At least six prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota have resigned over the Trump administration’s handling of the federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, according to an inside source familiar with the matter.
The departures include Joseph Thompson, Melinda Williams, and several other attorneys, according to information gathered by NBC News. Thompson, a former acting U.S. attorney for the office, previously led a rampant welfare-fraud investigation that resulted in sentences for around 60 defendants.
According to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the prosecutors’ decisions, pressure imposed by the Justice Department in both Minneapolis and Washington to investigate any ties to activist groups by both the victim and her partner is what fueled the attorney’s departures.
Minnesota Democratic lawmakers voiced their concerns about the departures. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz deemed Thompson a “principled public servant,” stating his decision to step down was a “huge loss.”
“This is a huge loss for our state,” Walz added. “This is the latest sign that President Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the Department of Justice.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara also spoke on the situation.
“The legitimacy of the justice system depends on institutions — not rhetoric.”
“Joe Thompson is an institution within law enforcement, directly responsible for building and prosecuting the fraud cases now being cited to justify this moment,” O’Hara added, referring to the allegations of fraud at childcare centers which led to the deployment of over 2,000 federal officers.
Federal and state officials have been at odds with each other since the death of Good, who was shot several times by an ICE agent during an altercation involving a vehicle. Federal officials have argued that the officer acted in self-defense, while state officials state that Good was attempting to drive away.
The Justice Department responded to the acts by affirming that the prosecutors had already requested to partake in an early retirement plan “well before the events in Minnesota,” adding that “any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
