The federal claim of exclusive jurisdiction

Noem confirmed the decision to exclude state investigators on Thursday. “They have not been cut out; they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation,” she said.

Walz said federal authorities rescinded a cooperation agreement with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and urged them to reverse course, warning that Minnesotans were losing confidence in the investigation’s independence. Local prosecutors said they were evaluating their legal options as federal authorities asserted control over the case.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a statement posted on social media, defended federal agents’ use of force, saying officers often must make split-second decisions in dangerous and chaotic situations. The law does not require officers “to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm,” Blanche said, adding that standard protocols ensure evidence is collected and preserved following officer-involved shootings.

Robert Yablon, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and faculty co-director of its State Democracy Research Initiative, said the immunity standard is specific. “The legal standard basically is that a federal officer is immune from state prosecution if their actions were authorized by federal law and necessary and proper to fulfilling their duties,” he said.

A path to state prosecution could exist, Yablon said, but only if the use of force was unconstitutionally excessive. “If the actions violated the Fourth Amendment, you can’t say those actions were exercised under federal law,” he said, referring to constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

State prosecutors would face a two-step burden, Yablon said: first showing a violation of state statutes, then demonstrating the force was unconstitutionally excessive under federal law as well. The lack of cooperation between federal and state authorities further complicates that path, he said.

State officials pursue parallel options

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said on CNN that the FBI’s refusal to allow state participation does not mean state officials cannot conduct their own investigation. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that her office was “exploring all options to ensure a state level investigation can continue.”

“If the FBI is the sole investigative agency, the state will not receive the investigative findings, and our community may never learn about its contents,” Moriarty said.

Local officials in Hennepin County said they would be in the dark if the FBI chose not to share its findings. It remained unclear as of Thursday whether state investigators would be granted access to training records, use-of-force protocols, or interviews with other federal agents present at the scene on Wednesday.

In the prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, prosecutors called one of the department’s training officers to testify that Chauvin had acted against department training — a strategy that may not be available to state officials here if federal records remain inaccessible.

Questions about medical aid after the shooting

Witness video from Wednesday’s shooting showed a man approaching officers and identifying himself as a physician, asking whether he could check Good’s pulse and provide aid. An agent told him to step back, said emergency medics were on the way, and warned him that he could be arrested if he did not comply.

Later video showed medics unable to reach the scene in their vehicle, and people carrying Good away. Authorities have not said whether the response to Good after the shooting will be reviewed as part of the federal investigation.

In other high-profile fatal use-of-force cases, including the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, failures to render medical aid were cited among the reasons officers were fired and later charged.

Concerns about DOJ independence

Samantha Trepel, the Rule of Law program director at States United Democracy Center and a former prosecutor in the Justice Department’s civil rights division who participated in the prosecution of officers involved in Floyd’s death, said the current DOJ lacks the independence of previous administrations.

“In previous administrations, DOJ conducted independent and thorough investigations of alleged federal officers’ excessive force. Even though the feds were investigating feds, they had a track record of doing this work credibly,” Trepel said. “This included bringing in expert investigators and civil rights prosecutors from Washington who didn’t have close relationships and community ties with the individuals they were investigating.”

“I hope it’s happening now, but we have little visibility,” she said. “The administration can conduct immigration enforcement humanely and without these brutal tactics and chaos. They can arrest people who have broken the law and keep the public safe without sacrificing who we are as Americans.”