Minnesota law enforcement authorities have said the FBI is refusing to share any evidence on its investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal immigration authorities in late January.
Pretti was shot on 24 January by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s surge of immigration enforcement operations in the city. His killing came just two weeks after an immigration official shot and killed Renee Good and 10 days after the shooting of Julio C Sosa-Celis.
On Monday, Minnesota’s bureau of criminal apprehension (BCA), a state-level criminal investigative law enforcement agency, said the FBI had formally notified it that it would not share any information or evidence related to Pretti’s shooting.
The Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, has demanded an “impartial” investigation into the shootings in Minneapolis.
“Trump’s left hand cannot investigate his right hand,” he said on Monday in response to the FBI’s refusal to share evidence. “The families of the deceased deserve better.”
The BCA’s superintendent also expressed frustration.
“While this lack of cooperation is concerning and unprecedented, the BCA is committed to thorough, independent and transparent investigations of these incidents, even if hampered by a lack of access to key information and evidence,” added Drew Evans.
He added that the agency remained committed to a joint investigation and said it would “continue to pursue all legal avenues to gain access to relevant information and evidence”.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The agency has also previously refused to share any information related to the shootings of Good or Sosa-Celis, a lack of cooperation that led the BCA to stop its investigation into Good’s killing.
“As we’ve previously said, full access to evidence, witnesses and information is necessary to meet the investigative standard that Minnesota law and the public demands; without it, we cannot do so,” the BCA said back in January, after the FBI boxed it out of the investigation.
The Trump administration in December deployed federal officials to the Minneapolis area for an aggressive roundup of immigrants dubbed “Operation Metro Surge” that has seen a series of violent incidents as masked officials arrest people they claim to suspect lack proper residency documentation.
Democrats and Republicans have both called on independent investigations into the Minneapolis shootings.
Pretti, a nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs, was observing immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis when he was killed. Good was similarly an observer in Minneapolis, who was shot in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. Homeland security officials initially accused Good, 37, of “weaponizing” her vehicle, but local officials have disputed those claims.
Both Pretti and Good were US citizens and video footage of their shootings has circulated widely, leading to mass protests.
Sosa-Celis was shot by an ICE official in the leg last month. Trump administration officials initially claimed Sosa-Celis and two other men had “ambushed” the ICE officer who then “fired a defensive shot to defend his life”. But last week two ICE officials were placed on leave while they are investigated for allegedly lying under oath about the interaction.
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