An ICE agent charged 2026 with two counts of felony second-degree assault faces a nationwide arrest warrant after allegedly pointing his duty weapon at the heads of two civilians in a moving vehicle during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Thursday.
Summary
- Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, a Maryland resident and ICE Enforcement and Removal officer, allegedly pulled alongside a civilian vehicle on a Minneapolis highway shoulder on February 5 and pointed his weapon directly at the driver and passenger.
- This is the first criminal case against a federal immigration officer stemming from Operation Metro Surge, which deployed approximately 3,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and was linked to the fatal shootings of two US citizens.
- Moriarty said Morgan acted “well beyond the scope” of federal authority and that “there is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota.”
An ICE agent charged 2026 with felony assault in Minnesota marks the first criminal case against a federal officer from Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s largest immigration enforcement operation, which deployed about 3,000 agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area between December and February and left two US citizens dead.
Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. allegedly drove an unmarked SUV on a highway shoulder on February 5 past slower traffic, then pulled alongside a civilian vehicle and pointed his duty weapon directly at both occupants while continuing to drive. The victims called 911 and filmed the Utah license plate on the SUV, which investigators traced to a rental linked to Morgan’s ICE partner.
Morgan gave a voluntary interview to Minnesota State Patrol after the incident, telling investigators he feared for his safety when the victims’ car pulled in front of him. He said he drew his weapon and yelled “Police! Stop!” Investigators noted the victims could not hear him because their windows were up and had no way to identify him as a law enforcement officer.
“For a federal agent, our opinion is that illegally driving on a shoulder, pulling up to a car and pointing a gun at the heads of two community members who are not doing anything at the time is well beyond the scope of their authority,” Moriarty said. The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to seven years in prison per count under Minnesota law.
Federal Response and What This Means for Operation Metro Surge
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has previously warned that the DOJ could investigate and prosecute state and local officials who arrest federal agents for performing official duties. Moriarty said Thursday that she is “not concerned about blowback” and that her office would hold people accountable under Minnesota law regardless.
Operation Metro Surge was described by DHS as its largest immigration enforcement operation ever. The surge led to thousands of arrests and drew mass protests across the Twin Cities. Two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good, were shot and killed by federal officers during the operation. Trump fired Noem in March shortly after the surge ended, and Border Patrol sector chief Gregory Bovino announced his retirement the same month. Minnesota is separately suing the federal government for access to evidence in the three shooting cases.
The Morgan case moved faster than the shooting investigations because, Moriarty said, “virtually none of the obstacles around evidence collection that exist for the January shootings exist in this case.” A video and a license plate produced a clear evidentiary path. The shooting cases involving Pretti and Good remain under investigation.
The charges arrive at a moment when the administration’s immigration enforcement record is becoming a central midterm issue, with Democrats using controversies like this to keep pressure on vulnerable House Republicans whose votes will determine whether the CLARITY Act and other reform legislation can pass before the November election.
