Former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Andy Luger, is criticizing the federal government's handling of the current immigration operation in the state.
Luger tells WCCO's Chad Hartman that local law enforcement data does not support the claim that undocumented immigrants are the primary drivers of violent crime in the state, creating a solution in search of a problem.
"It is not our number one crime problem in Minnesota," says Luger who also wrote an op-ed in the Minnesota Star Tribune. "It's not even close, and it doesn't warrant the siege that we have seen."
Luger also says the recent resignations of veteran prosecutor Joe Thompson, who served as interim U.S. Attorney before the appointment of new U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, and several others was handled poorly by the DOJ. Thompson and others stepped down after reportedly being pressured to investigate the widow of Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE agent earlier this month, and not to investigate the person who shot her.
"They were then fired by the Attorney General for no reason, and their health benefits and their paid leave that they had earned over 20 years is cut off," Luger says.
Luger is calling for a return to locally-led investigations into the recent deaths of two U.S. citizens involving federal agents, Good and this past Saturday's shooting of Alex Pretti. Luger says this is the normal practice, and has been under every previous administration he's aware of, and breaks decades of law enforcement tradition.
Luger addes it undermines the transparency needed to maintain the public's trust.
"You need to be able to tell the community what you discovered happened," he explained. "In every investigation I've worked on, there were facts uncovered in favor of the officer, or against, that helped lead to a conclusion that not everybody agreed with. But at least you know the facts."
Luger went on to say current federal directives from Washington and the Trump administration have "flipped the switch" toward a less professional, politically driven approach instead of fully cooperating with local law enforcement.