State trooper cleared of charges in fatal shooting of Black motorist, Ricky Cobb II.
"Last week, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced that her office would no longer be seeking charges against Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan for the death of Ricky Cobb back in July 2023. Trooper Londregan was initially charged with second-degree murder and other crimes after fatally shooting Cobb, a Black man, on the highway during a traffic stop for a taillight issue. Cobb had been wanted in a neighboring county and refused to exit his vehicle, leading to a physical struggle between Cobb and Londregan and another trooper, resulting in Cobb's death.
Moriarty revealed in a letter and a news conference that she and her team had concluded they wouldn't be able to secure a conviction against Londregan due to newly surfaced information. They discovered that Londregan would claim he shot Cobb because he believed Cobb intended to take his gun. According to Moriarty, the video evidence doesn't support or disprove this claim. Furthermore, Londregan's training officer testified that he didn't instruct his trainee to avoid yanking people from a running car.
Moriarty's confidence in securing a conviction had diminished, and she felt a judge might dismiss the case before reaching a verdict, hence her decision to drop the charges. Her office produced a 60-page report on the case, but it's unavailable to the public without a judge's consent. Moriarty acknowledged how difficult this decision was for her.
The decision to abandon charges against Londregan occurred about a month after Moriarty enlisted the assistance of a DC-based private law firm to assist in the case, citing understaffing in her own office. Londregan's lawyer, Peter Wold, was pleased with the outcome and told CNN that the new legal team arrived at the proper decision. 'It should've been made months ago,' Wold stated.
Londregan's defense was provided by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, who released a statement claiming that Londregan should've never been charged in the first place. 'This political case is over,' executive director Brian Peters added.
Cobb's relatives, on the other hand, expressed their discontent with the decision. They anticipated this since they've seen many other instances of injustice in the killing of Black people. Attorneys for the family, Bakari Sellers, Harry Daniels, and F. Clayton Tyler, also shared their frustration. 'We're not surprised as this appears to be another example of the absence of justice,' they expressed."
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Despite the family's disappointment, US Attorney General Mitch McConnell stated that they respect the local prosecutor's decision not to pursue charges against Trooper Londregan. The Cobb family's attorney team expressed their intention to continue their own independent investigation.
