In a statement, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is addressing the unauthorized release of the Metro Transit video depicting a crash where four women and a teenage girl were killed Friday night. The car they were in collided with a vehicle that reportedly had been speeding on Interstate 35-W in Minneapolis.
That car was driven by 27-year-old Derrick Thompson of Brooklyn Park. He had been hospitalized since the wreck, and Monday was booked into the Hennepin County Jail on probable cause murder. He is the son of former state representative John Thompson.
Moriarty says the graphic video which has been leaked in the opening days of an ongoing investigation is the second time it has happened in less than a month. The other leaked video showed a 41-year old Minneapolis man being run over by a Metro Transit train on May 20.
It deeply impacts the family and loved ones of the victims according to Moriary who adds it also undermines community trust in the criminal legal system.
Here is the full statement by Moriarty:
“Our community is grieving the loss of the five bright young people whose lives were cut short in a senseless, selfish act of reckless driving. Instead of celebrating a joyous wedding, these families were forced to plan funerals and deal with the devastation of this tragedy. As they mourned, these families were further devastated by the shock of seeing the video of the crash that took their loved ones shared widely and without authorization on social media, before they had a chance to view and process it themselves. We do not expect this unauthorized leak to impact our ability to charge this case, are reviewing the investigation, and will make a charging decision soon.
“This unauthorized release is the second time in less than a month that a graphic video has been leaked in the opening days of an ongoing investigation. Leaks like this deeply impact the family and loved ones of the victims and undermine community trust in the criminal legal system. I have expressed my concern to Minneapolis City Attorney Anderson and MPD Chief O’Hara about the unauthorized release of two non-public videos during ongoing investigations without any warning to the families. I appreciate the concern they share about these leaks and their commitment to attempting to address them.”
Moriarity says she does not expect the leaked video to impact her office's ability to charge this case. She says they are reviewing the investigation and will make a charging decision soon.
Minneapolis Police is investigating the unauthorized leak of the video.
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