One of Minnesota’s statewide police agencies said on Thursday that the federal government suddenly “reversed course” on an initial plan to jointly investigate the shooting of Renee Nicole Good, who was killed by an ICE officer on Wednesday.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which conducts complex investigations and runs forensic laboratories, said it had originally agreed to assist in an inquiry alongside the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and the FBI.
“It was decided that the BCA Force Investigations Unit would conduct a joint investigation with the FBI. The BCA responded promptly to the scene and began coordinating investigative work in good faith,” the agency said.
However, the agency said in a statement Thursday morning that the local office of federal prosecutors — led by President Donald Trump’s appointee, U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen — flipped the script hours after the shooting.
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“Later that afternoon, the FBI informed the BCA that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had reversed course: the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation,” the agency said.
Neither the FBI nor Rosen’s office responded to a request for comment from NOTUS on why federal law enforcement agencies were asserting jurisdictional control over the matter.
The state investigative agency said it could no longer remain involved in any investigation without access to materials collected at the crime scene or the agents involved in the shooting.
“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands. As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation. The BCA Force Investigations Unit was designed to ensure consistency, accountability and public confidence, none of which can be achieved without full cooperation and jurisdictional clarity,” the agency said.
ICE agents at the scene of Wednesday’s morning shooting hid their faces behind masks, which has become a common tactic for the law enforcement agency over the past year.
ICE has yet to identify the name of the agent who, while standing near the front of Good’s car hood, reached over and fired three shots as she appeared to turn the steering wheel away from him and began to drive away. Bystanders took video of the incident from several angles that directly contradicted statements released immediately after the shooting by the Department of Homeland Security that claimed Good had “weaponized her vehicle” against the agent.
Not having an active criminal investigation at the state level could hamper the rapidly growing public calls for there to be an independent investigation into the federal agent’s actions.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty have both called for local criminal probes, an effort to prevent what some see as potential for federal agencies to protect themselves. While federal agencies regularly investigate misconduct by local police, state agencies are generally discouraged and legally prohibited from doing the reverse: investigating federal law enforcement agents.
“Unless we have access to the agents that were involved in that and any witnesses, without any of that, we would not be able to put together a quality investigation for any prosecutor to be able to make a determination as to whether or not someone should be charged with a crime,” Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said at a press conference on Thursday.
“If you truly wanted to deescalate this situation, the logical conclusion would be to follow that procedure and allow Minnesota to participate,” Gov. Tim Walz said.
Moriarity, the top Hennepin County prosecutor, put out a statement Thursday afternoon saying she’s still trying to figure out a way to charge ahead.
“We are speaking to our local partners on paths forward that will allow us to review the investigation and be transparent in our decision making,” the statement said.
A recent legal paper written by a staff attorney at the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative — and published amid calls from legal scholars and Democratic politicians for greater accountability of conduct by federal agents during the Trump administration — argued that states do have options, albeit limited ones.
“The bottom line is that states are legally permitted to prosecute federal officials for state crimes — within limits. The limits stem from the federal constitutional principle that states should not be able to undermine federal policy via targeted criminal prosecutions, a doctrine known as Supremacy Clause immunity,” wrote Bryna Godar, a staff attorney at the law school.
“But this principle only applies when federal officials are reasonably acting within the bounds of their lawful federal duties. When federal officials act beyond the scope of their duties, violate federal law, or behave in an egregious or unwarranted manner, state prosecutions can move forward,” she continued.
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