Hennepin County prosecutor, attorney general launch independent state review into fatal ICE shooting

Minnesota’s top prosecutors moved Friday to preserve a state role in reviewing the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, repeatedly emphasizing their actions were not a challenge to federal authorities but a response to being cut off from evidence they say is essential for transparency.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced an independent review into Good’s killing at a news conference Jan. 9. They stressed that while Minnesota has legal jurisdiction to consider criminal charges against a federal agent in Hennepin County, state prosecutors lack access to the investigative file controlled by the FBI.

“I know our community wants fast answers,” Moriarty said. “I know the city feels again as if it is at the center of a national fight as you are processing everything that is happening here. I wish I could promise a swift decision and the resolution you want. But I cannot promise you that right now.”

Moriarty underscored that the move was not about second-guessing federal investigators or pursuing a separate prosecution. Instead, she said, the focus is on preserving evidence, including videos, witness accounts and other materials that could otherwise be lost, so prosecutors can later explain any charging decision to the public.

The announcement came one day after the FBI removed the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) from what had initially been a joint investigation. That move left state authorities without access to key evidence, including Good’s SUV, a shell casing, witness interviews and other evidence collected at the scene.

While Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday that Minnesota law enforcement had no jurisdiction over the case, Moriarty said that was legally untrue. She said the ICE officer had no immunity from prosecution if it is determined he committed a crime by killing Good in Hennepin County.

“Let me be clear,” Moriarty said. “We have jurisdiction to make this decision ... it does not matter that it was a federal law enforcement agent.”

The secure online portal allows the public to submit videos, photos and other documentation, as well as contact information so investigators can follow up.

Moriarty said the goal is not for prosecutors to conduct their own investigation, but to ensure that potential evidence is collected and catalogued while federal authorities control much of the physical and forensic material.

“We ask people to provide accurate and complete information on the form on our website,” she said.

Evidence submitted through the portal will be reviewed and turned over to the BCA, which will catalog and preserve the materials as part of a state-level case file. Ellison said the effort is focused on preservation rather than prosecution. He emphasized that every moment after a fatal use-of-force incident matters.

“What we’re doing here is asking the public who may have video, there may be people who were on the scene, who saw what happened, who have some type of evidence that they feel bears on what the truth is in this case, and they can use that QR code,” Ellison said.

During Moriarty’s first year in office in 2023, FBI agents shot and killed Chue Feng Yang after Yang had barricaded himself inside a north Minneapolis home and taken a hostage. The FBI had been serving an arrest warrant in the case, and Yang was armed when he emerged from the house with the hostage.

The FBI led a civil investigation into its officers’ use of force. Moriarty said that while her office was allowed to see a PowerPoint presentation of the results of the probe, it was not allowed to discuss it publicly and the entire investigation was not shared with local law enforcement.

She said that if the federal investigation into the Good shooting were handled in a similar manner, Minnesotans would be deprived of transparency over what happened Wednesday morning on Portland Avenue.

“This is not being critical of an FBI investigation,” Moriarty repeatedly emphasized. “It is simply our access to the evidence that they collect.”

On Friday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office officially identified Good as the victim in the shooting.

Good’s wife released a statement Friday to Minnesota Public Radio explaining why they were at the scene, which was just two blocks from their home.

“We stopped to support our neighbors,” Becca Good said in her statement. “We had whistles. They had guns.”