Minnesota sues Trump administration over shootings, including deaths of
Alex Pretti and Renee Good
[March 25, 2026]
By HANNAH FINGERHUT and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on
Tuesday for access to evidence they say they need to independently
investigate three shootings by federal officers, including the killings
of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The lawsuit claims that the federal government reneged on its promise to
cooperate with state investigations after the surge of federal law
enforcement in Minneapolis. State officials are seeking a court order
demanding that the Trump administration comply.
“We are prepared to fight for transparency and accountability that the
federal government is desperate to avoid,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary
Moriarty told reporters.
The lawsuit marks an escalation in the clash between Minnesota leaders
and the Trump administration over the investigations into the
high-profile shootings by federal officers that sparked public outcry
and protests. The Trump administration has suggested that Minnesota
officials don’t have jurisdiction to investigate, but state officials
insist they need to conduct their own probes because they don’t trust
the federal government to investigate itself.
“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.
The administration sent thousands of officers to the Minneapolis and St.
Paul area for the immigration crackdown as part of President Donald
Trump’s national deportation campaign. The Department of Homeland
Security considered its largest immigration enforcement operation ever a
success but it was staunchly criticized by Minnesota’s leaders who
raised questions over officers’ conduct.
There continues to be fallout from Operation Metro Surge in the form of
a Homeland Security shutdown, as Democrats in Congress hold up funding
in an effort to secure restraints on Trump’s immigration agenda.
An email seeking comment was sent to Justice Department. A DHS
spokesperson said in an email Tuesday that all shootings are reviewed by
an appropriate law enforcement agency, followed by an independent review
within the agency.
The Justice Department in January said it was opening a federal civil
rights investigation into Pretti’s killing but has said a similar
federal probe was not warranted in the killing of Good. The decision in
Good’s case marked a sharp departure from past administrations, which
moved quickly to investigate shootings of civilians by law enforcement
officials for potential civil rights offenses.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said that the department’s
Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement
shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant
an investigation.”
DHS said Tuesday that Customs and Border Patrol is conducting its own
internal investigation of the Pretti case. On Good, DHS said the matter
remains under investigation but that footage shows Good impeded law
enforcement operations and weaponized her vehicle, leading the officer
to act in self-defense.
Minnesota's lawsuit also demands access to evidence in a third case —
that of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was shot and wounded in his right
thigh by a federal agent in January.
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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty speaks during a news
conference at the Hennepin County Government Center on Aug. 14,
2025, in Minneapolis. (Renée Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP,
File)
Federal officials initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of
beating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with a broom
handle and a snow shovel. But federal prosecutors later dropped all
charges against the men, and authorities opened a criminal
investigation into whether two immigration officers lied under oath
about the shooting.
Both officers are on administrative leave as ICE and DOJ conduct a
joint review, DHS said Tuesday, adding in a statement that ICE is
committed to transparency and accountability.
Minnesota’s lawsuit said the federal government is not permitted to
“withhold investigative evidence for the purpose of shielding law
enforcement officers from scrutiny where a State is investigating
serious potential violations of its criminal laws, targeting its
citizens, within its borders.”
Moriarty said Tuesday that the federal government “has adopted a
policy of categorically withholding evidence,” calling the practice
unprecedented and alarming. She said the lawsuit followed formal
demands for evidence after the federal government blocked Minnesota
investigators from accessing evidence related to the shootings.
Such cases by states against the federal government are highly
unusual, said Rachel Moran, law professor at the University of St.
Thomas in Minneapolis.
That is because local agencies don’t often try to investigate
potential crimes by federal officers, and also because the federal
government rarely refuses to cooperate. The opposite, where state
officials might try to obstruct federal agents, used to be more
common during the civil rights era, Moran said.
“The state should have a chance at success because, what their basic
claim is, is that they have a right to review evidence regarding a
possible crime,” Moran said. “They have not only a right, but an
obligation to investigate whether officers have committed crimes in
their jurisdiction.”
Either outcome of the lawsuit could have significant implications
for federal and state power. If a federal judge grants the state’s
request, Moran said, that provides legal support for state and local
officials to investigate federal officers. If the federal government
is allowed to withhold evidence, it could discourage federal and
state cooperation, she said.
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Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. AP reporter Sarah Raza in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, contributed.
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