Federal authorities blocked Minnesota investigators from accessing evidence after an ICE officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, escalating a jurisdiction dispute between state and federal officials, according to Associated Press reporting.
The shooting killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday. By Thursday, federal authorities told Minnesota law enforcement that they would not be allowed to participate in the investigation or review key evidence, the AP reported, with federal agents asserting control over the case.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged federal officials to reconsider their public statements defending the agent, saying early remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal leaders risked undermining confidence in the investigation’s fairness, according to the AP. Walz also said federal authorities had rescinded a cooperation agreement with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Noem confirmed the decision and said Minnesota had no jurisdiction in the investigation. “They have not been cut out; they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation,” Noem said, according to the AP.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in an interview on CNN that the move to not allow state participation does not mean state officials cannot conduct their own investigation, the AP reported. Local prosecutors in Hennepin County said they were evaluating what legal options might allow state inquiry to continue.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office was “exploring all options to ensure a state level investigation can continue.” In a statement, Moriarty said if the FBI was the sole investigative agency, “the state will not receive the investigative findings,” and the community may never learn about their contents, the AP reported.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended federal agents’ use of force, saying in comments posted on social media that officers often must make split-second decisions in dangerous and chaotic situations. Blanche said the law does not require officers “to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm,” adding that standard protocols ensure evidence is collected and preserved following officer-involved shootings, according to the AP.
Legal experts said the dispute highlights a recurring question raised as federal agents carry out immigration enforcement actions in local communities: whether a federal officer acting under a federally authorized operation can be criminally investigated or charged under state law, the AP reported. The experts noted that attempts at state charges can face legal hurdles tied to constitutional immunity doctrines for federal workers performing job-related duties.
Robert Yablon, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said “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,” according to the AP. Yablon said state prosecutors would have to consider both state and federal laws to overcome immunity hurdles, including showing a violation of state statutes and that the use of force was unconstitutionally excessive under federal law. He added, “If the actions violated the Fourth Amendment, you can’t say those actions were exercised under federal law,” the AP reported.
The AP also reported that the lack of cooperation could complicate how state officials evaluate evidence. It described concerns about whether state investigators would be granted access to training records, standards, or interviews with federal agents if they pursue a separate track.
The dispute comes amid comparisons to other use-of-force cases. The AP said prosecutors, during the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, called a training officer to testify Chauvin acted against department training.
The AP further reported that Samantha Trepel, director of the Rule of Law program at States United Democracy Center and a former Justice Department civil rights prosecutor, wrote a guest piece for Just Security after the shooting focused on what she described as Department of Justice silence toward violent tactics in immigration enforcement. Trepel told AP that the current DOJ lacks the independence she said previous administrations had, and she said that in standard federal investigations of alleged unlawful lethal force, investigators would interview witnesses, collect video, and review policies and training before determining whether an agent committed a prosecutable federal crime. She said, “I hope it’s happening now, but we have little visibility,” the AP reported.
The AP said questions also have emerged about what happened after the shooting, including medical aid. It reported that video circulating from Wednesday shows a man approaching officers identifying himself as a physician and asking whether he could check Good’s pulse and provide aid, while an agent told him to step back and warned he could be arrested if he did not comply. The AP reported that later witness video showed medics unable to reach the scene in their vehicle and people carrying Good away, and that authorities had not said whether post-shooting actions, including efforts to provide medical assistance, would be reviewed as part of the federal investigation.
The AP cited failures to provide or promptly secure medical aid in other fatal police shootings, including the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, where the AP said medical-aid failures were cited among reasons officers were fired and later charged.