ICE Agent Charged With Assault During Minneapolis Immigration Crackdown

Minnesota charged an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer with two counts of assault over an incident during Operation: Metro Surge in Minneapolis.

The Details: ICE agent Gregory Donell Morgan Jr. allegedly pointed a gun at the driver and passenger of another vehicle after being "cut off" in highway traffic on Feb. 5. The alleged victims said they moved their vehicle onto the shoulder of the highway to block Morgan's vehicle, which they said appeared to be trying to illegally bypass the traffic. The victims said they did not know Morgan was a federal officer, and they called 911 after seeing him roll down his window, shout something they did not understand, and point a handgun at them. Morgan said he yelled, "Police. Stop," but that the individuals in the other car could not hear him because their windows were up.

For Context: Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the charges precede any possible charges for shootings involving ICE agents, such as the cases of Alex Pretti, Renee Macklin Good, and Julio Sosa-Celis. Moriarty said, "I want to be transparent on why these situations are developing at different speeds. The state patrol was able to investigate thoroughly, identify Mr. Morgan, and conduct an interview with him … Virtually none of the obstacles around evidence collection that exist for the January shootings exist in this case."

How the Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) reported on Morgan's charges and noted that, opposingly, the state has not yet filed charges against anyone involved in the alleged "attack" on Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez. Hernandez was reportedly harassed at an anti-ICE protest, where "protesters swarmed Hernandez while she was reporting, blowing horns in her face, yelling obscenities and shoving her as she attempted to leave," according to Fox. BBC (Center) noted that Morgan's charges are "the first case in which a federal agent has been criminally charged for their actions during the Trump administration's 10-week immigration crackdown in Minnesota." Outlets on the left, such as NPR (Lean Left) and The Guardian (Left), included quotes from Moriarty, though both outlets said they reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and to Morgans and did not receive comment. 

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