Minnesota prosecutors escalated their fight with the Trump administration over Operation Metro Surge on Tuesday, filing a lawsuit seeking to force the federal government to turn over evidence in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens and the wounding of a third person by federal immigration agents.
“Minnesotans are seeing their federal government hide evidence and obstruct investigations into these incidents. We will not sit by and let that happen,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a news conference.
The lawsuit , filed in federal court in the District of Columbia, is the latest and most aggressive of a series of actions taken by Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to secure key pieces of evidence in the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti as well as the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
That includes the car in which Good was killed on Jan. 7, the names of the agents who killed Pretti on Jan. 24, and the guns used in all three cases. “All we want is to conduct a fair, impartial and thorough investigation.” Ellison and Moriarty said they were stepping into uncharted territory by suing the federal government for access to evidence, since federal and local authorities usually coordinate closely in criminal investigations.
“All we want is to conduct a fair, impartial and thorough investigation,” Ellison said. “The federal government has refused to cooperate … which is unique, rare and simply cannot be tolerated.”
The lawsuit was filed by the state of Minnesota, Moriarty and state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans against the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin.
The lawsuit was filed with the pro bono assistance of the Washington Litigation Group and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law School.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension typically investigates police shootings and was on the scene in Minneapolis collecting evidence after Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Good and after an ICE agent shot Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national, in the leg a week later on Jan. 14.
In both cases, federal agents led state BCA investigators to believe that they would carry out a joint investigation but then denied them access to evidence, according to the lawsuit.
President Donald Trump justified the decision to freeze out local law enforcement from investigating the Good killing by calling Minnesota officials “crooked.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche then said there would be no investigation into Good’s killing. Instead, federal officials were directed to investigate Good’s wife for her connection to groups that observe and protest ICE activity, which The New York Times reported led to a wave of resignations in the U.S. attorney’s office.
After federal agents shot and killed Pretti, BCA agents were physically blocked from entering the scene by federal officials, despite obtaining a judicial warrant.
The lawsuit says the BCA continued to press for cooperation, and in early February, an attorney from the Department of Justice’s Washington office flew to Minnesota for a meeting. But the attorney told the BCA that the federal government wanted the BCA to share its evidence in the Pretti killing investigation with federal authorities but the federal government would not share its evidence with the BCA.
Moriarty and Ellison also made multiple so-called Touhy demands , which are akin to subpoenas, for evidence. They either went unanswered or were denied. “These incidents happened in Minnesota and fall under Minnesota state law.” In the lawsuit, Minnesota officials argue the federal government acted illegally by ignoring those Touhy demands. They also argue the Trump administration is violating the 10th Amendment, which entitles states to investigate and enforce criminal law.
Some of the evidence local prosecutors are seeking includes the guns and shell casings; interviews with federal agents; and Pretti’s cellphone, which likely has video he took of his interactions with federal agents in the moments before his death.
Moriarty said her office has received important pieces of evidence after asking the public for help, receiving over 1,000 submissions to a portal. Her office is now investigating more than a dozen other incidents involving federal agents during Operation Metro Surge, including former Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, for possible criminal charges.
Moriarty said she is prepared to make charging decisions even if they don’t receive evidence from the federal government.
Prosecuting federal agents isn’t easy — they have some protections under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause for reasonably carrying out their duties, though legal experts note they are not immune from charges for serious misconduct.
“We share jurisdiction with the federal government,” Ellison said. “These incidents happened in Minnesota and fall under Minnesota state law.”
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