A prosecutor previously criticized for targeting law enforcement is asking to lead a probe into a shooting by an immigration agent in Minnesota.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Wednesday that she made the demand after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a driver who drove toward him during anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis. Conservatives blasted Moriarty over the past year for giving no jail time to a Somali rapist and a Tesla vandal and for attempting to prosecute a state trooper who shot a belligerent felon.
“We’ve been in contact with law enforcement leaders, the [attorney general], and the Governor’s Office, and are pushing hard for a local investigation which is the only way to ensure full transparency and review by our office,” Moriarty said in an X post. “We will use every available lever to ensure a local, transparent investigation takes place.”
Moriarty’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
If Moriarty charges the ICE agent, it would not be her first dispute with the Trump administration. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in May that it is investigating Moriarty’s office over a policy directing prosecutors to factor “racial disparities” into plea deals.
The DOJ also announced federal charges in December against a Somali national who received no jail time after pleading guilty to two rapes under an agreement with Moriarty’s office, MPR News reported. Her office also agreed not to charge him for a third rape, but in December, he once again faced local charges over a fourth rape.
“This horrific case illustrates how left-wing soft-on-crime policies and vetting failures put innocent people at dire risk. If Minnesota will not protect its own people, the Department of Justice will do it for them,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said while announcing DOJ charges.
Moriarty called Bondi’s comments “a clear attempt to politicize a sexual assault prosecution to inflict further harm on our entire Somali community.”
Previous efforts by Moriarty to prosecute a law enforcement officer were unsuccessful. Moriarty’s office charged Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan for fatally shooting Ricky Cobb during a July 2023 traffic stop, but dropped the case in June 2024 over a lack of evidence, CBS News reported. Cobb, a convicted felon, tried to flee from the traffic stop while dragging Londregan’s colleague, who was partly inside Cobb’s vehicle as it moved, before he was shot, Alpha News reported.
Moriarty, a former public defender, said in December 2024 that she will not seek reelection after her term ends in January 2027, MPR News reported.
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