Minnesota officials are planning to investigate the actions of federal law enforcement officers in one county, potentially including a kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said they planned to release more details about the investigation at a news conference later Monday. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul.
Choi and Fletcher said they will pursue information they need for the investigation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The department has refused so far to cooperate with other state and local investigations into the killings by federal officers of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The news conference announcement did not specify which incident is being investigated, but the county's chief prosecutor and sheriff said they would ask the public for information about this and other incidents.
The state and the chief prosecutor in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, sued the Trump administration last month to gain access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The lawsuit accuses the federal government of reneging on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after the surge of around 3,000 federal law enforcement officers into Minnesota.
Minnesota and Hennepin County have also appealed to the public to share information about federal officers' potentially illegal activities, given the refusal by federal authorities to provide evidence.
The Trump administration has suggested Minnesota officials don’t have jurisdiction to investigate those cases. State and county prosecutors say they need to conduct their own inquiries because they don’t trust the federal government.
The Justice Department in January said it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s killing, and two officers have been placed on leave, but the agency said a similar federal probe was not warranted in Good's death.
