Federal prosecutors resign amid turmoil over Minnesota ICE shooting investigation
Resignations come as Trump administration blocks Minnesota officials from probe
Roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned amid turmoil over the federal investigation into the killing of a woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, according to people familiar with the matter.
Several supervisors in the criminal section of the Justice Department's civil rights division have also given notice of their departures, they said.
The resignations follow growing tensions over a decision by the Trump administration to block the state out of the investigation into the shooting of Renee Good, who was fatally shot in the head by an immigration agent last week.
Lawyers in the civil rights division, which generally investigates high-profile officer shootings, were also recently told that the section would not be involved in the probe at this stage, two people familiar with the matter said.
The Justice Department does not believe there is currently any basis to open a criminal civil rights investigation into Good's killing, a top department official said Tuesday.
The decision to keep the division out of the investigation marks a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.
Among the departures in Minnesota is First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who had been leading the sprawling investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes in the state, two other people said.
At least four other prosecutors in the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office joined Thompson in resigning amid a period of tension in the office, the people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
Concerns over political pressure
The resignations are the latest in an exodus of career Justice Department attorneys who have resigned or been forced out over concerns over political pressure or shifting priorities under the Trump administration. Hundreds of Justice Department lawyers have been fired or have left voluntarily over the last year.
Minnesota Democratic lawmakers criticized the departures, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling the resignations "a loss for our state and for public safety" and warning that prosecutions should not be driven by politics.
Gov. Tim Walz said the departures raised concerns about political pressure on career Justice Department officials.
The resignations of the lawyers in the civil rights division's criminal section, including its chief, were announced to staff on Monday.
The Justice Department on Tuesday said those prosecutors had requested to participate in an early retirement program "well before the events in Minnesota," and added that "any suggestion to the contrary is false."
Founded nearly 70 years ago, the civil rights division has a long history of investigating shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials even though prosecutors typically need to clear a high bar to mount a criminal prosecution.
In prior administrations, the division has moved quickly to open and publicly announce such investigations, not only to reflect federal jurisdiction over potential civil rights violations but also in hopes of soothing community angst that sometimes accompanies shootings involving law enforcement.
In Minneapolis, for instance, the Justice Department during the first Trump administration opened a civil rights investigation into the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of city police officers that resulted in criminal charges.
The Minneapolis Police Department was separately scrutinized by the Biden administration for potential systemic civil rights violations through what's known as a "pattern or practice" investigation, a type of police reform inquiry that is out of favor in the current Trump administration Justice Department.