By Christian Martinez
LOS ANGELES, March 24 (Reuters) – Minnesota sued the federal government on Tuesday, seeking access to evidence in the fatal shootings by federal officers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and a shooting that injured another man during an immigration enforcement surge in the state, according to a complaint.
The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security alleges authorities blocked state investigators from key evidence and information related to the shootings.
In late January, following the killing of Pretti, a court granted the state a temporary restraining order barring federal investigators from destroying evidence in the investigation. The restraining order was eventually dissolved by the judge who granted it.
“Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to set aside Defendants’ unlawful policy of noncooperation and their resulting refusal to comply with the investigative demands of Minnesota authorities,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit highlights the confrontation between local and state officials in Minnesota and the Trump administration over the investigations into the shootings, which fueled protests over the administration’s hard-line immigration crackdown in the state.
A spokesperson for the DHS said in a statement that all shootings are initially reviewed by an appropriate law enforcement agency, followed by an independent review within Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.
The spokesperson said the shooting of Good, a Minneapolis resident and mother of three who was shot dead in her car by an ICE agent on January 7, remains under review.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting of Pretti, an intensive-care-unit nurse who was shot dead in a separate incident on January 24, according to the spokesperson. Homeland Security Investigations is supporting that investigation, with CBP also conducting its own internal investigation, the spokesperson said in the statement.
The spokesperson said a joint review by ICE and DHS into the third shooting, of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, found two officers may have given false statements. The officers are on leave pending an internal investigation and could lose their jobs, the statement said.
“ICE remains fully committed to transparency, accountability, and the fair enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws,” the spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Christian Martinez; Editing by David Gregorio and Chris Reese)
