Alex Wagner

In one case, a protester was shot in the leg.

It is pretty clear that ICE, with the support of this White House, is using extraordinary and extreme force here, all while allegedly pursuing criminals and the, quote, worst of the worst.

But if protesters are getting arrested and shot and killed, what tools are left to stop a masked and seemingly lawless federal force?

Are there legal avenues available to anyone to push back against ICE?

How do you stop mercenaries if the guy they're working for is the president of the United States?

And what happens when that guy threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act?

And when and how will Renee Good's family ever get justice?

Joining me today to help answer those questions and so many more is Crooked's very own Leah Littman, who is host of Strict Scrutiny, a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School and author of the book Lawless.

Leah, it is always so great to talk with you, but especially after this week, I have so many legal questions.

First of all, how the fuck is this happening in the United States of America?

But that's more than just a legal question.

That's an everything question.

But let's start first where, at the place where I think a lot of people found themselves

perhaps most alarmed, which is the thing that's, I will grant, always worrisome when Trump says it, but especially right now.

And that was his threat this week on Truth Social to invoke the Insurrection Act if, quote, Minnesota officials don't act to stop the professional agitators.

Just as a side note, there are no professional agitators.

Can you give us a kind of legal breakdown on what it actually means to invoke the Insurrection Act and what powers that actually confers?

I have to ask because when he says he's going to invoke it.

What does that mean?

Is Congress anywhere involved in any of this?