Roughly six federal prosecutors in Minnesota have stepped down amidst turmoil surrounding the federal inquiry into the killing of a woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis. Additionally, several supervisors in the criminal division of the Justice Department’s civil rights branch have also submitted their resignations.
The resignations come after escalating tensions following the Trump administration’s decision to exclude the state from the investigation into the shooting of Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an immigration agent. Lawyers in the civil rights division, typically tasked with investigating high-profile officer-involved shootings, were informed that the division would not be part of the probe at this stage.
A senior official at the Justice Department stated on Tuesday that there is currently no basis for initiating a criminal civil rights investigation into Good’s death, marking a significant departure from previous administrations’ swift actions to scrutinize officer-involved shootings for potential civil rights violations.
Among the resigning prosecutors in Minnesota is Joe Thompson, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney who was overseeing a large-scale investigation and prosecution of fraud cases in the state. At least four other prosecutors from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s office have also resigned during a period of internal tension.
The departures of these career prosecutors are part of a broader trend of Justice Department attorneys leaving due to concerns about political pressures and shifting priorities under the Trump administration. Hundreds of Justice Department lawyers have either been dismissed or voluntarily departed over the past year.
Minnesota Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Gov. Tim Walz, have voiced concerns about potential political interference in the Justice Department and the impact on public safety. The resignations within the civil rights division’s criminal section, including its chief, were disclosed to staff on Monday.
The Justice Department clarified that the prosecutors in question had requested early retirement well before the events in Minnesota, refuting any insinuation of a direct link. The civil rights division, established nearly seven decades ago, has a track record of investigating civilian shootings by law enforcement, although prosecuting such cases requires meeting stringent legal standards.
Notably, in a previous instance, the Justice Department under the Trump administration swiftly initiated a civil rights inquiry into the 2020 death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, resulting in criminal charges. The Biden administration separately examined the Minneapolis Police Department for potential systemic civil rights violations through a “pattern or practice” investigation, a type of police reform assessment not favored by the current Justice Department under Trump’s leadership.
