Minnesota, US officials clash over investigation into ICE agent’s killing of woman
Federal authorities freeze out state investigators as Vice-President J.D. Vance calls the death of Renee Nicole Good a ‘tragedy of her own making’
The investigation into the killing of a US citizen by an ICE agent in Minneapolis this week is being complicated by clashes between federal and local officials, with the FBI taking control over the objections of Governor Tim Walz.
State authorities questioned whether a federal probe could be trusted, especially given comments by Trump administration officials that seemed to exonerate the officer. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said that after it was invited to participate in the probe of Wednesday’s shooting, federal officials later decided the state wouldn’t get access to evidence or interviews.
“Now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation, it feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome,” Walz said at a press conference Thursday.
As tense protests continued for a second day, Walz said he ordered the state National Guard to be “staged and ready” to assist with protecting infrastructure and aiding local law enforcement if needed.
It’s unusual for federal law enforcement officials to take sole control of an investigation in which both state and federal laws may have been violated. Federal agents typically conduct joint probes with state and local law enforcement and cooperate in the sharing of evidence, as was initially the case in the Minneapolis shooting before the FBI changed course.