Justice Connection today released a video calling on the Justice Department to work jointly with state and local partners to investigate the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minnesota.
The video comes after both U.S. Senators for Minnesota sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging her to reverse the decision to not coordinate with state and local law enforcement in the Pretti shooting.
“The federal government appears to be shutting state investigators out entirely,” Sam Trepel says in the video. “Typical protocol is that the federal investigators work hand in hand with their state and local partners.”
Trepel was formerly a special litigation counsel in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and led the successful civil rights prosecution of the officers responsible for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She is now senior counsel and program director at the States United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the rule of law and free and fair elections. She has repeatedly examined and laid out why DOJ’s inaction following these tragic shootings is so damaging for our democracy.
“We’re seeing brutal, violent tactics by federal agents across the country, not just in Minneapolis,” Trepel says. “If cases like these aren’t thoroughly and fairly investigated it sends the message that federal agents aren’t accountable, that they’re above the law. And that’s a very dangerous message to send – for other officers, for the public, and for our American democracy.”
This video is the third 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, as well as to provide direct support to Justice Department employees affected by the administration’s actions in the state.
