There was no investigation of the killing of Renee Good because, as DAG Todd Blanche concluded, there was nothing to investigate. By seizing the evidence and freezing out the state Bureau of of Criminal Apprehension, they made sure that Minnesota couldn’t do what the feds refused to do.

A similar scenario is playing out after the execution of Alex Pretti, with the feds refusing to secure the crime scene, allow the state access and bizarrely claiming that any investigation would be conducted by DHS, given that Noem already asserted her conclusion that Pretti was there to massacre law enforcement and DHS doesn’t do criminal investigations in any event.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz asserted that the state would conduct an investigation anyway, and that culpability for the shoot would be decided by the state. Prawfs Barry Friedman and Stephen Vladeck argue that’s the way to go, since the feds won’t do the job and, even if they did, can’t be trusted to do an honest job.

In the wake of another fatal shooting by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, many people are wondering what can be done. The answer has been right in front of us all along.

Despite the incredulity with which some legal observers meet the idea, state and local prosecutors can prosecute federal officials for violating state criminal laws. Prosecutors should be gathering and securing evidence and seriously considering filing charges — sooner rather than later.

The question isn’t whether the state can legally perform the investigation, or legally prosecute should it be determined that a crime was committed. Of course it can, subject to the possibility of removal to federal court with state prosecutors still in charge and the claim of federal supremacy clause immunity, as has been falsely asserted by Vance, Noem and Miller.

As highly regarded (and conservative) former Judge Michael McConnell wrote on behalf of the Denver-based federal appeals court in 2006, “a federal officer is not entitled to Supremacy Clause immunity unless, in the course of performing an act which he is authorized to do under federal law, the agent had an objectively reasonable and well-founded basis to believe that his actions were necessary to fulfill his duties.”

As for civil liability, the chances are slim to none. Bivens is a dead letter these days. So it’s left to the state to act or a federal agent could get away with murder.

If federal officers understood that they could and might well be held liable for outrageous conduct, they might think twice before engaging in it. The ultimate goal is bringing to justice those who have engaged in blatantly unlawful and unconstitutional conduct. But what is needed immediately — urgently — is deterring such conduct from happening going forward. Federal officers who are wearing masks to obscure their faces (and those who aren’t) must understand that they will be held accountable if and when they break the law.

There no doubt that accountability for the commission of crimes, ranging from murder to assault for needlessly pushing a woman with a backpack to the ground or pepper spraying a man with a couple agents sitting on him to show him who’s boss, can happen at the state level.

But not being an academic, my concern doesn’t end with what the law permits. Who will they prosecute? The two agents who pumped bullets into the body of Pretti wore masks and no personal identification. How will the state know who did it? How will the state know who to arrest?

And then there’s the arrest. Will the feds not only hand over the names, but hand over the bodies of its agents? Beyond who they are, does anybody know where they are? It’s not as if their commandant in his Sam Browne, Gregory Bovino, has been a beacon of cooperation and integrity. When the state comes calling, will Bovino suddenly do his lawful duty and hand over the perps?

Consider the alternatives. Assuming the state can obtain the identities of the agent(s) who shot and killed Alex Pretti, and assuming the agents won’t willfully surrender and the feds won’t turn them over in cuffs, what is the state going to do about it? Will they send out state law enforcement officer to find and arrest the agents? Will the feds let that happen or will there be a gaggle of CBP agents with guns saying “come get us”?

Will any Minnesota state law enforcement officer even be willing to do the dirty job of arresting the agents? What will they do when confronted by the feds refusal to cooperate? Will this be the new shootout at the OK Corral?

The New York Times has an editorial placing the burden on Congress to fix this mess, since the administration mouths utter blatant lies for lack of any actual congressional oversight. Does the Times really believe the Republican majority will grow a spine and take on Trump? Even if they do, what will be accomplished by congressional hearings where the same cast of characters bulldozes the committee and spews the same party line, that the agents are heroes and the dead guy was there to massacre law enforcement. After all, as Kristi Noem said, why else would someone bring a gun to a protest?

This is not to say that the State of Minnesota should not assert its jurisdictional authority to prosecute a killer(s) for a citizen executed in the street, but it is to say that the mechanics that make that happen require some degree of comity and integrity from a federal government that has demonstrated that it has neither. If Minnesota tries and Trump refuses to play ball, what then?

Update: Bovino refuses to give up the name of the shooter, but says he’s been taken out of Minnesota’s jurisdiction.

Bovino openly says that we are never learning the identity of the murderer because that would be “doxing.” He says he has already gotten the agent out of Minnesota’s jurisdiction. He put him back on the job. He is part of an extensive, open criminal coverup. pic.twitter.com/s07K37J1N6

— David J. Bier (@David_J_Bier) January 26, 2026