Prosecutors spar on Facebook over Moriarty’s new traffic policy

A stinging criticism of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s new policy dictating that her office will no longer charge most felony cases arising from low-level traffic stops is coming from one of her fellow prosecutors. And Moriarty is fighting back.

It’s all taking place in the modern town square: Facebook.

After Moriarty announced the new policy, Anoka County Attorney Brad Johnson blasted the decision in a public post.

“For the love of all that is public safety, I wish I did not have to keep reminding people that Hennepin County’s misguided non-prosecution policies end at the Anoka County border,” Johnson wrote.

Johnson worked for years as a prosecutor in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. He took over as Anoka County Attorney in 2023 at the same time Moriarty took over in Hennepin County.

In his post, Johnson said Timothy McVeigh was pulled over in a routine traffic stop by an Oklahoma state trooper after he carried out the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people.

Johnson wrote that the state trooper followed the law, and prosecutors in Oklahoma “were able to serve some justice for all those killed and injured in Oklahoma City.”

Moriarty replied to Johnson’s post by noting that McVeigh was pulled over for not having a license plate — an exception that is not part of the new Hennepin County policy — and that her policy included exceptions to prosecute low-level traffic stops if it was crucial to public safety.

The new policy will be implemented Oct. 15, and it lists several categories of driving infractions that will no longer be prosecuted if they are the only reason for a traffic stop and subsequent police search including excessive window tinting, expired tabs, broken lights and missing mirrors.

In the wake of the policy announcement, both the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association issued data showing that around one half of 1 percent of traffic stops result in meaningful prosecution of a crime. But they drew starkly different conclusions from that data.

“This policy is based on research and data which I would be happy to share if you asked,” Moriarty wrote to Johnson. “It IS about public safety.” She said Ramsey County has been working off a nearly identical policy since 2021 and had been recovering more guns in that time while building community trust.

“Please share accurate information instead of grandstanding and trying to get your name in the media,” Moriarty wrote.

“Your social justice, non-prosecution policies have hurt your community and mine,” Johnson wrote.

He brought up a 13-year-old child that allegedly carried out attempted murder in Hennepin County and was now being held at a treatment facility in Anoka County and had “severely injured one of his caretakers.” Johnson said Hennepin County had refused to pick up the child. “It is horrible and inexcusable.”

He accused Moriarty of exporting Hennepin County’s most serious problems to neighboring counties by not prosecuting crime in her own.

“You do you during your lame-duck period,” Johnson wrote.

In the face of extensive criticism, including by law enforcement agencies of the new policy, Moriarty has been pressing forward with her reform platform since taking over the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. She has argued her policies on juvenile justice and racial disparities in prosecutorial decisions and policing are based on hard data. She announced earlier this year that she would not seek re-election, so her term will expire on Jan. 7, 2027.

Alexander DeMarco posted, “Mary Moriarty how dare you make decisions on data and input from people in the larger community. You’re supposed to serve police apparently.”

Later, DeMarco posted a link to the song “Kumbaya.”

Johnson said in an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune that he made the original post to clarify the law for the people of Anoka County after Moriarty’s news conference announcing the policy. He also said the comments in support of Moriarty on the post were from people who were not his constituents.

“It’s helpful for people to understand when the largest, wealthiest, most resourceful county in Minnesota holds a press conference on an issue it ripples out into the ether,” Johnson said. “It starts a rumor mill.”

Hennepin County Attorney’s Office spokesman Daniel Borgertpoepping said in a statement that the McVeigh argument has been used to defend low-level traffic stops for decades, even though it has nothing to do with the new policy. “If opponents are serious about public safety, we suggest they explore the vast amount of data that proves this policy improves public safety,” he said.