The US Department of Justice and the FBI remain in the background in the case of another murder of a protester in Minnesota, while state authorities promise an investigation, the American newspaper "Washington Post" wrote in the headline, BTA reported.
Nearly a day after an immigration officer shot a protester in Minneapolis, federal agencies that would normally investigate such a shooting involving a police officer are staying away.
Federal law enforcement agencies in Minnesota have not yet commented publicly on the case. The FBI and state prosecutors are unclear about their roles in the investigation, the American publication reports.
With the apparent inaction so far from the Justice Department, authorities in Minnesota have promised to launch an investigation under state law into the murder of 37-year-old Alex Pretty, a nurse in an intensive care unit. This creates a potential legal conflict between state and federal authorities. The state has already filed a lawsuit against the federal government, and over the weekend successfully asked a judge to ensure that federal law enforcement agencies do not destroy evidence.
The apparent delay by the Justice Department in the investigation contrasts with the way it has often handled similar shooting cases involving police officers. Federal investigators usually take the lead, sending FBI agents and prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division – Department experts in investigating excessive force cases, the Washington Post reported.
Instead of the Justice Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Border Patrol, has taken the lead in the investigation, with help from the FBI, a law enforcement official familiar with the matter said. That internal investigation is at least in part examining whether immigration officers followed the rules when they shot Preeti, the Washington Post reported.
The Minneapolis killing highlights urgent legal efforts to limit immigration enforcement in Minnesota, Politico reported.
Saturday's fatal shooting comes amid already escalating clashes – between immigration officers and protesters in the streets, as well as the heightened confrontation between representatives of the government of US President Donald Trump and judges in federal courts, the publication notes.
This is the third such incident in Minneapolis since the Trump administration began its policy of aggressively enforcing immigration laws in the state of Minnesota in December.
The National Rifle Association and other gun lobby groups are calling for a "thorough investigation" into the murder of Alex Pretty, the British newspaper "Guardian" headlines.
According to reports, Pretty had a legal permit to carry a gun and was a US citizen, where carrying a gun is a constitutional right. The distributed video of his murder does not show him holding a gun. It shows a police officer reaching into Preeti's lower back and pulling out what appears to be a gun, before Preeti is shot.
After the killing of Alex Preeti in Minneapolis, Trump's immigration strategy is in question, the French newspaper "Le Monde" headlined.
The US president is trying to convince the public that Democrats and protesters are responsible for the violence caused by his immigration policies.
Preeti's murder comes two weeks after the death of Renee Goode, who was killed by an immigration officer under similar circumstances. The tragic deaths of these two 37-year-old Americans are a direct consequence of Trump's federal anti-immigration operation that has plunged Minneapolis into chaos and violence. Nothing like this had happened in this large city in the northern United States before the arrival of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, notes "Le Monde".