As many as six federal prosecutors with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division resigned Tuesday, as national attention intensifies on the Trump administration's response to a fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota.
Multiple outlets report the resignations came after the department announced it would not perform a civil rights investigation after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis last week.
Deputy attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that the department would not undertake any such investigation.
"There is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation," Blanche said in a statement obtained by Scripps News.
The exact number of resignations has not yet been confirmed by Scripps News.
In statements to multiple outlets, the Justice Department acknowledged the resignations but said they were underway before Renee Good's death in Minneapolis.
“Although we typically don’t comment on personnel matters, we can confirm that the criminal section leadership gave notice to depart the civil rights division and requested to participate in the Department of Justice’s early retirement program well before the events in Minnesota," the statement read. "Any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
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Federal authorities have blocked Minnesota investigators from accessing evidence in the fatal shooting. The FBI is investigating the incident, focusing on Good's potential connections to groups that protested the Trump administration's immigration enforcement priorities.
President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week characterized Good as "violent" and an "agitator."
The Department of Homeland Security has taken a public position that the shooting was in self-defense and posted videos it says support that claim. So far, no evidence has emerged that definitively shows whether Good intentionally struck the agent with her vehicle.
An additional 1,000 Border Patrol officers are heading to Minneapolis, Secretary Noem said on Monday.
