Bovino, other federal agents investigated for Operation Metro Surge actions

MINNEAPOLIS — The use of a chemical irritant by U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino is among 17 instances of “potential unlawful behavior” by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge currently being investigated for criminal charges, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Monday.

At a news conference on March 2, Moriarty announced the creation of the Transparency and Accountability Project, which will give citizens the ability to submit to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office any evidence of behavior by federal agents that might have been unlawful.

The project will be staffed by county prosecutors and a civilian investigator and is already investigating 17 incidents by federal agents.

That includes Bovino, who for several weeks served as the face of Operation Metro Surge for the Trump administration before being removed and replaced by White House border czar Tom Homan following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents.

While Moriarty said that privacy of potential victims meant she could not identify all 17 incidents currently being investigated, she did mention Bovino’s actions near Mueller Park on Jan. 21 and the actions of ICE and Border Patrol agents against students at Minneapolis Roosevelt High School on Jan. 7 as two incidents her office is already investigating.

“There are many victims whose stories need to be told,” Moriarty said. “We will investigate and pursue charging where appropriate.”

The incident involving Bovino included a chaotic scene where federal agents deployed smoke and chemicals as they clashed with protesters and observers in south Minneapolis. Bovino was captured on video lobbing a canister into Mueller Park in the Lowry Hill East neighborhood.

“I’m gonna gas. Get back. Gas is coming. Gas is coming, second warning. Second warning,” Bovino can be heard saying in a video captured by Ben Luhmann.

“Third warning. Gas, gas, gas,” Bovino says, before tossing the canister and pushing people away from the street.

Plumes of green and gray smoke burst over the crowd as protesters and observers ran from the scene. Some were hit in the face with orange spray. The smoke left behind green stains in the snow.

Photos from incidents that day in Minneapolis spread around the globe and came two weeks after Good was shot and killed. Pretti was killed three days later.

Moriarty said the portal will allow citizens to submit video and photo evidence of any potential illegal activity by federal agents. They can also describe incidents they witnessed.

“I want to be clear with our community about the challenges these investigations entail,” Moriarty said. “Because the federal government has refused to provide us information about the actions of their officers in Minnesota.”

Messages were left seeking comment from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.

The decision to create the project also rose from an alleged lack of investigative effort from local law enforcement into the actions of federal agents.

An email reviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune shows Moriarty alerted the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association shortly before announcing the project’s formation.

The email said Moriarty met with the chiefs a month ago to discuss “how to respond to federal law enforcement actions in our community” and that Moriarty had “grown concerned about the lack of investigation into some of the more high-profile incidents” involving federal agents.

A message seeking comment was left with the office of Minnetonka Police Chief Scott Boerboom, president of the association.

Moriarty said Monday that her office had closed the public portals to submit evidence into the killings of Good and Pretti and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis by federal agents after receiving over 1,000 submissions from community members.

Those materials are now in the hands of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is also interviewing witnesses. The BCA is building a case file to turn over to the county attorney for potential charging decisions against the federal agents involved.

“We feel good about the idea that we have probably gotten everything that’s out there at the moment,” Moriarty said. “The BCA is following up on that.”

Moriarty said the Trump administration continues to actively obstruct any investigation into the use of force by its agents.

The county attorney has sent Touhy letters to several federal agencies that formally demand investigative materials from those shootings. So far, Moriarty said, there has been no response. The deadline for the federal government to respond to demands for evidence from Good’s shooting expired last month, and the deadline to respond to demands for evidence from the killing of Pretti and the shooting of Sosa-Celis expires Tuesday, March 3.

“We hope that, by tomorrow, we do get a response from them, giving us the information we’ve asked for, but if they don’t, that’s another indication they’re obstructing our ability to gather all of the information we need and want to have to make decisions in this case,” Moriarty said. “And if I’m the federal agents, I would want that information. I would want any entity that was considering whether charges are appropriate to have that information, too. And if I’m the public, if I’m the government, I would want transparency.”

She said if there is no response, her office will consider suing the federal government.

While state investigators lack federal crime scene materials that would normally be shared in a deadly use of force investigation, Moriarty once again said that she is confident her office can make a charging decision based on the available material.

But she made it clear that the investigations into the killings of Good and Pretti are so complex — and involve so many unique moving parts, including the potential that a state criminal charge could be tried in federal court — that her staff is being as methodical as possible for not only charging decisions, but for what comes next.

“I can’t talk about a definitive timeline (for a charging decision),” Moriarty said. “The delays are in part because of the lack of federal cooperation; also it just takes time.”