Justice Connection today released a video featuring a longtime state and federal prosecutor in Minnesota calling for the Justice Department to cooperate with state and local law enforcement investigating the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
In a Senate hearing today, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison confirmed that his office has yet to receive any access to the evidence in either case.
Drew Winter spent over 10 years prosecuting violent crime at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and 24 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota.
“In Minnesota, we used to embrace a basic principle: State and federal authorities cooperated with each other,” Winter says in the video. “Where dual jurisdiction existed on a major matter, a joint investigation was a given. That’s why what we are seeing now at DOJ is so startling.”
The video shares comments by superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Drew Evans, and Attorney General Ellison stating that their agents were refused access, blocked by federal agents from reaching the shooting site.
“If DOJ wants to regain any semblance of credibility in Minnesota,” Winter says, “the first step is simple. Collaborate and coordinate. Share evidence. Include state and local partners. There is no legitimate justification for a federal only approach.”
This video is the first in a series of Minnesota-related videos that are part of an ongoing effort by Justice Connection to draw public attention to DOJ’s abdication of its vital role in holding federal law enforcement accountable in Minnesota, as well as to provide direct support to Justice Department employees affected by the administration’s actions.
