Federal prosecutors resign amid dispute over Minnesota ICE shooting probe

Independent.co reports that roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned and several supervisors in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division have given notice 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.

The departures follow tensions over a Trump administration decision to block the state out of the investigation into the shooting of Renee Good, and lawyers in the Civil Rights Division were recently told the division would not be involved at this stage, two people familiar with the matter said.

Among the Minnesota departures 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, and at least four other prosecutors joined him in resigning. The resignations of lawyers in the Civil Rights Division's criminal section, including its chief, were announced to staff on Monday; the Justice Department said on Tuesday 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." The Civil Rights Division, founded nearly 70 years ago, has a long history of investigating shootings by law enforcement but prosecutors typically face a high bar to bring criminal charges.

Key Topics

Politics, Civil Rights Division, Justice Department, Renee Good, Joe Thompson, Ice