Minnesota: Prosecutors reportedly resign over federal probe

Over a dozen federal prosecutors in the US state of Minnesota and in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington have reportedly tendered their resignations, according to the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters news agencies.

The resignations come in connection with ongoing protests against the Trump administration's clampdown on illegal immigration, including a decision by the Justice Department not to launch a criminal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on January 7.

The Justice Department made it clear on Tuesday it did not intend to involve its Civil Rights Division in a probe into Good's shooting. The division typically plays a leading role alongside the FBI in investigating potential civil rights violations and use-of-force by law enforcement officers.

"There is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation," said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday – a stance which marks a sharp departure from the Civil Rights Division's role in such incidents under previous administrations.

For instance, during President Donald Trump's first term in office in 2020, the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis city police officers, resulting in criminal charges.

This time, however, federal officials have merely determined, quickly and without an investigation, that Good was engaging in "an act of domestic terrorism" when she drove her car toward the ICE officer who then allegedly opened fire in self-defense.

Minnesota officials have also accused federal officials of blocking state investigators from accessing evidence and declaring that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.

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Among those prosecutors who have reportedly tendered resignations are around "half a dozen" state prosecutors in Minnesota, including First Assistant US Attorney Joseph Thompson, plus "several" supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington, according to AP.

Reuters also reported that at least 12 prosecutors have resigned, including from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington and the ⁠US Attorney's Office ‍in Minneapolis, citing unnamed sources.

The Justice Department on Tuesday said the prosecutors in question had volunteered for an early retirement program "well before the events in Minnesota" and claimed that "any suggestion to the contrary is false."

Hundreds of Justice Department lawyers have been fired or have left voluntarily over the last year, many reportedly forced out amid concerns over political pressure and shifting priorities under the Trump administration.