Pressure Mounts on County Attorney to Decide on Fatal ICE Shootings Before Her Term Ends
- Georgia Fort
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
After weeks of federal resistance and blocked access to evidence, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says she will make one of the most consequential decisions of her tenure before her term ends at the end of the year: whether to charge federal agents in the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Advocates, though, say she doesn’t need to wait.
“It certainly will be before the end of my term that we will make a decision,” Moriarty said. But what happens after that is far less certain.
If the work stretches beyond her term, the future of the case could depend on who replaces her.
“I would imagine that this won’t be finished by then,” she added, “and so voters need to be very aware of voting for somebody that will continue on, in my mind, in the direction we’re going.” I reached out to all candidates to see what their stances are on these investigations but at the time of publishing this article I didn't get any responses.
A Decision Under Pressure
Both Good and Pretti were shot and killed during federal immigration enforcement operations. Their deaths sparked protests, legal challenges and growing demands for transparency.
Moriarty says her office is still collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses and awaiting autopsy reports. Charging a law enforcement officer, she noted, requires proving beyond a reasonable doubt not only what happened but disproving potential legal defenses.
“We feel confident that we will have enough information to make a decision, charge or not charge,” she said. “I do not know what that decision will be.”
She declined to promise an exact date.
“I would never give a timeline on it,” she said. “If we weren’t ready at a particular time, then I don’t want people to believe we’re going to make a decision.”
Investigating Despite Federal Obstruction
The path to that decision has been complicated by what Moriarty describes as extraordinary resistance from federal authorities. In both shootings, state investigators with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were blocked from fully processing the scenes.
After Alex Pretti was fatally shot, the BCA obtained a judge-signed search warrant to gain access to the scene to be able to collect evidence, and still, they were denied entry.
I asked Attorney Moriarty “Should the public be concerned about that type of dismissal of the law?” she said. “Absolutely. Absolutely.”
“The federal government is physically blocking our own state agency from properly investigating the scene.”
Moriarty also said there was never a federal use-of-force investigation into Renee Good’s killing.
Without access to federal evidence, her office launched an unusual public portal asking residents to submit videos and tips. When asked if they had ever done something like this before she said, “It’s not something we’ve ever done.” But, she added, “When you’re getting resistance like this from the federal government, you have to be innovative.”
Growing Frustration From Advocates
Not everyone agrees that more time is necessary. Elizer Darris, co-executive director of the Minnesota Freedom Fund and an early supporter of Moriarty’s campaign, says the county attorney already has the authority to charge.
“A case file from law enforcement is a practice but not a legal requirement under Minnesota state law,” Elizer wrote this week, citing Minnesota statute. “The county attorney shall prosecute crimes in the county. Full stop.”
In a post on his Facebook page, Elizer says, Moriarty could move forward now using witness statements, public video and subpoenas rather than waiting on formal referrals or federal cooperation.
“Bring charges or explain legally
why you refuse—today,”
Elizer wrote.
He called the delay “a political punt” and urged her office to convene an immediate charging review, issue subpoenas and appoint independent investigators.
His criticism reflects a broader frustration among some advocates who say the evidence in at least one case is already public and that accountability should not hinge on federal cooperation or election timelines.
The Next Chapter May Not Be Hers
Even with that pressure mounting, Moriarty acknowledged the investigation itself could outlast her. Charging decisions are binding. But strategy, additional charges and the pace of the case would fall to the next county attorney.
Prosecutors have wide discretion, and nothing legally requires a successor to follow her approach. “This won’t be finished by then,” she said. “Voters need to be very aware of voting for somebody that will continue on … in the direction we’re going.”
It’s an unusually direct warning from a prosecutor who typically avoids political language.
But Moriarty framed the issue as one of public trust.
“People have no reason to trust anything that government does unless there’s transparency,” she said. “They deserve to know what happened and why we make whatever decision that we make.”
Justice on a Deadline
For the families of Good and Pretti, the promise of a decision offers clarity, but not closure.
Minnesota now has a clock. A charging decision is coming before Moriarty leaves office.
Whether that decision satisfies advocates — or whether the next county attorney continues the fight — remains an open question.
And that, Moriarty made clear, may soon be out of her hands.
Support Independent Journalism
Georgia Fort filmed this interview the day before she was arrested for reporting on the church protest. She refuses to be silenced as she continues to be on the forefront of covering the unrest in Minnesota and the State's pursuit to investigate the fatal shooting of two 37-year-old Minnesotans. Support her journalism here.