US President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to quell unrest over federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.
He threatened to send in troops following a night of protests and vandalism in the Minnesota city after an agent shot a man in the leg.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an officer opened fire after he was attacked by three Venezuelan nationals with a shovel and broom handle.
Tensions have been running high in Minneapolis since an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, last week, sparking nationwide protests.
The Insurrection Act is a 19th Century law that allows active-duty military personnel to be deployed for law enforcement duties inside the US.
Trump has previously said he might invoke the 1807 law elsewhere without ever doing so.
The president posted on Truth Social that he would use the law if Minnesota officials failed to stop the “professional agitators and insurrectionists”.
DHS said Wednesday’s shooting occurred after a car chase involving a Venezuelan national, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was previously convicted for driving without a licence.
The agency statement said after the pursuit, Sosa-Celis got out of his vehicle and fought with the federal agent.
Two more illegal immigrants from Venezuela, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, came out of a nearby apartment, according to the agency.
All three attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle, DHS said, before the agent opened fire, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg.
The agent was taken to hospital. Sosa-Celis was also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. All three Venezuelans were arrested.
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
She said the officer was “ambushed and attacked” by the men and fired a defensive shot.
