Justice Department halts cooperation in Good and Pretti probes, state officials say

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota law enforcement officials say the federal government is again refusing to share evidence from the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during Operation Metro Surge.

The abrupt change comes after previous statements from state officials that evidence sharing had begun and working relationships with federal officials were returning to normal.

It creates new roadblocks in the state’s attempt to complete a full investigation into the killings without key pieces of evidence, and raises questions about potential criminal charges against the federal agents involved.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that the continued withholding of evidence shows the federal government is “intent on obstructing our investigations for however long they can.”

In July, Moriarty announced that state investigators were provided evidence from the federal government, including hard drives, body camera footage and statements from immigration enforcement agents about the killings.

“The wonderful thing is now we have all the evidence,” she said at the time. “We don’t have to speculate about what we don’t have, so that certainly makes our analysis easier.”

But in court filings last week, attorneys for the state of Minnesota said the Justice Department still has not provided crucial pieces of evidence in both shootings, including the cell phone of ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who shot Good. The attorneys argued that the evidence is critical to complete a thorough investigation.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said in a declaration that the Justice Department has also not provided the firearms used to shoot Pretti and a recording of a statement by one of the officers who shot him.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment about the sudden change. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s questions about what prompted the pause.

Tension over evidence sharing has clouded the investigations into the killings of Good and Pretti since they occurred. Initially, the BCA was not allowed to take part in a joint investigation into the use of force by federal agents, breaking with working norms between state and federal law enforcement.

That lack of cooperation led state officials to claim that they were in “uncharted territory” when it came to determining whether or not crimes had been committed during Operation Metro Surge.

Moriarty announced over the summer that state investigators had received the SUV that Good was driving at the time she was shot, among other crucial items, after months of efforts. Evans added that they were provided the gun used to shoot Good, body-worn camera footage, hard drives with information about the shooting of Pretti, and more.

The prior agreement between the state and U.S. Attorney’s Office came with an acknowledgement from federal prosecutors that “the best course for these investigations will be impartial and open sharing of information and evidence.”

Shortly after that announcement, however, the sharing of evidence allegedly stopped with no explanation.

The latest details on the shift came in a court filing in a federal lawsuit between the State of Minnesota and the Department of Justice over the lack of cooperation.

Moriarty, in court filings, said she repeatedly contacted Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen about the stoppage. Rosen responded that he was “optimistic” the exchange of information would restart “soon.”

On Sept. 10, Moriarty said she was informed by Rosen that evidence sharing and cooperation would be paused “indefinitely,” due to “challenges with D.C.”

“All of this signals that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will not be able to share any more evidence” with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office or the BCA unless “there is a change in policy at the highest levels of DOJ,” Moriarty wrote.

Evans listed several examples of recent cooperation between the parties in law enforcement matters, including the politically-motivated shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their families last year. He also said it has been the norm in federal officer-involved shootings, citing a 2019 shooting of a suspect by a deputy U.S. Marshal at a gas station in St. Paul.

Moriarty noted that collaboration between state and federal officials otherwise continues as normal, including in homicide cases, mass shootings and drug cases.

U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan is overseeing the federal lawsuit after the state of Minnesota, through Attorney General Keith Ellison and Moriarty, sought to force the federal government to turn over all evidence related to the killings.

The Justice Department has asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that the release of the evidence is at the discretion of various federal agencies and that Minnesota officials failed to comply with those regulations when requesting the evidence.

Moriarty said the state is asking for Sullivan to “bring an end to this case and secure the evidence to which we are entitled.”

The shootings sparked global outrage and protests amid Operation Metro Surge, the 10-week immigration crackdown that sent about 4,000 federal agents to Minnesota.

Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by Ross on Jan. 7 on Portland Avenue as she appeared to drive her SUV away from federal agents who had been carrying out immigration enforcement down the street.

Ross, who six months earlier had been dragged down the street by his arm by a man fleeing a traffic stop in Bloomington, fired while standing near the front of Good’s SUV.

Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot about two weeks later on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis after a confrontation with federal agents in the area. Pretti was filming the agents and seen with a gun holstered. He had a permit to carry.

After a confrontation, a federal agent sprayed Pretti in the face with a chemical irritant and several federal agents swarmed the area, wrestling Pretti to the ground. An agent appeared to take Pretti’s gun and run away just before 10 shots rang out, killing him.

The Justice Department has previously said it is investigating the killing of Pretti.