GOP delegation asks AG to review Moriarty decision before mass shooting
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(FOX 9) - Minnesota's Republican congressional delegation is asking Attorney General Todd Blanche to review Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty's decision not to charge the gunman before this month's deadly mass shooting at a Loring Park high-rise.
Letter to AG
What we know:
In a letter on Monday, Reps. Brad Finstad, Pete Stauber, and Michelle Fischbach are calling on Attorney General Todd Blanche to review the circumstances leading up to the Sept. 2 shooting at the Shoreline Plaza building.
The lawmakers accuse Moriarty of failing to act after the gunman, Carlton Johnson II, was arrested just months before the shooting.
As FOX 9 reported after the shooting, Johnson was accused of threatening another person in his building and flashing a gun,
Leading up to the shooting
Dig deeper:
Johnson was arrested after the incident but never charged. Last week, Moriarty said the case was reviewed by an experienced prosecutor but declined for charges. Moriarty said the case wasn't submitted by police until August 20, nearly two months after the incident.
Moriarty pointed out that police investigators later learned in follow-up interviews with the 911 caller that the gun never left Johnson's waistband during the altercation. After learning from the caller that the gun had remained in Johnson's waistband throughout the altercation and the fact that the caller admitted to "getting into a physical altercation" with Johnson, Moriarty said her office determined they couldn't bring charges due to a lack of substantiating evidence.
The county attorney's office did forward the case to the extreme risk protection order team, who could petition for Johnson to lose his gun privileges under the red flag law. However, Moriarty said that the team also ruled the case could not move forward due to multiple factors, including that Johnson couldn't be considered an immediate risk since the original incident had occurred two months prior.
Can the AG really do anything?
What we don't know:
It's unclear what action the attorney general could take against Moriarty for a simple charging decision.
Last year, the DOJ launched a civil rights investigation into Moriarty over "the consideration of race" in her decisions. That case was ultimately dropped.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department launched an investigation into the Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney over its plea bargaining, charging decisions, and sentencing policy. However, in that case, the DOJ alleged misconduct based on civil rights violations.
It's not clear how Moriarty's office making a charging decision – even one Blanche finds wrong – could rise to the level of an actionable violation.
Loring Park shooting
The backstory:
Johnson was shot and killed by police after the rampage at his high-rise in Loring Park that started as a domestic dispute.
BCA investigators said Johnson shot a woman outside the building during a custody exchange first. Then, Johnson entered the building, shooting two workers before heading upstairs to the ninth floor. On the ninth floor, he then shot and killed two residents.
Police would confront Johnson on the ninth-floor. Two officers were hurt in an exchange of gunfire with Johnson and Johnson was killed.