Shutting down the civil rights investigation into a killing by a federal agent

The civil rights investigation was closed within days and never reopened. The first assistant U.S. attorney, the FBI supervisor leading the inquiry, thirteen further attorneys in the Minneapolis U.S. attorney's office including three division chiefs, and several Civil Rights Division prosecutors resigned. Minnesota's state investigators were barred from the evidence and sued. Ranking Senate Judiciary Democrats asked the DOJ inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility to determine who ordered the closure and why.

When a federal officer kills someone, it is standard practice for the FBI and the Civil Rights Division to examine whether the use of force was lawful; the statute involved has been used in cases including the Rodney King beating, the killing of Walter Scott, and the murder of George Floyd. After Renee Good's death, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson informed his office that the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension would jointly determine whether her rights had been violated, and an FBI agent in Minnesota, later identified as Tracee Mergen, reviewed the shooting and found sufficient grounds to open a civil rights probe. FBI agents obtained a signed warrant to document blood spatter and bullet holes in Good's vehicle.

The investigation was stopped before the warrant was executed. According to the New York Times, FBI Director Kash Patel and senior Justice Department officials ended it, out of concern that a civil rights investigation would contradict Trump's public claim that Good had 'violently, willfully, and viciously' run over the officer. Reporting placed the direction with aides to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who instructed the U.S. attorney's office and FBI agents to shut the inquiry and instead examine whether Good had criminally assaulted Ross, and whether her widow had ties to groups that monitor ICE. Blanche said publicly on January 13 that there was 'no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation,' later saying it was not 'appropriate to investigate' and that the department was 'not investigating.' Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon declined to open a Civil Rights Division inquiry. The FBI barred Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the investigation, and its superintendent said the agency had 'reluctantly withdrawn.'

The departures followed. Thompson resigned, as did Mergen, and thirteen more attorneys at the Minneapolis U.S. attorney's office, among them the chiefs of the criminal division, the civil division, and the violent and major crimes unit. Several Civil Rights Division prosecutors who had volunteered to travel to Minnesota resigned after Dhillon refused. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Dick Durbin, citing the reporting and whistleblower information received by the Judiciary Committee, asked the DOJ inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate 'who ordered the closure of the investigation and why.' On March 24, 2026, the state of Minnesota, Hennepin County, and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension sued the Justice Department and DHS, alleging the agencies were withholding evidence in the Good and Pretti killings and the Sosa-Celis shooting to shield the officers involved. A federal judge later ordered some evidence produced in a separate case. Minnesota's attorney general and the Hennepin County attorney opened a state investigation; whether they can prosecute a federal officer turns on a doctrine known as Supremacy Clause immunity.

Documented; reporting by the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN, mass resignations, and a Senate Judiciary Committee request for an inspector general inquiry

No criminal investigation was opened. The Justice Department says there is no basis for one. Minnesota, Hennepin County, and the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension sued the DOJ and DHS, alleging evidence was withheld to shield the officers

2026-01-08 to 2026-05 (ongoing)