UPDATE: Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty called the charges against Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. an “important milestone” in navigating the fallout of Operation Metro Surge.
Charging documents allege Morgan was illegally driving on the righthand shoulder of Highway 62 when the victim moved their car into the shoulder in an attempt to stop him from passing. When the victim driver moved back into the regular flow of traffic, Morgan allegedly pulled alongside the car, opened his window and pointed a handgun at the driver and passenger in the other car.
The victims called 911 and reported the incident to the Minnesota State Patrol. State troopers were later able to interview Morgan and his partner, who was in the backseat, at the Whipple Federal Building.
Moriarty said her office was quickly able to bring charges in the Feb. 5 incident because unlike the investigations into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the case was spearheaded by the Minnesota State Patrol and followed “typical” processes of information-gathering.
Prosecutors in Hennepin County are bringing felony assault charges against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in connection with a February incident on Highway 62.
It marks the first criminal charges against federal law enforcement to come out of Operation Metro Surge, a winter occupation of thousands of immigration agents that produced numerous claims of civil rights abuses against detainees and protesters and resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens.
The agent, identified in charging documents as 35-year-old Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. of Temple Hills, Maryland, faces two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. He is accused of pointing a gun at another vehicle near the interchange of Highway 62 and Interstate 35W in Richfield.
Morgan was charged via warrant and is not currently in custody.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is expected to share more details during a news conference at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Last month, Moriarty asked the public to submit any evidence of potential illegal activity by Homeland Security agents and said her office was investigating at least 17 incidents for possible criminal charges.
Moriarty had disclosed her office was looking into two incidents involving federal agents in Minneapolis, one on Jan. 7 in which agents used force against students and staff of Roosevelt High School and another on Jan. 21 in which former Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino and other agents deployed tear gas against protesters and journalists.
Officials in the Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have claimed federal agents have “absolute immunity” in the course of their jobs and that state prosecutors lack jurisdiction to bring any charges against them.
RELATED: Minnesota suing DOJ, DHS for refusing to share evidence in Metro Surge shootings of Good, Pretti
Far from accepting that argument, Moriarty has pushed for thorough investigations and accountability for ICE and Border Patrol agents since the start of Operation Metro Surge, particularly in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Her office joined the state of Minnesota in suing the federal government for access to evidence in those fatal shootings.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment and is awaiting a response.
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