MINNEAPOLIS – Hennepin County’s top prosecutor is drawing criticism from all sides the decision to drop a controversial case against a Minnesota state trooper.
But Attorney Mary Moriarty says she’s not going anywhere, and some of her supporters say she’s doing exactly what they elected her to do.
Moriarty began doubling down on Tuesday after dropping all charges against him Trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of motorist Ricky Cobb II last summer.
“It appears there is a pattern of me being publicly criticized without knowing the full facts,” Moriarty said in a statement to WCCO on Tuesday.
Chris Madel, Londregan’s attorney, did not mince his words Monday when speaking about Moriarty.
“This is a person who should not be all caps, bold, and should not be a county attorney,” Madel said.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said Monday he would have intervened if she didn’t drop the charges, and her decision to do so was “the right decision.”
“There were problems with this prosecution from the beginning,” Walz said.
WCCO
Last year, Walz became the first governor in decades to reassign an attorney general’s case when he transferred the Zaria McKeever murder case from Moriarty’s hands to those of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Moriarty says Walz treats her unfairly, hinting that this is due to her gender and sexuality. Moriarty is Hennepin County’s first openly LGBTQIA+ attorney. She says there is a pattern of public criticism that her predecessor Mike Freeman did not face.
During Monday’s press conference, Walz denied a reporter’s question about Moriarty’s claims.
‘Well, that’s not true. Next question,” Walz said.
The pressure on Moriarty comes at a time when progressive elected attorneys across the country are losing re-elections, resigning or being recalled, as in the case of San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin.
Yet community leaders like Dominique Pierre-Toussaint say what she is doing is what they hoped she would do.
“Without a doubt, I mean, that’s what she campaigned for (laughs)! I don’t even know how else to say it. It’s what she campaigned for,” Pierre-Toussaint said. “It’s rare that someone actually tries to go after the initiative they campaigned on. It’s very rare.”
As Moriarty makes progress, Pierre-Toussaint says he is hopeful her reform plans will too.
“There’s a lot going on right now, both in law enforcement and in the community,” he said. “Let’s find common ground.”
Adam Duxter
