Overview
- Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department will not open a criminal civil-rights investigation into the Jan. 7 shooting by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
- The FBI is running the inquiry exclusively and has restricted Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from accessing evidence, even as reporting indicates local FBI agents initially moved toward a civil-rights review.
- The Justice Department has opened a separate criminal investigation into Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey over whether their public statements impeded federal operations.
- Large protests have continued in Minneapolis and across major U.S. cities, a federal judge ordered limits on agents’ crowd-control tactics against peaceful demonstrators, and the Pentagon confirmed 1,500 troops are preparing for possible deployment if directed.
- First Amendment advocates objected to reported federal scrutiny of Renee Good’s potential ties to activist groups, questioning its relevance to determining whether the shooting was self-defense.