Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty called for local investigations after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed an unarmed woman in Minneapolis.
Minnesota attorneys who specialize in police misconduct cases say the federal government is unlikely to be able to block state or local prosecution of a federal agent — though Trump administration comments Wednesday suggest they would vigorously fight any attempt to do so.
Unless there’s “some wild-eyed legal theory out there that someone picks up to defend this guy… I think it’s going to be a very tall order for a federal judge or the Department of Justice to block [prosecution] from happening,” said Joshua Newville, an attorney with Halunen Law in Minneapolis who has experience with civil police misconduct cases.
Related: Federal agents shoot and kill motorist during ICE crackdown
A 2025 paper by a University of Wisconsin Law School attorney offered a similar conclusion: While federal officers have some special legal protections, they are not immune from state and local prosecution.
Observers captured the shooting on video from multiple angles. They show an officer approaching an SUV, grabbing the door handle and demanding the driver open the door. The SUV begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle fires into the SUV at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the agent acted in self-defense and that the victim, Renee Nicole Good, 37, was committing “domestic terrorism.” But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the agent’s actions as “reckless” and unnecessary.
Newville said the real issue is how far the federal government will go to try to complicate state and local court cases, and to what degree courts acquiesce to the feds.
“It sets us up for a further confrontation between state and federal government with regards to each government’s power and their authority,” Newville said. “I think it just makes it more likely that we will see a conflict that the courts will have to weigh in on.”
The federal government may try to put its thumb on the scales of justice by arguing no federal laws were broken, but if there is strong enough evidence that the ICE agent broke state or local laws, “I don’t see how the federal government could deprive state and local law enforcement and prosecutors from pursuing charges.”
Related: DHS deploys 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis area to carry out largest immigration operation ever
Robert Bennett of Minneapolis-based Robins Kaplan LLP has long represented victims of law enforcement overreach, including a victim of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted on both state and federal charges for the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
The Chauvin cases were an example of how federal and state prosecutions can move in parallel, when those in charge want them to. That scenario is not likely in this case.
“Based on what you’ve already seen today with [President] Trump’s public statements and [Secretary] Noem’s public statements, there’s never going to be a federal prosecution,” Bennett said.
Bennett described the federal officers he has worked with and prosecuted over the last five decades as being very well trained, conscious of the legal nuances of their positions, and generally professional.
“The conduct going on now in Minnesota is not that of a well-trained organization that understands the limits of its power and the limits on the use of force,” he said, noting that unlike the FBI or ATF, ICE is operating “more like an American iteration of the secret police.”
Attorney General Keith Ellison said during an appearance on MS NOW that there needs to be state involvement. “There needs to be a situation where the feds are not just investigating the feds,” Ellison said.
Moriarty said in a statement earlier in the day that her office was “pushing hard for a local investigation which is the only way to ensure full transparency and review by our office. We will use every available lever to ensure a local, transparent investigation takes place.”
Related: Amid fears of ICE raids, Minneapolis businesses say some customers staying home
At a news conference Wednesday, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson stressed the state’s involvement in the investigation, but noted that it is “working in conjunction with the FBI.”
“We don’t comment on active investigations, but also keep in mind that this investigation is in its infancy,” Jacobson said. “So any speculation about what had happened would be just that — and we will not engage in speculation.”
The post Yes, state and local prosecutors can charge federal law enforcement agents with crimes. But it isn’t easy appeared first on MinnPost.
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