MINNEAPOLIS (Civitas) — In a significant move, Minnesota officials filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the Trump administration, asserting that it withheld key evidence surrounding three shootings involving federal officers. Among those included in the allegations are the high-profile cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The lawsuit accuses the federal government of reversing its commitment to cooperate with state investigations post-Operation Metro Surge, which saw thousands of federal officers deployed to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area under President Trump's aggressive immigration strategy. Minnesota officials, including Attorney Mary Moriarty, have expressed alarm over the administration's tactics, stating that the withholding of investigative evidence limits scrutiny of law enforcement actions.
Court documents argue, The federal government is not legally allowed to withhold investigative evidence merely to shield law enforcement officers from scrutiny while a state investigates serious potential violations of criminal laws against its citizens.
Requests for comments were sent to the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department but went unanswered. Meanwhile, Minnesota leaders continue to criticize what they describe as a disturbing trend of categorically withholding evidence by the federal administration.
In January, the Justice Department announced the initiation of a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti's killing, although they deemed that the situation surrounding Good's death did not warrant a similar inquiry, diverging from past practices that typically involved swift investigations in civilian shooting incidents involving police.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated that the Civil Rights Division does not investigate every officer-involved shooting, noting that only specific circumstances compel such actions. Hennepin County Attorney Moriarty stated that the current practices of withholding evidence by the federal authorities are unprecedented and raise serious concerns about accountability.
— Reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
