The Justice Department declined Tuesday to open a criminal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, as roughly a half-dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota announced their resignations and several supervisors in the department’s Civil Rights Division gave notice of their departures in Washington.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that “there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation.” The statement, first reported by CNN, offered no elaboration on how the department reached that conclusion.
An FBI investigation into the killing remains ongoing. However, lawyers in the Civil Rights Division were informed last week that they would not play a role in the investigation at this time, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal department deliberations.
The decision marks a sharp departure from prior administrations, which moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officers for potential civil rights offenses. The Civil Rights Division, founded nearly 70 years ago, has a long history of opening and publicly announcing such investigations — both to assert federal jurisdiction over potential civil rights violations and to address community concern following shootings involving law enforcement.
Federal officials have said the ICE officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the car was engaging in what they described as “an act of domestic terrorism” when she pulled forward toward him.
The administration’s quick pronouncements before any meaningful investigation could be completed raised concerns about the thoroughness of the federal review. Minnesota officials also raised alarm after federal officials blocked state investigators from accessing evidence and declared that the state has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.
Departures in Minnesota and Washington
In Minnesota, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson — who had been leading a sprawling investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes in the state — resigned, according to two people familiar with the matter. At least four other prosecutors in the Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office joined Thompson in resigning, those people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
In Washington, several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division, including its chief, gave notice of their departures. The resignations were announced to staff on Monday, days after lawyers in the section were told they would not be involved in the probe.
The Justice Department said Tuesday that those Civil Rights Division prosecutors had requested to participate in an early retirement program “well before the events in Minnesota,” adding that “any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
The departures are among the latest in a broader wave of career Justice Department attorneys who have resigned or been forced out over concerns about political pressure or shifting priorities under the Trump administration. Hundreds of Justice Department lawyers have been fired or have left voluntarily over the last year, according to the Associated Press.
Minnesota officials respond
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the resignations “a loss for our state and for public safety” and warned that prosecutions should not be driven by politics. Gov. Tim Walz said the departures raised concerns about political pressure on career Justice Department officials.
Kristen Clarke, who led the Civil Rights Division under the Biden administration, said the federal government has historically served a critical function in ensuring thorough reviews after law enforcement shootings.
“The level of grief, tension and anxiety on the ground in Minnesota is not surprising,” Clarke said. “And historically the federal government has played an important role by being a neutral and impartial agency committing its resources to conducting a full and fair investigation, and the public loses out when that doesn’t happen.”
Historical contrast
The current posture stands in contrast to prior practice. During the first Trump administration, the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, resulting in criminal charges. The Minneapolis Police Department was separately scrutinized by the Biden administration for potential systemic civil rights violations through a pattern-or-practice investigation — a type of inquiry that the current Trump administration Justice Department has moved away from.