(CNN) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who is accused of pointing his government-issued firearm at another car and its passengers while driving on duty will turn himself in on Thursday, his attorney told CNN.
An arrest warrant was issued for Greg Morgan in April after Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the two second-degree assault charges against him.
Morgan “did NOT initiate” the incident, his attorney, Ryan Pacyga, wrote in a statement to CNN on Wednesday, adding the case “should not be reduced to inflammatory assumptions or broad attacks on law enforcement professionals who are often required to make rapid decisions in tense and uncertain situations.”
“Importantly, this incident did not arise from any planned criminal conduct. It developed suddenly during an alarming traffic interaction, initiated by the other driver,” he said.
The case comes as local and state prosecutors and investigators have opened a flurry of cases in Minnesota over ICE officers’ conduct during the Trump administration’s “Metro Surge” immigration operation earlier this year, during which several people, including Alex Pretti and Renee Good, were shot and killed by Department of Homeland Security officers.
On Monday, Moriarty announced another federal agent, Christian Castro, has been charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with a January shooting involving two Venezuelan immigrants in Minnesota.
In Morgan’s case, while driving back to close out his shift in early February, the ICE officer was driving on the shoulder of the road, Moriarty said during a news conference in April. A separate vehicle briefly went into the shoulder ahead of Morgan before returning to the lane.
Moriarty said that Morgan then drove his car up to the other car and pointed his government-issued firearm out of his window and at the two passengers.
When asked about claims from the Trump administration that ICE officers enjoy absolute immunity while on duty, Moriarty responded that “there is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota or any other state.”
Prosecutors said during the April news conference they did not know where Morgan was or whether he was still employed as an officer for ICE. There has been no communication with DHS about the incident and charges, Moriarty said.
CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has spoken to Morgan’s attorney after he reached out, spokesperson Daniel Borgertpoepping told CNN on Wednesday, although he didn’t say if Morgan’s surrender was coordinated with the office.
In a unique turn for such a case, Morgan was interviewed by Minnesota state patrol investigators at the time and, according to Moriarty, “admitted that he drew his firearm after the victim’s vehicle had already rejoined the normal flow of traffic.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, speaking on MS NOW after the charges were filed, accused DHS of overreaching on state authority with its operation, which “blanketed our city and state with paramilitaries.”
“Remember, these guys are masked, armed and have killed two Minnesotans – shot more than that – and so this is, quite honestly, the stuff of authoritarianism,” Ellison said.
In some cases involving ICE officers in Minnesota, federal officials have blocked state investigators from accessing evidence, including denying access to agents and refusing to share their identities.
A notable example happened as state investigators attempted to interview federal agents about the Pretti’s killing but were denied access. State prosecutors have sued DHS, demanding they turn over all evidence gathered in the Pretti investigation.
Last month, Moriarty also said Morgan had told investigators “that he yelled ‘police’” at the passengers, who had their windows up and did not know, according to prosecutors, that Morgan was an ICE officer.
“All they saw was the gun pointed at their heads,” she added.
Moriarty prefaced the news by explaining why the case was being brought prior to charges in the shootings of Pretti, Good and others by DHS officers as well as several other instances involving federal officers’ alleged abuse in Hennepin County.
“I know the community is following the decisions of this office very closely, and I want to be transparent on why these situations are developing at different speeds,” she said.
The county attorney said at the time her office is conducting 17 investigations related to ICE and has conducted over 50 interviews. But she noted that the case against Morgan was able to move more quickly because of road cameras and his interview.
“So we continue to do investigation on those cases,” Moriarty said. “We’re making really good progress on them.”
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