In light of the ICE agent involved shooting earlier this week in Minneapolis, it’s important to note that these investigations take considerable time to complete. Great care must be given to ensure evidence is collected and statements are documented in accordance with the law. This doesn’t always mesh well with public expectations or the constant flow of information and speculation coming from legacy and social media sources.
We owe the situation our patience and we would do well to trust and support the investigative process. With every new video or investigative reporter’s finding, the patience to allow the investigation to be completed before passing judgement becomes more difficult.
Gerald Posner, an investigative journalist and expert in the Kennedy Assassination, wrote about the Minneapolis investigation earlier this week.
“In the Minneapolis case, the full picture is not yet available. We do not have all eyewitness accounts. We do not have all available video, including footage captured by federal agents themselves. We do not have complete forensic analysis or a reconstructed timeline that integrates what happened before, during, and after the confrontation.
Those things take time. They always have.
We live in an era that demands instant answers. The pressure to know now—to declare judgment fast—is immense. But impatience is not a virtue in fact-finding. It is a liability. When narratives harden before evidence is assembled, accuracy becomes the casualty.”
As it stands now, the FBI will complete the investigation over the coming months and turn the results of their investigation over to attorneys with the Justice Department. Those attorneys will review the entire investigation before deciding whether the use of force was justified by law. If they determine it was justified, the case will be completed. If they determine it wasn’t, they will need to determine whether to proceed with a criminal prosecution.
Knowing the time this will take and knowing that other significant incidents are likely to occur, it would benefit the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to establish a method of providing consistent and timely information about these incidents and the follow up to them.
The work being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents is legitimate and important, and deserves better care in how it’s portrayed. The current system of conveying information is not working as well as it could and that has opened the door for opponents of ICE to distort the narrative. Federal authorities would be wise to improve the frequency and consistency of the information shared and return the focus to the legitimate work being done.
