Minnesota, county attorneys say feds now sharing evidence in ICE surge shootings, including Renee Good's SUV
The top prosecutors of Minnesota and Hennepin County say federal investigators are now sharing evidence in connection to the shootings by immigration agents in the state amid Operation Metro Surge earlier this year in Minneapolis, including Renee Good's SUV.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have been pushing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice for months to share evidence related to the deaths of Good and Alex Pretti — killed on Jan. 7 and Jan. 24, respectively — and the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis on Jan. 14.
Moriarty announced in a news conference Monday morning that the breakthrough happened two weeks ago, with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota working to bridge the divide between local and federal officials.
Moriarty says this is also a two-way street, with local investigators agreeing to share evidence with the feds. She says so far, the evidence has been flowing specifically in the case of Good, who was killed while driving away from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross off East 34th Street and Portland Avenue.
"We did get the hard drives from our federal partners that includes statements, body-worn cameras we got and the BCA currently has Renee Good's car that is being analyzed," Moriarty said. "We are not at the point now to talk about the state of any of the evidence. We are thoroughly looking at it to see what we have and put things together."
In a joint statement released with Moriarty Monday, Ellison called the evidence sharing "a positive development" on the path to justice for Sosa-Celis, and the families of Good and Pretti.
"I remain deeply troubled that the federal government spent more than half a year attempting to conceal this evidence from state investigators, and I hope this is the beginning of a major course correction on the part of the federal government," Ellison said.
Two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been identified in the shootings: Ross and Christian Castro, who shot Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis. Ross has not been charged in Good's death, but Castro was arrested and charged with several counts of assault and falsely reporting a crime, with prosecutors accusing him of firing through Sosa-Celis' front door while young children were home.
Pretti was shot dead by two unidentified U.S. Border Patrol and Protection officers near the busy intersection of West 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue South. Both Pretti and Good were acting as citizen observers when they were killed.
A federal judge ordered Homeland Security and the justice department in late January to preserve evidence in Good and Pretti's cases, and Moriarty and Ellison sued the departments in March for withholding access.
This story will be updated.
