Video footage from Minneapolis taken Wednesday night showed rioters breaking into what was reportedly a federal law enforcement vehicle and pulling a rifle and ammunition out of its trunk.
Independent journalist Nick Sortor posted video of the incident on social media, writing, “Minneapolis rioters successfully BROKE OPEN a weapons locker in a federal vehicle and STOLE A RIFLE and ammunition before fleeing. I captured the thief’s face and license plate on the getaway vehicle.”
One of the rioters grabbed what appeared to be a tactical bag for a rifle, while a woman could be heard saying, “There’s some bullets.”
WARNING: The following social media posts contain images and language that some may find offensive.
🚨 BREAKING: Minneapolis rioters successfully BROKE OPEN a weapons locker in a federal vehicle and STOLE A RIFLE and ammunition before fleeing
I captured the thief’s face and license plate on the getaway vehicle.
PLEASE SHARE and HELP IDENTIFY this POS.
I have forwarded this… pic.twitter.com/7rwfIsN7v6
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 15, 2026
Sortor followed after the rioter who took the tactical bag, which presumably had a rifle inside it, and captured on video the car in which the man left the scene.
The journalist posted on X, “I have forwarded this to the top levels of the FBI.”
Later, rioters ran away as law enforcement officers dressed in riot gear arrived at the location.
The New York Post reported that rioters vandalized federal vehicles after the Department of Homeland Security said that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer had shot an illegal immigrant whom he was seeking to apprehend.
The agent shot in self-defense after the immigrant and two others ambushed him and began beating him with a shovel, according to DHS.
Photos showed one vehicle covered in red spray paint in the middle of the debris-filled block — complete with the messages “F*** ICE” and “Only good agent is a dead one,” according to the Post.
ICE wrote on social media, “Peaceful protests do not result in the destruction of federal vehicles and theft of federal property.”
Peaceful protests do not result in the destruction of federal vehicles and theft of federal property. https://t.co/VBZAqFhlgy
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) January 15, 2026
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesota officials do not step up to address the violence.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 08:04 AM EST 01.15.26 pic.twitter.com/pyRvyYtwQR
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 15, 2026
The president posted on Truth Social, “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”
The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to deploy the U.S. military, including federalizing the local state National Guard, to suppress a rebellion and enforce federal law.
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