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A number of federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been formally fired on Wednesday after they gave discover that they’d resigned within the wake of inner disagreements over the Justice Division’s dealing with of a taking pictures investigation involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The DOJ, on the route of Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi and Deputy Legal professional Basic Todd Blanche, terminated the employment of 5 prosecutors within the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Minnesota, together with Joseph Thompson, the No. 2 official there, based on two sources acquainted with the matter.
Their resignations and the inner disputes in regards to the taking pictures probe first surfaced within the New York Occasions. The prosecutors had been positioned to obtain paid depart for months previous to their firings on Wednesday, based on the sources.
WHY THE FBI CAN EXCLUDE STATE AUTHORITIES FROM MINNESOTA SHOOTING PROBE
Individuals protest in opposition to the deadly taking pictures of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent throughout a rally exterior the Whipple Constructing on Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Tim Evans/Reuters)
Thompson was spearheading an enormous, high-profile investigation into welfare fraud within the state earlier than he submitted his resignation. His exit got here after he clashed with officers in Washington, D.C., over the investigation into the ICE taking pictures, which left 37-year-old Renee Good lifeless. Fox Information Digital reached out to the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Minnesota in an effort to achieve Thompson for remark.
Thompson had expressed throughout a name with DOJ and FBI officers final week that he was on board with investigating the ICE taking pictures as an assault on or obstruction of a regulation enforcement officer, a supply acquainted with the decision instructed Fox Information Digital.
One other one of many fired prosecutors, Melinda Williams, who was additionally concerned within the fraud work, was on the decision as properly, the supply stated.
Thompson additionally indicated that he believed the taking pictures was justified, two sources stated. Previous to the taking pictures, he had already been discussing the opportunity of resigning, the sources stated.
Movies of the taking pictures confirmed an ICE agent opening fireplace on Good at shut vary after she was seen accelerating towards the agent in her automobile whereas he was standing in entrance of it. Critics have argued that the agent improperly used lethal power in opposition to Good and that she had turned the wheels of her automobile away from the agent earlier than accelerating.
A crashed automobile on the scene the place an ICE agent shot Renee Good. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Pictures)
The FBI is investigating the incident and has excluded Minnesota prosecutors from the probe, which the Trump administration has stated is justified as a result of the incident concerned a federal officer. Minnesota leaders have denounced that call and launched their very own parallel investigation.
Whereas supportive of conducting the investigation as an offensive in opposition to regulation enforcement — fairly than a civil rights matter in opposition to the agent — Thompson had reservations throughout final week’s name in regards to the DOJ’s plan to additionally examine Good’s widow and different potential co-conspirators, the supply acquainted with the decision stated.
The FBI had developed proof that instructed Good and her partner had sooner or later been following ICE officers on the day of the taking pictures, the supply stated.
That revelation echoes Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem’s allegations throughout a latest press convention that Good had been “stalking and impeding” ICE all through the day of the taking pictures. Noem stated Good “weaponized” her automobile and that the ICE agent who fired pictures feared for his life.
In an announcement to Minnesota Public Radio, Good’s partner, Becca, stated that on Jan. 7, the day of the taking pictures, she and Renee “stopped to help [their] neighbors.”
“We had whistles. They’d weapons,” Becca Good stated.
FAMILIAR PROTEST GROUPS MOBILIZE IMMEDIATELY AFTER ICE SHOOTING OF MINNESOTA PROTESTER
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks to the media at Metropolis Corridor on Jan. 9. Frey has repeatedly referred to as for federal immigration authorities to go away his metropolis. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune through Getty Pictures)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and different Democrats have lauded the prosecutors who resigned, framing their departures as a valiant boycott in opposition to DOJ.
“These prosecutors are heroes, and the folks pushing to prosecute Renee’s widow are monsters,” Frey wrote on X.
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At this stage, there isn’t any signal that the DOJ is planning to carry fees in opposition to Becca Good, regardless of the DOJ and FBI pursuing an investigation into her as a part of a broader probe into any conspiracies to hinder federal regulation enforcement operations.
Fox Information Digital reached out to the DOJ for remark.
David Spunt contributed to this report.
