Prosecutors in Minneapolis on Thursday charged a federal immigration agent with assault, accusing the agent of pointing a gun at motorists along a state highway during the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities in February.
It was a rare instance of state prosecutors charging a federal agent for on-duty actions, and the first such case, officials said, connected to the federal government’s 10-week operation in Minnesota.
The prosecutor in Hennepin County, Mary Moriarty, described the assault case as one of 18 incidents involving federal agents now under investigation by her office and indicated that charges against other agents were possible.
The agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pointed a gun at two people in a car as he attempted to pass them in an unmarked vehicle on the shoulder of a highway, according to the criminal complaint.
“Driving while pointing a weapon out of your moving vehicle at the victims who are in another moving vehicle could have led to yet another disastrous incident in a community that has already suffered too many,” Ms. Moriarty told reporters.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Morgan, who faces two counts of second-degree assault, could not be reached for comment and it was not clear if he had retained a lawyer.
After the incident, Mr. Morgan, 35, told state investigators that he “feared for his safety and the safety of others” after a vehicle swerved in front of him and “cut him off,” according to the state complaint. Mr. Morgan told the investigators that the events took place as he was nearing the end of his shift and driving back to a federal building to get gas.
State prosecutors face formidable practical and legal obstacles in pursuing criminal charges against federal agents. Federal agents also have broad immunity from prosecution in state court for on-duty conduct. State officials also say the federal government has refused to provide local investigators with basic information, including the names of agents, in many cases.
Still, Minnesota prosecutors have spent weeks investigating the actions of federal agents who took part in the crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, which led to near-daily clashes between agents and residents.
Law enforcement officials have said their review includes the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two American citizens who were killed during confrontations with agents in separate incidents in January. Local officials have also said they were weighing charges against federal agents involved in a Minneapolis shooting that wounded a Venezuelan immigrant and in the arrest of an American citizen who was ordered out of his home in frigid weather wearing only his underwear.
Ms. Moriarty said that the case announced on Thursday had “virtually none” of the obstacles that have made prosecuting other cases relating to the immigration surge in the Twin Cities so complex.
In this case, prosecutors were able to interview both the motorists and the ICE agents in the vehicle and collect video evidence from highway cameras and a victim’s cellphone. Both Mr. Morgan and his partner voluntarily gave interviews to investigators.
The incident unfolded late in the afternoon on Feb. 5, on a traffic-choked highway near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The motorists told investigators that they were in the right lane of the highway when they saw a black S.U.V. approaching at a high speed on the highway’s shoulder. With no markings on the S.U.V., the motorists said they had no idea that the people inside it were law enforcement agents. There were no lights or sirens, the motorists said.
The driver of the car, in an attempt to “cut him off a little bit,” edged his car into the shoulder, causing the S.U.V. to slow down, then return to the legal traffic lane.
At that point, the S.U.V., driven by Mr. Morgan, pulled alongside the car, and Mr. Morgan, wearing a black T-shirt, rolled down his window and pointed a handgun at the victims, yelling something that they could not hear, according to the complaint. Mr. Morgan told the authorities that he had yelled out, “Police, stop!” after drawing his weapon.
The motorists, feeling threatened, called 911.
During an interview later with state investigators, the driver of the car said that he had not understood that Mr. Morgan was an agent of ICE. Instead, the driver said he had understood that there was “a crazy person driving down the road aiming guns at people,” according to the complaint.
A supervisor for ICE told investigators that neither Mr. Morgan nor his partner reported the incident after they returned to their base.
Kirsten Noyes contributed and Hamed Aleaziz contributed to this story.
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy. He welcomes tips and can be reached at elondono.81 on Signal.
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