Minnesotans in Congress say trooper murder case should be taken away from county attorney

A bipartisan majority of Minnesota's congressional delegation is calling for the murder case against state trooper Ryan Londregan to be taken away from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and reassigned to someone else.

Minnesota's Republican U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Pete Stauber and Brad Finstad sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday demanding the case be removed from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. They also said they'd ask the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to investigate the matter.

"Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has weaponized her position against law enforcement. She ignored an independent use-of-force expert chosen by her own office, who stated that Trooper Londregan acted as a 'reasonable officer' would have," their letter stated.

Recent court filings revealed that Hennepin County prosecutors stopped consulting a use-of-force expert after his opinion didn't support their theory that Londregan acted criminally when he shot and killed motorist Ricky Cobb II last summer. The expert had initially said a reasonable officer would have done what Londregan did to protect his partner, who was being dragged as Cobb's car lurched forward.

Moriarty initially said the expert's opinion would be critical to making her charging decision, but she stopped working with him and later charged Londregan with second-degree murder, manslaughter and first-degree assault.

Moriarty's handling of the case has been questioned by Republicans and Democrats, including Walz, who said Monday that the "option is always open" to remove the case from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

The governor has authority to reassign criminal cases from any county attorney, but that's only happened twice in modern history.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Angie Craig and Dean Phillips joined their Republican House colleagues in calling for the case to be reassigned.

Phillips, whose congressional district includes parts of Hennepin County, said Thursday that "In light of the circumstances, I believe it's in the best interests of our community and justice for the case to be transferred to Attorney General [Keith] Ellison."

Craig weighed in on Wednesday, saying "it's clear to me that it's time for state leaders to take over or reassign the Trooper Londregan case from the Hennepin County Attorney's office."

"Minnesotans deserve to have confidence in our state's criminal justice process, and recent disclosures in this case have seriously damaged that process. This action would help restore public confidence and ensure an objective review of the case is completed," Craig said.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose district includes Minneapolis and much of Hennepin County, said in a statement Thursday that "members of Congress who don't represent Hennepin County should not be weighing in on this."

"The voters in Hennepin County, including myself, have placed their trust and confidence in Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty to do the job she was elected to do," Omar said. She added that "taking away the case sets a bad precedent and disregards the will of Hennepin County voters."

Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday, nor did Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.

In a statement Thursday, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said the case "should be tried in the courtroom and not through the media." The office said elected officials and others should "refrain from creating more confusion by commenting on the ongoing case."

"Their comments disregard the established legal process, politicize the case, threaten the possibility of a fair trial, and ignore that there is a grieving family that is watching this unfold in the press," read the statement from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

Staff writers Rochelle Olson and Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.