Minnesota investigators say they can't access ICE shooting evidence after FBI takes case

Minnesota’s investigations agency said Thursday that the U.S. attorney’s office has prevented it from taking part in the investigation into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer’s fatal shooting of Minneapolis woman Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.

The announcement came as protestors and law enforcement clashed Thursday morning outside a Minneapolis immigration court, with the governor urging restraint and schools canceling classes as a precaution.

Federal and state officials disagree over whether the shooting appeared justified. Soon after the shooting, federal officials claimed the ICE agent acted in self-defense. The city's mayor described the shooting as "reckless" and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he was outraged and that the killing was "avoidable."

On Thursday, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said federal prosecutors have barred the state agency from jointly investigating the shooting alongside the FBI.

“The investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation,” Evans said in a statement.

It had been decided that the BCA would investigate Good’s shooting death along with the FBI, but the U.S. attorney’s office changed that, according to Evans.

Walz demanded that state investigators be given a role, telling reporters that residents would otherwise have a hard time accepting the findings of federal law enforcement.

“And I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem," Walz said.

Asked about the development, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that Minnesota authorities “don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”

Outraged by Good’s death, Democratic leaders in Congress pledged to conduct strong oversight of what happened in Minneapolis, but stopped short Thursday of immediate calls to defund ICE or impeach Noem.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the killing of Good an “abomination, a disgrace.”

“We all are outraged by what took place in Minneapolis, and we will respond decisively,” said Jeffries of New York. “Blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration that have been pushing an extreme policy,” he said.

“We support the removal of violent felons in this country who are here illegally — but that’s not what this administration has been doing,” he added.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he watched the video and “you felt like your stomach was being punched.”

Schumer said senators are discussing next steps as they consider funding in the annual Homeland Security bill, and he demanded a “full investigation.”