Minneapolis, MN
Fatal ICE shooting sparks jurisdiction clash between state and federal authorities
A day after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, the case escalated sharply Thursday when federal authorities blocked state investigators from accessing evidence and declared that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.
Legal experts said the dispute highlights a central question raised repeatedly as federal agents are deployed into cities for immigration enforcement: whether a federal officer carrying out a federally authorized operation can be criminally investigated or charged under state law.
The FBI told Minnesota law enforcement officials they would not be allowed to participate in the investigation or review key evidence in the shooting, which killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday. Local prosecutors said they were evaluating their legal options as federal authorities asserted control over the case.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged federal officials to reconsider, saying early public statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal leaders defending the agent risked undermining confidence in the investigation’s fairness.
Experts say there’s narrow precedent for state charges. And sometimes attempts at those charges have been cut short by claims of immunity under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which protects federal workers performing federally sanctioned, job-related duties. But that immunity isn’t a blanket protection for all conduct, legal experts said.
What is the standard for immunity?
If charges are brought, the federal agent is likely to argue he is immune from state prosecution under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“The legal standard basically is that a federal officer is immune from state prosecution if their actions were authorized by federal law and necessary and proper to fulfilling their duties,” said Robert Yablon, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Yablon, who is the faculty co-director of the school’s State Democracy Research Initiative, said state prosecutors would have to consider both state and federal laws to overcome the hurdles of immunity. They would first need to show a violation of state statutes to bring charges, but also that the use of force was unconstitutionally excessive under federal law.
“If the actions violated the Fourth Amendment, you can’t say those actions were exercised under federal law,” he said, referring to the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
Hurdles to state charges
The whole endeavor is made more complicated if there is not cooperation between federal and state authorities to investigate the shooting.
Walz said federal authorities rescinded a cooperation agreement with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and he urged them to reverse course, warning that Minnesotans were losing confidence in the investigation’s independence. Noem confirmed the decision, saying: “They have not been cut out; they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”
State officials have been vocal about finding a way to continue their own parallel investigation.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during an interview on CNN that the move by federal authorities to not allow state participation does not mean state officials can’t conduct their own investigation.
But local officials in Hennepin County said they’d be in the dark if the FBI chose not to share their findings. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that her office is “exploring all options to ensure a state level investigation can continue.”
“If the FBI is the sole investigative agency, the state will not receive the investigative findings, and our community may never learn about its contents,” she said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended federal agents’ use of force, saying Thursday that officers often must make split-second decisions in dangerous and chaotic situations. In a statement posted on social media, Blanche said the law does not require officers “to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm,” and added that standard protocols ensure evidence is collected and preserved following officer-involved shootings.
In many cases involving use-of-force, investigators examine how the specific officer was trained, if they followed their training or if they acted against standard protocol in the situation. It’s unclear if state investigators will be granted access to training records and standards or even interviews with other federal agents at the scene Wednesday, if they continue a separate investigation.
During the prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, prosecutors called one of the department’s training officers to testify that Chauvin acted against department training.
Precedents and other legal issues
Samantha Trepel, the Rule of Law program director at States United Democracy Center and a former prosecutor with the Justice Department’s civil rights division, wrote a guest article for Just Security Wednesday in the wake of the fatal shooting. The piece focused on the Department of Justice silence in the face of violent tactics being used in immigration enforcement efforts.
Trepel, who participated in the prosecution of officers involved in Floyd’s death, told AP Thursday that the current DOJ lacks the independence of previous administrations.
“In previous administrations, DOJ conducted independent and thorough investigations of alleged federal officers’ excessive force. Even though the feds were investigating feds, they had a track record of doing this work credibly,” Trepel said. “This included bringing in expert investigators and civil rights prosecutors from Washington who didn’t have close relationships and community ties with the individuals they were investigating.”
Trepel said in a standard federal investigation of alleged unlawful lethal force, the FBI and DOJ would conduct a thorough investigation interviewing witnesses, collecting video, reviewing policies and training, before determining whether an agent committed a prosecutable federal crime.
“I hope it’s happening now, but we have little visibility,” she said. “The administration can conduct immigration enforcement humanely and without these brutal tactics and chaos. They can arrest people who have broken the law and keep the public safe without sacrificing who we are as Americans.”
Questions about medical aid after the shooting
In other high-profile fatal police shootings, officers have faced administrative discipline for failing to provide or promptly secure medical aid after using force.
Video circulating from Wednesday’s shooting shows a man approaching officers and identifying himself as a physician, asking whether he could check Good’s pulse and provide aid. An agent tells him to step back, says emergency medics are on the way, and warns him that he could be arrested if he does not comply.
Witness video later showed medics unable to reach the scene in their vehicle, and people carrying Good away. Authorities have not said whether actions taken after the shooting, including efforts to provide medical assistance, will be reviewed as part of the federal investigation.
In other cases, including the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, failures to render medical aid were cited among the reasons officers were fired and later charged.
Dozens of community members flooded Minneapolis City Hall Wednesday to express concerns about a proposed drone program for Minneapolis police.
Nearly 50 people signed up to speak at the City Council’s public health, safety and equity committee meeting. Residents filled all of the seats in the council chambers reserved for the public, and an overflow room next door.
“We just spent months enduring a brutal winter of military-equipped federal occupation and terrorization, and on the heels of that, you wish to provide military-grade drone tech to the cops in our already over-surveilled neighborhoods?” said north Minneapolis resident Will Reely, referring to federal immigration enforcement during Operation Metro Surge. “You can’t be serious.”
Speakers said they don’t trust how the police would use drones, and are concerned the technology could be used as surveillance and lead to invasion of privacy.
