{
  "version": "3.33",
  "compiled": "2026-10-09",
  "site": "https://stateofwatch.com",
  "claim": {
    "id": "federal-evidence-blockade",
    "section": 8,
    "title": "Federal government refuses to share shooting evidence with Minnesota; Minnesota sues",
    "date": "Jan–Sept 2026",
    "sort": "2026-03-24",
    "status": "verified",
    "checked": "3.29",
    "note": "The allegations are Minnesota's. The refusal letters and the government's motion were read directly.",
    "category": "court",
    "case": "mn-v-doj",
    "body": "After federal agents shot three people in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge in January 2026 (Renée Good and Alex Pretti, killed; Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, wounded), federal authorities refused to share evidence with Minnesota's investigators. On March 24, 2026, the State of Minnesota, the Hennepin County Attorney and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension sued the Justice Department and DHS (D.D.C. No. 1:26-cv-01007).\n\nThe state alleges that federal agents first agreed to joint investigations, then reneged; that the U.S. Attorney told the BCA the night Good was killed that there would be \"no joint investigation\"; that Good's car sits \"shrink-wrapped\" in an FBI facility, never examined, despite a state search warrant; that federal officers \"physically blocked\" state investigators from the Pretti scene, even after a judge issued a warrant; that the government has not identified the masked agents who shot Pretti; and that in February the U.S. Attorney said evidence would be shared \"in only one direction.\"\n\nThe government's own letters show the refusals. On March 3, ICE declined to treat Hennepin County's request for evidence in Good's death as a formal demand and referred the county to DOJ. On June 3, the U.S. Attorney denied the request, citing an open federal investigation. A day earlier, the same office had asked the BCA for all the evidence it collected in the Sosa-Celis shooting.\n\nIn court, the government argues that sharing investigative records with state law enforcement is discretionary and not reviewable, that Minnesota didn't follow the agencies' request procedures, and that the Tenth Amendment gives states no right to federal investigative materials (motion to dismiss or transfer, Sept 28, 2026). Before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan; Minnesota's response is due Oct 13, 2026.",
    "quotes": [],
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "State of Minnesota v. U.S. Department of Justice, No. 1:26-cv-01007, Amended Complaint, paras. 6, 55, 61, 62, 75, 79 (D.D.C. June 18, 2026)",
        "primary": true,
        "docket": "1:26-cv-01007",
        "doc": "mn-v-doj-amended-complaint"
      },
      {
        "label": "Complaint (D.D.C. Mar. 24, 2026)",
        "primary": true,
        "docket": "1:26-cv-01007",
        "doc": "mn-v-doj-complaint"
      },
      {
        "label": "ICE letter to the Hennepin County Attorney, Mar. 3, 2026 (Doc. 1-8)",
        "primary": true,
        "doc": "mn-v-doj-ice-letter-good"
      },
      {
        "label": "U.S. Attorney's denial, June 3, 2026 (Doc. 17-13)",
        "primary": true,
        "doc": "mn-v-doj-usao-denial-good"
      },
      {
        "label": "U.S. Attorney's request to the BCA, June 2, 2026 (Doc. 17-16)",
        "primary": true,
        "doc": "mn-v-doj-usao-request-bca"
      },
      {
        "label": "Defendants' memorandum in support of motion to dismiss or transfer, Sept. 28, 2026 (Doc. 23-1)",
        "primary": true,
        "doc": "mn-v-doj-motion-dismiss"
      },
      {
        "label": "Docket, D.D.C. No. 1:26-cv-01007 (CourtListener 72590076)",
        "primary": true,
        "docket": "1:26-cv-01007",
        "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72590076/state-of-minnesota-v-us-department-of-justice/"
      }
    ],
    "places": [
      "minneapolis-mn"
    ],
    "related": [
      "minneapolis-shootings"
    ],
    "url": "https://stateofwatch.com/claims/federal-evidence-blockade"
  }
}