Why the FBI can exclude state authorities from Minnesota shooting probe

The FBI has asserted authority over the investigation into a shooting by an ICE agent in Minnesota, effectively sidelining the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and spurring questions about who has jurisdiction in the case.

Federal officials have said the FBI’s jurisdiction is clear when a federal officer’s actions are being reviewed, but state leaders in Minnesota insisted Friday that they will pursue their own parallel inquiry into the incident.

The dispute arose after the Minnesota BCA revealed after the shooting that the FBI had shut the BCA out of the investigation. The incident involved an ICE agent appearing on video to shoot and kill 37-year-old Renee Good as she accelerated her vehicle in his direction.

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It is common for the FBI and state and local agencies to pool resources to investigate crimes that could fall under all their jurisdictions, but Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday the federal government did not view the shooting as one of those cases.

“They have not been cut out; they don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation,” Noem said.

Noem framed the incident as an attack on a federal agent, a point Democratic Gov. Tim Walz criticized as a predetermined outcome to an ongoing probe. Democrats have widely condemned the shooting as murder and an improper use of lethal force, but Noem and others in the Trump administration disagreed.

“The officer feels as though his life was in jeopardy,” Noem said. “[The vehicle] was used to perpetuate a violent act. This officer took action to protect himself and to protect other law enforcement officers.”

The FBI declined to comment on the investigation.

A federal law enforcement source told Fox News Digital the incident was a textbook example of a federal case that the FBI had jurisdiction over.

The source also pointed to a letter Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote to California’s leaders in October asserting that federal officers acting in their job capacity could not face state charges.

“The Department of Justice views any arrests of federal agents and officers in the performance of their official duties as both illegal and futile,” Blanche wrote. “Numerous federal laws prohibit interfering with and impeding immigration or other law-enforcement operations. … Further, the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the United States Constitution precludes a federal officer from being held on a state criminal charge where the alleged crime arose during the performance of his federal duties.”

The supremacy clause protects federal officers from state prosecution when those officers are performing their job duties, though the officers do not have complete immunity, which has long been a point of contention.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a press conference Friday that she felt Minnesota prosecutors did have authority over the ICE agent’s case.

“We do have jurisdiction to make the decision with what happened in this case,” Moriarty said. “It does not matter that it was a federal law enforcement agent.”

Moriarty did, however, acknowledge “complex legal issues” involved in cases involving a federal law enforcement officer.

Moriarty, who was joined by Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, called on the public to provide any evidence or tips to state prosecutors, saying the FBI deprived them of even reviewing evidence and that Minnesota prosecutors would conduct their own investigation.

Ellison cast doubt on the FBI’s ability to conduct a fair inquiry and said a state probe was necessary. Ellison wanted, “to the degree that it’s possible, to set forth a process which, when it’s over, fair-minded people can say, ‘Well as good and just of a job that could be done was done,’” he said.

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Blanche said in a statement Thursday that “following any officer-involved shooting, standard protocols ensure that evidence is collected and preserved.”

Multiple sources also told Fox News Digital the federal government was skeptical of Minnesota’s desire to conduct a good-faith investigation. They cited remarks from state leaders, including Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said that claims that the ICE agent acted in self-defense were “bull—-.”

One retired agent who worked at the FBI for two decades told Fox News Digital in a recent interview about the Brown University shooting investigation, which initially was being conducted at the local level, that the bureau can take the reins of an investigation once it identifies a federal violation.

“It just comes down to what kind of crime it is,” the retired agent said. “If they can’t tie a federal nexus to it, the bureau doesn’t have a dog in the fight.”