As Trump threatened Insurrection Act, Minneapolis Mayor Frey planned for 'succession'

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said his office "made plans for succession" in case he was arrested by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge.

Frey, a vocal critic of the Trump Administration’s immigration operations, revealed his concerns in the upcoming episode of "Thin I.C.E", a three-part series from FOX 9 Documentaries. Part II: "Domestic Terrorists" includes a detailed account of how Frey and Gov. Tim Walz prepared for the possibility that President Donald Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act.

Walz: Insurrection Act would have been 'catastrophic"

What they're saying:

"I was incredibly concerned that the president had been building up to, had been marshaling the forces both in North Carolina and Alaska to invoke the Insurrection Act," Walz said.

Walz said his experience in the National Guard and as a member of Congress helped him navigate the logistics and politics of what would have been a drastic escalation from the federal government.

"Behind the scenes, the language I was using was very specifically aimed at trying to prevent the invoking of the Insurrection Act, and what I think would have been a catastrophic situation on the streets and been very difficult to contain," Walz said.

Frey: ‘how the hell do you deal with’ militarized troops?

Why you should care:

Frey also acknowledged the fear of having thousands of federal troops coming into Minneapolis at the peak of the surge.

"Not just ICE, not just Border Patrol, militarized troops coming into the city," Frey said. "How the hell do you deal with that?"

Frey meant to drop f-bomb

Dig deeper:

But Frey also took a more confrontational approach at times, particularly after the shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7.

At a press conference that day, Frey called statements by the Trump Administration characterizing the shooting as self-defense "bullshit."

He created a viral moment when he used the f-word when telling ICE to leave Minneapolis.

"It wasn't an accident, I meant to say it," Frey said in the documentary.

Pushing insurrection claims

The other side:

Kristi Noem, the DHS secretary at the time, announced days later that more agents would be deployed to Minneapolis and suggestions to invoke the Insurrection Act soon followed.

Rep. Walter Hudson (R-Albertville) said he believed the Insurrection Act should have been invoked "right off the bat."

He also argued that Frey, other elected officials, and legal observers should have been arrested and charged under the RICO Act for interfering with federal law enforcement.

"A mayor of a major American city saying that federal authority doesn't matter, that's the statutory definition of insurrection in federal code," Hudson claimed.

Walz called such suggestions "conspiracy theory stuff."

Yet, Frey said that kind of messaging was clearly being amplified by the Trump Administration and that’s why his office made plans for succession.

"The Department of Justice was … being weaponized to come after local elected officials, including myself."

Watch Thin I.C.E. documentary series 

What's next:

Thin I.C.E. is a three-part series by FOX 9 Documentaries detailing the Trump administration's immigration operations in Chicago and Minneapolis that resulted in constitutional challenges, violent tactics and deadly shootings.

Thin I.C.E. Part I: "Worst of the Worst" is streaming now on FOX LOCAL and the FOX 9 YouTube channel. 

• Nov. 11 - Thin I.C.E. Part II: "Domestic Terrorists"
• Nov. 18 - Thin I.C.E. Part III: "Chaos"

The Source: FOX 9 conducted dozens of interviews, analyzed hundreds of court records and reviewed hours of body video footage recorded during immigration operations in Chicago and Minneapolis.