Minnesota is suing Trump administration for withholding evidence of shootings by federal officers

This comes after multiple requests from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for evidence. And it's a process that County Attorney Mary Moriarty says is unprecedented.

"There has to be an investigation any time a federal agent or a state agent takes the life of a person in our community, and the decision may be it was lawful," Moriarty said Tuesday. "You don't know, but that's why you do the investigation."

The lawsuit claims that the federal government reneged on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after Operation Metro Surge, asking the court to order they comply.

The administration sent thousands of officers to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for the immigration crackdown as part of President Donald Trump’s national deportation campaign. The Department of Homeland Security considered its largest immigration enforcement operation ever a success but was staunchly criticized by Minnesota’s leaders and raised questions over officers’ conduct.

The lawsuit said the federal government is not permitted to “withhold investigative evidence for the purpose of shielding law enforcement officers from scrutiny where a State is investigating serious potential violations of its criminal laws, targeting its citizens, within its borders.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says that both the Trump administration and state law enforcement should share the same goal of maintaining transparency with the public.

"All we ask for is for the federal government's cooperation, which the people of Minnesota are entitled to and have been denied thus far," said the Attorney General. "Which is why we're seeking relief from the court."

Ellison says the suppression of this information undermines Minnesota's sovereign right to investigate these cases.

"Minnesotans saw Renee Good and Alex Pretti die at the hands of federal agents," adds Moriarty. "Julio Sosa Solis was shot and ICE agents lied about what happened. Now, Minnesotans are seeing their federal government hide evidence and obstruct investigations into these incidents."

A federal judge will now determine if the agencies must comply with state evidence demands as the civil litigation moves forward. So far, there's been no comment from DHS and the Justice Department.

The Justice Department in January said it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s killing but has said a similar federal probe was not warranted in the killing of Good. The decision in Good’s case marked a sharp departure from past administrations, which moved quickly to investigate shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.

"The federal government has adopted a policy of categorically withholding evidence from us related to shootings involving federal agents during Operation Metro Surge," Moriarty adds. "This is an alarming change from the historical practice of evidence sharing and undermines our rights as a sovereign state."

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said that the department’s Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant an investigation.”

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Tuesday that the federal government “has adopted a policy of categorically withholding evidence,” calling the practice unprecedented and alarming.