A federal immigration agent's conduct during the Minnesota crackdown has led to state felony charges. Prosecutors in Minneapolis on Thursday charged Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, with assault, alleging he pointed a gun at two people in a car after trying to pass them on the shoulder of a highway in an unmarked vehicle, the New York Times reports. Morgan later told state investigators he feared for his safety after being cut off, according to the criminal complaint.
- At a news conference Thursday, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Morgan's conduct "was extremely dangerous," MPR News reports. "Driving while pointing a weapon out of your moving vehicle at the victims who were in another moving vehicle could have led to yet another disastrous incident in a community that has already suffered too many."
- Moriarty said Morgan has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, one for each person in the vehicle, and there is a nationwide warrant out for his arrest, reports NBC News.
- Moriarty said the people in the vehicle briefly pulled in front of Morgan's vehicle as it tried to pass on the shoulder, but it had rejoined the normal flow of traffic when he pointed the gun at them "while continuing to drive illegally on the shoulder." The people in the other vehicle were on their way to go shopping and were not part of activists' efforts to track ICE agents, Moriarty said.
- The case marks an unusual move: state-level charges against a federal agent for actions taken on duty, the Times reports. Moriarty said her office was able to file charges because ICE cooperated with the investigation. She said the Minnesota State Patrol interviewed Morgan after the vehicle was tracked to a federal building. She said Morgan told investigators that he was driving back to the Whipple Building with his partner at the end of their shift.
It comes amid broader local investigations into Operation Metro Surge, a 10-week enforcement push in the Twin Cities that frequently pitted agents against residents, the Times reports. Prosecutors are also reviewing the fatal shootings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the wounding of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis, and the arrest of ChongLy "Scott" Thao, a US citizen ordered outside in only his underwear. State officials say their work is hampered by limited federal cooperation and legal immunity protections. Moriarty said her office is looking into 17 use-of-force incidents involving federal agents. Moriarty and other officials sued the Trump administration last month, demanding agencies turn over evidence in the three shootings.
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