Minnesota sues Trump administration to access evidence from three federal shootings during ICE surge

Lawsuit alleges federal officials refused to give Minnesota investigators basic information, including the names of federal agents involved in the shootings
State authorities said in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a D.C.

federal court, that they have been stonewalled while trying to access the information after the deadly shootings that sparked angry protests across the nation.

The fatal shootings garnered international attention, in part because federal officials offered a different account from what videos of the incidents, posted online, captured.

In the case of Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan man who was shot in the leg but survived, at least two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are under investigation after being suspected of lying about the events leading up to the shooting.

“At stake is not only Plaintiffs’ access to evidence central to these shootings but also a fundamental principle of our constitutional system: that the States retain the sovereign authority—and responsibility—to investigate crimes committed within their borders,” the state said.

Good, the mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on January 7, as she was maneuvering her vehicle in Minneapolis during the initial surge of immigration enforcement in the state.

Minnesota officials said in the lawsuit that federal investigators initially agreed to collaborate with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on the investigation but later refused access to evidence collected at the scene.

That includes the firearm used and shell casings.

The lawsuit alleges state investigators were also barred from being present during an interview with the federal officers involved in the fatal shooting – later, they were refused basic information, such as the names of those officers involved.

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