Three Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned over the Justice Department’s push to investigate the widow of a woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and its reluctance to investigate the shooter, according to people with knowledge of their decision.

Joseph H. Thompson, who was second in command at the U.S. attorney’s office and oversaw a sprawling fraud investigation that has roiled Minnesota’s political landscape, was among those who quit Tuesday, according to three people with knowledge of the decision.

Thompson’s resignation came after senior Justice Department officials pressed for a criminal investigation into the actions of the widow of Renee Nicole Good, the Minneapolis woman killed by an ICE agent last Wednesday.

Thompson, 47, a career prosecutor, objected to that approach as well as to the Justice Department’s refusal to include state officials in investigating whether the shooting itself was lawful, the people familiar with his decision said.

Two other senior career prosecutors, Harry Jacobs and Melinda Williams, also resigned Tuesday. Jacobs had been Thompson’s deputy overseeing the fraud investigation, which began in 2022. Thompson, Jacobs and Williams declined to discuss the reasons they resigned.

The fraud cases — which involve schemes to defraud safety net programs managed by state agencies — were the chief reason the Trump administration launched an immigration crackdown in the state. The vast majority of defendants charged in the cases are of Somali origin.

Tuesday’s resignations followed tumultuous days at the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota as prosecutors struggled to manage the outrage over Good’s killing, which set off angry protests in Minnesota and across the nation.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Ernesto Londoño/Jamie Kelter Davis
c. 2026 The New York Times Company