It has been reported that in mid-July the federal government provided state law enforcement and local prosecutors with all the evidence it had collected during the investigations into the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier this year.
There have been significant objections raised by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over the federal government’s decision to investigate these cases at the federal level without the assistance of state and local investigators.
Back in January, when these fatal shootings had occurred, I wrote that I believed the reason federal authorities had decided against allowing state and local investigators to assist in the investigation, was to ensure justice by insulating the investigations from the circus that recent officer involved shootings had devolved into locally.
“I sense that the decision to pull the investigation completely under federal oversight has nothing to do with quality of work established by the BCA’s Force Investigations Unit. That unit has demonstrated itself to be the gold standard in investigating use-of-force incidents.
Instead, it likely has everything to do with the earned distrust of political forces in Minnesota that have shown their lack of impartiality in this case and others like it in the past.
The federal government rightfully has decided against subjecting this investigation (or it’s agent) to the circus-like atmosphere that has existed in recent officer-involved shootings (OIS’s) in Minnesota. Political leadership including Governor Walz, Attorney General Ellison, Hennepin County Attorney Moriarty, Minneapolis Mayor Frey, and US Senator Klobuchar have no one to blame but themselves.”
What is the actual “norm?”
One aspect of this issue that hasn’t received the attention it deserves is the fact that the feds have always investigated their own. Recent efforts by state and local officials to turn that fact upside down are just plain false.
To hear Mary Moriarty describe things on Almanac last week, one would think that it has been long standing practice for state and local authorities to investigate on-duty federal agents who used deadly force in the course of their duties. It hasn’t been – ever. Yet, on Almanac Moriarty suggested that state and local authorities were in unison on the issue.
“We had extensive conversations with locals here and everybody wanted to get back to the way things had always been done.”
When I heard her say this, I had to shake my head. She knows what she said is wrong, but she also knows she won’t be challenged over it. She probably believes that if she repeats it enough times, it will just become “fact” – and sadly she’s probably correct.
The fact is – across the nation, federal agencies have always taken the lead on investigating deadly force incidents involving their on-duty agents. The general basis for this is found in the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, while the specific issue around on-duty agents being immune from state prosecution was established in the US Supreme Court case, In re Neagle (1890).
My experience with this locally goes back four decades as a local law enforcement officer in Hennepin County. Throughout my career I worked on several federal task forces and commanded dozens of deputies assigned to federal task forces. I was involved in reviewing and signing on to the memorandums of understanding between the feds and our local agency. Through it all there was never a question in anyone’s mind what would happen if a federal agent assigned to one of these task forces used deadly force – the feds would take over the investigation and state and local officers would assist if requested. Period.
Fortunately, federal agents have rarely had to use deadly force throughout our local history. The only previous time a federal agent used deadly force locally in at least the past 40 years was in 2023. In that case an FBI sniper had to shoot and kill a fugitive who took a hostage when confronted with arrest. Minneapolis police and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office were quick to confirm their officers/deputies had not used deadly force, and that because an FBI agent had used deadly force their respective agencies would be assisting the FBI only if requested. A WCCO article noted:
“According to the FBI, its National Inspection Division – and not its Minneapolis Field Office – will review the incident. They have not asked for assistance from local agencies.”
No outrage from Moriarty or Ellison, no statements by the Governor, and no analysis by legal experts. Why not? Because it was and always has been standard protocol for federal agencies to investigate the actions of on duty federal agents.
What changed you ask? The President and the irrational hatred by far too many for anything associated with him.
The takaway
Those suggesting that the federal government’s actions in conducting its own investigations into the Good and Pretti cases was anything, but the norm are simply trying to re-write history for political gain.
