Minnesota state officials said they are willing to “fight” to hold the federal government accountable in a new lawsuit targeting the Trump administration. The lawsuit alleges that the administration backed away from a promise of cooperation with local investigations into three shootings by federal officers, including the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“We are prepared to fight for transparency and accountability that the federal government is desperate to avoid,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told reporters during a press conference.
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State officials claimed the federal government is withholding evidence from local investigators regarding Operation Metro Surge, The Associated Press reported. The operation, which the Department of Homeland Security described as its biggest operation in history, saw thousands of federal agents enter Minnesota for an immigration crackdown.
In addition to the fatal shootings of Pretti and Good, the lawsuit also requests access to evidence in the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Federal agents shot and wounded him in January.
Immediately after the shooting, federal authorities accused Sosa-Celis and another man of hitting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with a broomstick and snow shovel. However, federal prosecutors dropped all charges against both men, and authorities later opened an investigation into whether the two immigration officers lied under oath when they described the shooting.
Department of Homeland Security officials have called the operation a rousing success but state and other local officials criticized the crackdown.
Why is the DOJ only investigating one fatal shooting?
The lawsuit said that the federal government can’t withhold evidence or information solely to shield federal agents, especially when the investigation is regarding “serious potential violations” against a Minnesota resident.
In January, the Department of Justice announced it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s fatal shooting, but it wasn’t necessary in Good’s. The AP reports this is a shift from previous administrations, which have quickly moved to investigate shootings by authorities for potential civil rights violations.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division doesn’t investigate every law enforcement shooting. He said the incident needs to meet certain circumstances that “warrant an investigation,” the AP reports.
Moriarty disagreed, emphasizing that agents didn’t just shoot Good — they killed her.
“There has to be an investigation any time a federal agent or a state agent takes the life of a person in our community,” Moriarty said.
DHS shakeup after shootings
The two fatal shootings led to sweeping criticisms against DHS and the Trump administration as a whole. Trump removed both Gregory Bovino, who led the ground operations for Operation Metro Surge, and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from their roles in the Minnesota operation following Pretti’s shooting.
Trump eventually fired Noem after reports said she spent $220 million from the DHS fund on an advertising campaign. The ad campaign and her congressional testimony led even members of her own party to criticize her. The Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as the new DHS secretary on Monday evening.
But the fallout from Operation Metro Surge has not stopped falling, as Democrats continue to prevent DHS funding from passing Congress. They are asking Republicans for new guidelines that could restrain federal agents, including requiring judicial warrants to enter private property and banning agents from using masks during operations.
