Federal Prosecutors Resign Amid Controversy Over ICE Shooting in Minnesota

Over a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have reportedly resigned following controversy over the Trump administration’s decision not to investigate the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer. Critics say federal officials labeled Good’s actions as “domestic terrorism” without a full probe and blocked state investigators from evidence. The Justice Department maintains the resignations were part of an early retirement program.

Over a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota and within the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in Washington have reportedly submitted their resignations, according to reports from the Associated Press and Reuters. The resignations are connected to ongoing controversies surrounding the Trump administration’s enforcement policies on illegal immigration, particularly its decision not to open a criminal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on January 7.
The Justice Department clarified on Tuesday that it does not plan to involve its Civil Rights Division in investigating Good’s death. The division typically collaborates with the FBI to probe potential civil rights violations and use-of-force incidents by law enforcement officers. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that “there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation,” a position that marks a significant departure from the Civil Rights Division’s usual role in such cases under prior administrations.
For context, during former President Donald Trump’s first term in 2020, the Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, which ultimately resulted in criminal charges. In contrast, federal officials in the case of Renee Good determined quickly, without a thorough investigation, that she had engaged in “an act of domestic terrorism” when she allegedly drove her car toward the ICE officer, who then opened fire in what authorities described as self-defense.
State officials in Minnesota have also accused federal authorities of obstructing their investigation by blocking access to evidence and asserting that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.
Reports indicate that among the prosecutors who have tendered resignations are approximately six state prosecutors in Minnesota, including First Assistant US Attorney Joseph Thompson, as well as several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington. Reuters reported that at least twelve prosecutors in total have resigned, including from both the Civil Rights Division in Washington and the US Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis, citing unnamed sources.
The Justice Department responded on Tuesday, stating that the prosecutors in question had volunteered for an early retirement program “well before the events in Minnesota” and insisted that “any suggestion to the contrary is false.” Over the past year, hundreds of Justice Department lawyers have either left voluntarily or been dismissed, many amid concerns over political pressure and changing priorities under the Trump administration.