An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was charged in connection with an incident where he allegedly pointed his gun at two people’s heads in Minnesota.
Gregory Donnell Morgan, Jr. is charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Thursday, and there is a nationwide warrant out for his arrest.
Moriarty said at a news conference that authorities do not currently know if Morgan lives at a Maryland address listed in a state complaint, or whether he still works for ICE.
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Straight Arrow News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for comment.
Details of the case
Morgan, on Feb. 5, was driving illegally on the shoulder of eastbound Highway 62, Moriarty said. It appeared he was trying to go past slower traffic, the prosecutor said.
She added that he was driving a rented SUV with no markings to indicate it was an ICE vehicle.
The driver of another car briefly moved into the shoulder to slow Morgan down, Moriarty said. That’s when Morgan sped up and pulled alongside the other vehicle.
Morgan then slowed down to match the pace of the other car, opened his window, and pointed his “duty weapon” at the driver and passenger, Moriarty said.
The driver then called 911.
Investigators from the Minnesota State Patrol interviewed Morgan and his partner, who was in the back seat of the SUV. In that interview, Morgan said he and his partner were going to the Whipple Federal Building at the end of their shift.
“Additionally, he admitted that he drew his firearm after the victim’s vehicle had already rejoined the normal flow of traffic, corroborating details from interviews with the victim,” Moriarty said. “The State Patrol retrieved video of the incident from highway cameras, which is also consistent with the details of the interviews.”
This case is the first in which a federal agent was charged for their actions during Operation Metro Surge, when thousands of federal immigration agents were deployed to the state of Minnesota.
“Mr. Morgan’s conduct was extremely dangerous,” Moriarty said. “Driving while pointing a weapon out of your moving vehicle at the victims who were in another moving vehicle could have led to yet another disastrous incident in a community that has already suffered too many.”
During Operation Metro Surge, federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and also shot and wounded Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis in separate confrontations. The three shootings happened in January.
“I want to be transparent on why these situations are developing at different speeds. This case followed the typical investigation and submission process for cases coming to our office,” Moriarty said during Thursday’s news conference. “… Virtually none of the obstacles around evidence collection that exist for the January shootings exist in this case.”
