President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has been accused of withholding evidence in a high-profile case where 39 people were arrested after protesting the administration's immigration policies at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Earlier this year, protesters attended a church service at City Church in St. Paul, where David Easterwood, the acting director of the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, is a pastor. A total of 39 people were arrested after the protest, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon.
That case was just one in which the Trump DOJ is accused of withholding evidence, according to a new lawsuit filed on Tuesday. Minnesota officials also claimed that the DOJ has not cooperated with local authorities in investigations into the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two American citizens who were shot and killed by ICE agents during a recent surge in Minneapolis.
Easterwood was also accused of failing to respond to outreach attempts by local authorities, according to the lawsuit.
"Defendants’ refusals to share evidence here did not arise from any case-specific investigative need," the 43-page lawsuit reads in part. "Instead, the breakdown in cooperation followed intervention by senior federal officials who directed that evidence would not be shared with Minnesota authorities, reflecting a broader policy or practice not to share evidence with Minnesota in Operation Metro Surge use-of-force investigations."
