Overview
- FBI agents in Minneapolis initially opened a civil-rights investigation into Renee Good’s killing and drafted a warrant to seize her car for ballistic reconstruction, according to reporting.
- Sources say aides to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche directed local prosecutors and the FBI to shut down the civil-rights inquiry and reframe it as a suspected assault on a federal officer with Good as the subject.
- A federal magistrate judge rejected the redrafted warrant, telling prosecutors they would not proceed because Good was already deceased, according to accounts cited by reporters.
- The reported pivot prompted resignations by top prosecutors in the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office and at least one FBI supervisor, and Techdirt cites CNN reporting that the FBI agent who began the civil-rights probe has also resigned.
- In the latest development tied to a separate case, U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud ordered DHS not to destroy or alter evidence from the Jan. 24 shooting of Alex Pretti after state investigators said they were blocked from the scene and sought a warrant.