ICE agent accused of assault for pulling gun on 2 people on Twin Cities highway, charges say
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent faces assault charges for allegedly pointing a gun at two people on a Twin Cities highway during Operation Metro Surge.
Gregory Morgan Jr. of Temple Hills, Maryland, was charged in Hennepin County Thursday morning with two counts of second-degree assault in the Feb. 5 incident.
Charges say that the two victims were driving east on Highway 62 on the Interstate 35W interchange, when Morgan approached from behind in an unmarked black Ford Expedition. Charges say he was driving illegally on the right shoulder when the victim in the other car said they moved in front of him to "cut him off."
The victim then moved back to the traffic lane and Morgan pulled up beside them, pointing a black handgun at the two occupants of the car, charges say. The occupants, not realizing that Morgan was an ICE agent, called 911.
The two victims shared video of the incident to the Minnesota State Patrol, which tracked the Utah license plate of the Ford Expedition. It had been rented out to Morgan's partner, who was in the back seat of the car at the time of the incident, documents say.
In a voluntary interview, Morgan said he was "conducting surveillance on behalf of ICE" and said he feared for his safety when he was cut off on the highway. He said he drew his firearm and yelled "Police Stop," then drove back to the Whipple Federal Building near Fort Snelling.
Morgan, 35, was charged by warrant because "there is a substantial likelihood that [he] will fail to respond to a summons and because his present location is not reasonably discoverable," charging documents say.
"Today's charges reflect an important milestone in our effort to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge," said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.
She added that her office believes that Morgan's actions were "extremely dangerous" and "well beyond" the scope of his authority as a law enforcement agent. Moriarty believes the charges against the agent are the first of their kind nationally.
The charges come after Moriarty's office launched an online portal to collect evidence of what she called illegal activity during Operation Metro Surge.
The office said it was looking into 17 incidents, including ICE activity at Roosevelt High School the day after an agent fatally shot Renee Good.
Another incident involves allegations of force used by former Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino near Minneapolis' Mueller Park. Footage from the Jan. 22 incident shows Bovino toss chemical irritants into a crowd of anti-ICE protesters.
Her office has conducted roughly 50 interviews with witnesses. Still, the federal government hasn't shared the names of agents allegedly involved in all the incidents and is continuing to "obstruct" their investigations, Moriarty said. She was able to file charges against Morgan because the state patrol had tracked him down and collected a statement from him.
Since the surge, Moriarty's office sued the federal government alongside Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, alleging that they are being blocked from investigating the shootings of Good, Alex Pretti and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
Investigating and prosecuting federal agents could present its challenges but "there is no absolute immunity," she said.
Her office also created an online portal to collect evidence in Good and Pretti's shootings that has since gone offline as the office received over 1,000 submissions.
