Federal prosecutors have notified President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Minneapolis U.S. attorney's office they are considering mass resignations to protest the Department of Justice response to the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti.
Two officials familiar with the office told the Washington Post that at least one prosecutor in the office's criminal division has resigned since a meeting this week with U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen where the prosecutors raised their concerns about the shooting probes
"The threat of further resignations is the latest sign of how the federal judicial system in Minnesota has begun to crack under the strain imposed by the administration’s immigration enforcement surge in the state," the Post reported. "On Wednesday, the chief federal district judge in the state wrote that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had violated 96 court orders since launching the crackdown in Minnesota, dubbed Operation Metro Surge."
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz wrote that ICE had "likely violated" more court orders this month than some federal agencies had in their entire existence, and U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota has been wracked with turmoil over the fatal shootings of Good and Pretti.
"At least a half-dozen prosecutors in the office — including the second-in-command — resigned earlier this month after top Justice Department officials told prosecutors not to investigate the shooting of Good but instead try to build a case against her partner," the Post reported.
The Trump administration frustrated Minneapolis prosecutors by putting the Department of Homeland Security in charge of the Pretti shooting investigation, rather than involving FBI agents or criminal and civil rights prosecutors, as would typically be the case in an officer-involved shooting.