Several people also sat in the hallway outside of the council chambers and streamed the hearing. The 1:30 p.m. meeting began with Minneapolis police officials outlining a free, 75-day pilot program that would allow the police department to use drones as “first responders.”
The committee moved to put the pilot program for a vote before the full council on July 16, which will not feature an additional public comment period on the issue. Should the council approve the program, the trial period would begin as soon as July 20.
The project would be conducted in the police department’s Fourth Precinct on the city’s north side, and hopes to reduce 911 response times by using drones to livestream video of potential crime scenes before officers arrive. The drones, which would be equipped with parachutes, police markings and lights, would be provided by Skydio, a California company.
Several community members noted that Skydio is known to supply drones to the Israeli government, which has used the technology during their military campaign against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
“We see them as weapons of war and mass surveillance, and do not want them to be used to kill or control people at home or abroad,” Minneapolis resident Meredith Aby said of Skydio drones. “The people of Minneapolis do not want Skydio’s blood on its hands.”
More speakers questioned whether Minneapolis police would use the drones for the intended purpose, and questioned whether their use would actually improve safety.
“What I don’t understand is why we would implement a drone program under the guise of public safety,” Avery Winters told council members. “We the people don’t trust the people or the system administering this.”
Before the public comment period, Minneapolis police officials presented the pilot program to the City Council committee, saying that it would improve officer and community safety and help with staffing challenges. Andy Skoogman, chief of staff for the city’s Office of Community Safety, said officers can use drones to determine whether they need to report to a scene, improving the department’s efficiency.
“Drones are not a replacement for police officers, for firefighters, for EMS [Emergency Medical Services] personnel or other first responders,” Skoogman, who is not a police officer, told council members. “They’re simply a tool that helps ensure the right resources are sent to the right call at the right time.”
Thomas Campbell, deputy chief of patrol in Minneapolis police’s special operations division, said the drones would be operated remotely, would only be activated at potential crime scenes, and that their cameras would be pointed away from private property. Footage that isn’t considered evidence would be deleted after seven days, he said.
Minneapolis police have been using drones for other purposes since 2022, and have a fleet of 29 drones. Officers currently launch drones from the trunks of their squad cars, and deploy them after they’ve been requested by officers who are already present at a scene. The proposed program would allow drones to scope out a scene before officers arrive.
Minnesota law allows local police departments to use drones without a search warrant in specific cases:
- during or in the aftermath of an emergency situation that involves the risk of death or bodily harm to a person;
- at a public event where there is heightened risk to the safety of attendees;
- to collect information from a public area if there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, among other situations;
- to document evidence that is at imminent risk of destruction;
- to search for a missing person;
- to counter the risk of a terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization if the agency determines that credible intelligence indicates a risk;
- to prevent the loss of life and property in natural or man-made disasters and to facilitate operational planning, rescue, and recovery operations in the aftermath of these disasters;
- over a private area with the written consent of the occupant or a public area, for officer training or public relations purposes;
- to collect information for crash reconstruction purposes after a serious or deadly collision occurring on a public road;
- to conduct a threat assessment in anticipation of a specific event;
- for purposes unrelated to law enforcement at the request of a government entity provided that the government entity makes the request in writing to the law enforcement agency and specifies the reason for the request and proposed period of use.
Ward 4 City Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, who represents the area where the pilot program would occur, wrote a legislative directive this spring that prompted the program. At the end of Wednesday’s meeting, she reassured community members that the goal is to reduce response times and limit police interactions with the public.
“This is not surveillance,” Vetaw said. “Someone has to call in for the drone to be dispatched, and the dashboard will be set up where people can track how the drone was being used and what for during the service.”
Committee members asked a few technical questions during the hearing about how the drone program would work, but several of them said they were saving more discussion and personal views of the program for the full council vote next week.
A major traffic shift will start on one of Minnesota’s busiest highways Wednesday morning.
Eastbound lanes of Interstate 394 between Louisiana Avenue in St. Louis Park and downtown Minneapolis will be down to two lanes, with no EZ-Pass options. That means getting from the west metro to downtown Minneapolis could be tricky. Officials say drivers should expect increased traffic around St. Louis Park through the fall.
The change comes as westbound I-394 fully reopens after several months of construction, plus a return-to-normal entry to westbound I-394 from westbound Interstate 94 after the Lowry Hill Tunnel.
Crews have been working on the $67 million project since July 2025 to repair and restore more than 30 bridges across the 394 corridor.
While eastbound drivers are finding fewer lanes, westbound drivers are finding freedom
Nathan Bowie with the Minnesota Department of Transportation says construction has been going well and while the reopening of the westbound lanes marks an important milestone, the work is far from over.
“We understand that construction can be an inconvenience. It can be frustrating,” Bowie said. “We’re really asking folks to be patient, plan ahead, give yourself some extra travel time.”
The project also includes several ramp closures, including eastbound I-394 ramps at Penn and Cedar Lake avenues and the connection to westbound I-94.
Bryn Mawr resident Dan Spengler said he’s noticed more drivers shifting to neighborhood streets to avoid backups and expects that to only get worse.
“I believe in what they’re doing, but they need to manage the neighborhoods better because people are driving through the neighborhood with nowhere to go, so they are speeding through neighborhoods,” Spengler said.
Bowie says crews will be putting on signs in neighborhoods where traffic is expected to swell, reminding folks of the speed limit.
Businesses along I-394, like Good Day Cafe, are also feeling the squeeze
“We’d like to have all the roads open, yes,” said manager Jamie Flynn. “I mean, right now we’re very fortunate, for like I said, the guests and sort of the people that know to come here that have been for years and years.”
The new traffic pattern is expected to stay in place through November. Officials want drivers to follow posted detours and pay attention to ensure a smooth transition.
More information about the project is available on the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s website.
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