiracy.” Davis also suggested calls to arrest ICE agents “could lead to deadly force being used by ICE agents against state and local law enforcement. Are these Democrat politicians really trying to cause a civil war here?” [Fox News, The Will Cain Show, 1/15/26]
    • On War Room, Steve Bannon asked guest Naomi Wolf about the “revolt” against ICE; Wolf claimed, “It's really dangerous because these liberal frustrated white women are being weaponized and spun out by people who definitely want civil war in our streets.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 1/13/26]
    • Fox News host Laura Ingraham claimed that Frey was “urging police to fight ICE agents. Again, it’s insanity but not if this is what you want, right, not unless this is what you really want is civil war in the streets.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 1/15/26]
    • On his Infowars show, Alex Jones said Frey claimed “the citizens [of Minneapolis] want the police to fight ICE,” adding, “That’s literal civil war.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 1/15/26]