Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division were told they will not play a role in the ongoing investigation into a fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Leadership in the Civil Rights Division, overseen by Harmeet Dhillon, informed staff in the division’s criminal section that there would not be an investigation, two sources said. Normally, after a high-profile incident involving a fatal shooting by an officer, attorneys from the criminal section fly out to the scene. Multiple career prosecutors offered to do so in this case, but they were told not to do so, one of the sources added.
While investigations into the excessive use of force can be pursued solely by a U.S. Attorney’s office without direct involvement from the Civil Rights Division, it is customary for the division’s federal prosecutors to take the lead on high-profile investigations like the one in Minnesota.
The decision also raises questions about how far the FBI’s investigation into the shooting will go.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that the FBI was leading the investigation into the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Video footage shows the officer, identified in court records from a prior incident as Jonathan Ross, fired three rounds at the car as Good started to drive away.
The video also appeared to depict the officers did not take immediate steps to ensure that Good received emergency medical care after the shooting took place. A separate video from the scene showed officers stopping a man who claimed to be a doctor from moving toward Good.
The killing has sparked protests nationwide, including in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Detroit.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has argued that Ross was acting in self-defense, and claimed that Good was trying to use her car as a weapon in an act of “domestic terrorism.”
That description sparked immediate backlash from state and city officials, with the mayor of Minneapolis labeling the self-defense claims as “bulls***.”
On Friday, Trump administration officials shared another cellphone video of the incident that sources say was recorded by the ICE officer. The White House argues this video shows Ross was hit by Good’s car.
The Justice Department has stopped short of claiming Ross was acting in self-defense.
But in a statement to CBS News this week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the use of deadly force by law enforcement officials can sometimes be justified.
“Federal agents risk their lives each day to safeguard our communities. They must make decisions, under dynamic and chaotic circumstances, in less time than it took to read this sentence,” Blanche said.
“The law does not require police to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm. Rather, they may use deadly force when they face an immediate threat of significant physical harm,” he added.
The criminal section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division specializes in investigating and prosecuting constitutional violations by law enforcement officers.
Some of the most common investigations involve excessive use of force, but can also include other things such as sexual misconduct, false arrests or deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.
One of the most famous civil rights prosecutions by the section in recent years took place in Minneapolis, after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in May 2020.
Chauvin pleaded guilty to willfully depriving, while acting under color of law, Floyd’s constitutional rights, as well as the rights of a 14-year-old boy.
Since President Trump took office last year, the Civil Rights Division has scaled back its work on excessive force prosecutions, according to legal experts.
Last year, it sought to downplay the conviction of a former Louisville police officer who was convicted of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights and asked a federal judge to sentence him to serve just one day in prison.
The judge ultimately sentenced him to serve 33 months.