Justice Dept. in Minnesota targets critics while resisting civil‑rights probes
The New York Times reports that, in Minnesota this month, the Trump Justice Department has pushed prosecutors and the F.B.I. to focus on critics of its immigration crackdown while resisting traditional civil‑rights investigations into two fatal, video‑recorded shootings — of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — the article said on Jan.
29, 2026. Attorney General Pam Bondi and her chief deputy, Todd Blanche, have so far resisted authorizing civil‑rights probes into the officers involved. Department leaders have redirected attention to demonstrators and critics, pressing prosecutors and the F.B.I. to investigate politicians, protesters and relatives of victims, the report says.
That approach has strained the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis: prosecutors confronted the Trump‑appointed U.S. attorney, Daniel Rosen, over orders from Washington, and several prosecutors have quit or threatened to resign amid a mounting staffing crisis. In the case of Renee Good, local federal prosecutors and agents had begun a civil‑rights inquiry into the agent who shot her and obtained a warrant to examine her car, the Times reports.
Justice Department leaders interrupted that work, ordered the focus shifted to links between Good’s partner and activists, scrapped the original warrant and obtained a new one seeking evidence of a possible assault on the agent. Officials also retracted an evidence‑sharing agreement with local authorities, citing alleged bias.
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