A Minnesota prosecutor announced an investigation Monday that may lead to charges against federal officers, including Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, for misconduct during an immigration enforcement crackdown.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a news conference that her office is already looking into 17 cases, including one where Bovino threw a smoke canister at protesters on Jan. 21. Another on Jan. 7 involved federal officers making an arrest outside a high school and deploying chemical irritants while students and staff were in the area.
“Make no mistake, we are not afraid of the legal fight, and we are committed to doing this correctly,” Moriarty said. “Operation Metro Surge caused immeasurable harm to our community.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, responded in a statement Monday night that such enforcement is a federal responsibility and states cannot prosecute federal officers.
“What these States are trying to do is unlawful, and they know it," the statement said. “Federal officials acting in the course of their duties are immune from liability under state law.”
The statement added that local officials should instead consider how their actions have endangered federal law enforcement officers.
A message to Bovino seeking his response was not immediately returned.
Bovino, who emerged as a key figure in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations, is known for bringing aggressive tactics to crackdowns in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago and Los Angeles. In Chicago, federal officers frequently deployed chemical irritants as crowd control measures in residential neighborhoods, and a judge ordered Bovino to wear a body camera and appear in court daily to answer questions about the crackdown. That order was overturned before his first mandated appearance.
Officers at times took a forceful approach to corralling protesters in Minneapolis-St. Paul and detained numerous people blowing whistles and recording arrests.
Bovino was eventually removed from his leading role in the Minnesota effort after federal officers fatally shot 37-year-old mother Renee Good and 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on different days in January, leading to nationwide demonstrations and criticisms of DHS use-of-force policies.
Moriarty's office has set up an online portal where photos, videos and eyewitness accounts from any point during Operation Metro Surge can be uploaded.
The Trump administration has defended federal officers, but Moriarty is making clear that her office is “collecting evidence about all sorts of possible crimes,” said Rachel Moran, a professor of criminal law and policing at University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis.
In cases where officers unjustifiably used chemical weapons, threw people to the ground or smashed car windows, Moran said as examples, prosecutors may be investigating assault or property damage.
“These would be situations where the state has to determine: Is there evidence that agents acted unlawfully and outside the scope of their authorized duties?” Moran said. “I think agents did illegal things here. I watched it.”
Though federal officers conducted immigration enforcement throughout the Twin Cities, Moriarty’s investigation will only focus on incidents in Hennepin county, which includes Minneapolis and many of its suburbs.
Her office is also investigating the deaths of Good and Pretti, and she is “confident” they will be able to pursue charges. She said Monday that her office is prepared to sue the federal government to get the evidence she has requested for the investigations if she does not hear from them by Tuesday.
“The question is, should we charge in federal court? Do we expect the federal government to obstruct us? I would say they’re already doing that,” Moriarty said.
The Department of Justice opened a civil rights inquiry into Pretti's death, but said it saw no reason for a civil rights investigation of Good's death. The Federal Bureau of Investigations barred state investigators from accessing evidence in her case.
The DOJ and FBI did not immediately return requests for comment.
While Moriarty addressed the challenges her office would face in bringing charges against federal agents, she said they are committed to transparency and accountability.
Mark Osler, who served as director of the criminal division for a year under Moriarty in 2023 and 2024, said regardless of whether there are charges, he thinks the public can look forward to more clarity.
“One of the most important roles that prosecution has … is truth-telling, is to bring to the surface what actually happened at a given time,” said Osler, who is currently a law professor at University of St. Thomas. “We’ll all know more than just what we saw in those initial videos by the time she’s done. I’m confident of that.”
Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
FILE - U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino walks with federal agents outside a convenience store on Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The gunman who opened fire outside a crowded Texas bar and killed three people in an attack that wounded more than a dozen had not been on the radar of authorities, federal and local investigators said Monday.
The FBI and police in Austin said it’s too soon to identify the motive behind the mass shooting early Sunday that the FBI has said is being investigated as a potential act of terrorism, coming after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran.
“Our ultimate goal in everything we do is to determine the motive,” Alex Doran, the acting agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio office, said during a news conference.
Police shot and killed the gunman, whom they identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. He was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and bearing the words “Property of Allah” during the attack, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
Investigators are poring over thousands of hours of video and police said there are more than 150 witnesses to interview.
“We are still in the early hours of this investigation,” said Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis.
The gunman legally bought the weapons used in the attack several years ago in San Antonio, Davis said. More information about the suspect along with body camera footage from the officers could be released later this week, Davis said.
Police identified the victims as 21-year-old Savitha Shan, 19-year-old Ryder Harrington and 30-year-old Jorge Pederson.
Harrington joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Texas Tech University in 2024, the fraternity said in an Instagram post.
“Ryder had a rare ability to truly enjoy life to make people laugh, to make moments feel bigger, and to make ordinary days unforgettable,” the fraternity said. “If anyone embodied what it meant to live fully and love deeply, it was Ryder.”
Texas Tech said in a statement that Harrington had been enrolled as recently as the fall 2025 semester, but was not taking classes this semester.
“Our thoughts are with Ryder’s family, friends, and all those affected by this devastating situation,” the statement said.
Shan’s LinkedIn profile listed her as a dual-degree student majoring in management information systems and economics at the University of Texas at Austin.
University President Jim Davis said her death was “devastating” and that several other students were wounded in the attack.
“Some of these are very serious and we are hoping for the best outcomes, while others are on the path to recovery,” he said in a statement. “I have met with many of these families and will continue to pray for them.”
Austin Police announced Monday evening that Pederson had died from his injuries.
The gunman in the attack was originally from Senegal, according to multiple people briefed on the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
Diagne first entered the U.S in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa and became a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Associated Press reporters on Monday were unable to reach Diagne’s family members in the Austin area or his former wife, who recently was listed as living near San Antonio. A person who answered the door at a house listed for his ex-wife declined to comment and told a reporter to talk with investigators.
The shooting began outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden along Sixth Street, a nightlife destination filled with bars and music clubs close to the University of Texas at Austin.
The gunman drove past the bar, which was packed with students, before circling back and firing the first shots from his SUV at people on the sidewalk and inside the bar, police said.
Inside the bar and across the street next to a food truck, some students dove for cover while others were motionless, trying to understand what was happening.
The shooting stopped for a moment.
The suspect parked, got out with a rifle and began shooting at others before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him, the police chief said.
The FBI said just hours after the shooting that they found “indicators” on the gunman and in his vehicle leading them to look into the possibility of terrorism.
This story has been corrected to show Harrington was 19, not 22, and that Shan was 21, not 24, based on revised information from Austin police.
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.
Police Chief Lisa Davis addresses the press, alongside Mayor Kirk Watson, regarding the West 6th Street mass shooting while at the Austin Police Department Headquarters in Austin, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Mikala Compton/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
Police Chief Lisa Davis addresses the press regarding the West 6th Street mass shooting while at the Austin Police Department Headquarters in Austin, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Mikala Compton/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
The Austin Police Department and the FBI investigate a shooting at Buford's on 6th Street on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer)
The Austin Police Department and the FBI investigate a shooting at Buford's on 6th Street on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer)
