Hennepin County Prosecutors Charge ICE Officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. With Felony Assault

Minnesota prosecutors charged an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with felony assault after the officer allegedly pointed a gun at occupants of a car during a traffic incident on a Minneapolis-area highway in February.

“ICE agent who allegedly pointed gun at another car on Highway 62 charged with felony assault Prosecutors in Hennepin County have brought felony assault charges against a U”

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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the case is “the first criminal case brought against a federal immigration officer involved in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown” that surged federal authorities into cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans, and she told a news conference, “There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota.”

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The arrest warrant filed in Hennepin County says Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, and prosecutors said Morgan, 35, was driving back to immigration offices at the end of his shift when the incident occurred Feb. 5.

Multiple outlets described the alleged sequence: the driver and front-seat passenger called 911 after an unmarked SUV pulled alongside them, rolled down a window, and pointed a handgun at them both.

The BBC reported that Morgan was in a rented and unmarked SUV that showed “no indication of being an ICE vehicle,” and NPR said the Minnesota State Patrol received a 911 report that a driver in a Ford Expedition had pointed a gun at two people in another vehicle along a highway in the Twin Cities area.

Prosecutors said Morgan “visibly slowed his vehicle to match the pace of the victim's vehicle, opened his window, and pointed his duty weapon directly at both victims in the other vehicle,” and the warrant says Morgan merged his SUV back into traffic ahead of the victims, who took cellphone photos of the SUV’s license plate.

The assault charge is tied to what prosecutors and other outlets described as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota known as Operation Metro Surge, which NPR and the BBC said followed earlier fatal shootings in January in Minneapolis.

The BBC said the case is “the first case in which a federal agent has been criminally charged for their actions during the Trump administration's 10-week immigration crackdown in Minnesota, dubbed Operation Metro Surge,” and it placed the Feb. 5 incident in the same enforcement period that followed the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

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NBC News said the Operation Metro Surge drew “national outrage after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration authorities,” and it identified those deaths as Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

NPR reported that at Thursday’s press conference, Moriarty acknowledged the charges against Morgan were coming ahead of any possible charges in the cases of Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good, and it also referenced the shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis, who survived after being shot in the leg.

The Associated Press said the prosecutor believes it is the first criminal case against a federal officer involved in the Minnesota immigration crackdown, which it described as part of a surge of forces into cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans.

NBC News added that the Trump administration sent 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota at the end of November for Metro Surge, and it said border czar Tom Homan arrived to oversee the operation after the January killings.

At the center of the case is Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s argument that the officer acted outside the scope of federal authority, and she repeatedly tied that position to a rejection of “absolute immunity.”

“County prosecutor charges ICE agent with assault for pointing gun at people on Minneapolis highway The prosecutor believes it is the first criminal case brought against a federal immigration officer involved in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown that surged federal authorities into cities across the U”

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The Associated Press quoted Moriarty saying, “There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota,” and it reported she said the agent acted outside the scope of a federal officers’ authority.

NBC News quoted Moriarty saying, “For “a federal agent, our opinion is that illegally driving on a shoulder, pulling up to a car and pointing a gun at the heads of two community members who are not doing anything at the time is well beyond the scope of their authority,” and it added that she said Morgan’s behavior was “extremely dangerous.”

NPR reported that Moriarty said, “Today's charges reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” and it also quoted her explaining why the case moved faster than the January shootings: “Virtually none of the obstacles around evidence collection that exist for the January shootings exist in this case.”

The alleged victims described fear during the incident, and the Associated Press said the driver told investigators they feared it was a “crazy person driving down the road aiming guns at people,” according to the warrant.

NPR said Morgan told state authorities he feared for his safety when the victims’ car pulled in front of him, so he drew his gun and yelled “Police Stop,” and it reported that the victims called 911 and took a video showing the SUV’s Utah license plate.

The charges are expected to intensify a clash between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials, and multiple outlets reported that federal leaders have warned against arresting federal agents for actions taken in the course of their duties.

The Associated Press said Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, warned that the Justice Department could investigate and prosecute state or local officials who arrest federal agents for performing their official duties, and it reported Moriarty said she was not concerned about blowback and that her office would “hold people accountable if they violate the laws of the state.”

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Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul quoted Attorney General Keith Ellison saying, “No one is above the law and no one is beneath it— including federal agents,” and it added Ellison’s statement that “Failure to do so would give the Trump administration free rein to repeat the lawlessness, cruelty, and violence we saw during Metro Surge in other states around the country.”

CNBC reported that Moriarty told reporters, “ICE should make arrangements for him to turn himself in,” and it said the warrant would remain out until Morgan is in custody.

NPR described the timing of the charges as part of a broader effort to seek accountability across multiple incidents, and it said Moriarty acknowledged the charges were coming ahead of possible charges in the cases of Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis.

The Maryland Matters report added that Moriarty said, “Today’s charges reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” and it said the charges were likely to draw “fierce backlash from the Trump administration.”

The next steps in the case depend on whether Morgan surrenders and how the defense responds to the state prosecution, with multiple outlets emphasizing that a nationwide warrant is already in place.

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The Associated Press said a spokesman for Moriarty’s office said no arrangements have been made for Morgan to surrender and that there is an active nationwide warrant for his arrest, and it reported that if convicted Morgan faces up to seven years in prison for each assault charge.

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CNBC similarly said there is a nationwide warrant for Morgan’s arrest and that Moriarty said, “That warrant will remain out there until we get him in custody,” and it added that Morgan is “the first federal agent charged in connection with what happened here in Operation Metro Surge.”

The BBC said Morgan is accused of pointing a gun at motorists who tried to slow him down while he was driving illegally on the shoulder of a state highway in February and that there is a nationwide warrant for Morgan's arrest as he faces two second-degree assault charges.

The Guardian described the warrant as charging Morgan with two counts of second-degree aggravated assault, and it said the warrant says Morgan was working as an ICE officer in the Minneapolis area on 5 February when he pointed a gun at the occupants of a vehicle on Minnesota state highway 62.

Beyond the immediate case, NPR and the Maryland Matters report described ongoing legal fights over evidence in the January shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and they said Moriarty and Ellison have sued the Trump administration seeking access to evidence.