Minnesota prosecutors announced Monday that they have obtained critical evidence that had been withheld by federal officials for more than six months in their ongoing investigations into the fatal shootings of two Minneapolis residents during protests against a federal immigration enforcement crackdown earlier this year.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said state and local investigators have secured hard drives containing statements, hours of video footage from body-worn cameras, and other physical evidence, including the damaged vehicle belonging to one of the victims. The evidence relates to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the shooting and injury of Julio Sosa-Celis, all incidents that occurred during a controversial federal immigration surge in Minneapolis beginning in December 2025.
“Through the cooperation of our federal partners we have obtained the hard drives of previously withheld evidence in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis,” Moriarty said. “We have also obtained some of the physical evidence that was previously withheld, including Renee Good’s car.”
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed on January 7 while sitting in her vehicle as she attempted to leave an anti-immigration enforcement protest in Minneapolis. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fired multiple shots at her car during the chaos of the federal enforcement operation known as Operation Metro Surge. Her death sparked immediate outrage and triggered widespread protests calling for accountability and an end to the immigration crackdown.
Three weeks later, on January 24, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse working for the Department of Veterans Affairs, was fatally shot by federal officers from Customs and Border Protection during another protest against the immigration enforcement operations. According to witness accounts and video evidence, Pretti had been filming federal agents and attempting to direct pedestrian traffic away from the confrontation. He was pepper-sprayed and pinned to the ground by multiple federal agents before being shot multiple times. Video evidence has raised serious questions about federal officials’ initial claims that Pretti had aggressively approached officers with his firearm.
Both shootings occurred amid escalating protests against Operation Metro Surge, which deployed approximately 3,000 federal officers and agents to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area beginning in December 2025. The operation resulted in more than 3,000 arrests and has drawn significant criticism for what observers characterized as aggressive tactics, warrantless arrests, detentions of U.S. citizens, and shootings.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison expressed strong frustration about the lengthy delay in obtaining the evidence. “I remain deeply troubled that the federal government spent more than half a year attempting to conceal this evidence from state investigators,” Ellison said. “It should never have taken this long for Minnesota law enforcement to gain access to the federal government’s evidence. I hope that this is the beginning of a major course correction on the part of the federal government.”
The withheld evidence had been a central point of contention between state and federal authorities. In late June, Ellison and Moriarty asked a federal judge to extend deadlines in their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, citing ongoing discussions with the FBI about information sharing. The federal government’s attorneys agreed to the motion seeking a delay.
The release of evidence comes as Minnesota has become a focal point in the broader national conversation about federal immigration enforcement tactics. Since the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign began last year, at least eight deaths have been linked to immigration enforcement operations nationwide. None of the federal agents involved in the fatal shootings have been charged as of Monday.
However, there have been some prosecutorial actions against individual officers. In May, Christian Castro, an ICE agent, was arrested and charged with assault and falsely reporting a crime in connection with a January 14 shooting that injured Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Prosecutors say Castro fired through the front door of a home and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh. In April, another ICE agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., was charged with pointing his gun at a motorist and passenger on a Minneapolis highway.
Investigators are now systematically reviewing all the recovered evidence, including the hard drives and the physical evidence. Moriarty emphasized the importance of the evidence for moving forward with the investigations. “The wonderful thing now is we have all the evidence,” she said, adding that the team is working through statements, video footage, and physical materials to build their cases.
The acquisition of the evidence marks a significant shift in the dispute between state and federal authorities over access to information about the incidents. Moriarty stressed the need for transparency and cooperation, saying the community and the nation’s democracy depend on it. The prosecutors’ office has indicated that their analysis of the newly obtained evidence will play a crucial role in determining what charges, if any, may be brought in connection with the fatal shootings.