A Hennepin County judge has issued an arrest warrant for a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of pointing his government-issued firearm at two passengers in a car on a Minnesota highway. The officer, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., faces two counts of second-degree aggravated assault.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the charges Thursday, calling it the first criminal case brought against a federal immigration officer involved in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge.
No one knows where Morgan is right now. DHS has not been in contact with prosecutors.
What Happened
On February 5, Morgan was driving back to close out his shift in an unmarked rental Ford Expedition. He was traveling on the shoulder of State Highway 62 to pass traffic. A driver in another vehicle briefly pulled into the shoulder to block him from illegally passing, then returned to the lane.
That is when, according to prosecutors, Morgan pulled up alongside the car and pointed his duty weapon directly at both passengers through his window.
He had not identified himself. The passengers had their windows up. They had no way of knowing he was a federal agent.
“All they saw was the gun pointed at their heads,” Moriarty said.
In a detail that sets this case apart from others involving federal agents in Minnesota, Morgan agreed to be interviewed by state patrol investigators at the time of the incident. In that interview, according to Moriarty, he admitted he drew his firearm after the victim’s vehicle had already rejoined normal traffic. He also told investigators he had yelled “police,” though the passengers could not hear him through their closed windows.
The Immunity Question
The Trump administration has argued that ICE officers enjoy absolute immunity while on duty. Moriarty rejected that argument directly.
“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota or any other state,” she said.
It is a line being drawn by state and local prosecutors across the country as the administration expands its immigration enforcement operations and increasingly claims federal officers are shielded from local accountability.
The Bigger Picture
The Morgan case is one of 17 active investigations the Hennepin County Attorney’s office is conducting into ICE and DHS conduct in Minnesota. Prosecutors have conducted more than 50 interviews.
It is moving faster than the others because of road camera footage and Morgan’s own interview. The cases that cannot move as quickly are the ones involving the most serious allegations: the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two people who were shot and killed by DHS officers during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis earlier this year.
In both of those cases, the federal government has blocked state investigators from accessing evidence. Good’s car, according to court filings, is shrink-wrapped in an FBI warehouse and has never been examined. State investigators attempting to interview federal agents about the Pretti shooting were denied access. The identities of the agents involved have not been shared.
Minnesota, Hennepin County, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension sued the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security on March 24, arguing the federal government is withholding evidence to shield the officers involved. A federal judge has since ordered agencies to produce evidence related to the Good case.
What Comes Next
An arrest warrant has been issued for Morgan. Prosecutors do not know his current whereabouts or whether he remains employed by ICE. DHS has not responded to the charges or communicated with the county attorney’s office.
Moriarty said her office is making progress on the broader set of investigations.
“We’re making really good progress on them,” she said.
For the passengers who had a gun pointed at their heads on a Minnesota highway in February, progress means waiting for a federal agent who admitted to the act to be located and brought in.