DA Larry Krasner forms coalition of progressive prosecutors committed to charging federal agents who commit crimes
Krasner on Wednesday is expected to be joined by eight other prosecutors from U.S. cities — including Minneapolis DA Mary Moriarty — to announce the initiative.
District Attorney Larry Krasner is forming a coalition of progressive prosecutors who are committed to charging federal agents who violate state laws.
Krasner on Wednesday is expected to be joined by eight other prosecutors from U.S. cities — including Minneapolis DA Mary Moriarty — to announce the creation of the Project for the Fight Against Federal Overreach.
The abbreviation for the group, FAFO, is a nod to what has become one of the Philadelphia DA’s frequent slogans: “F— around and find out."
The goals of the organization and how it would operate were not immediately clear. The prosecutors are expected to gather for an 11 a.m. news conference to discuss the matter.
The move places Krasner at the center of a growing national clash between progressive prosecutors and the Trump administration over federal immigration enforcement and whether local law enforcement can — or should — hold federal agents accountable.
Krasner, alongside other progressive city leaders outside City Hall on Tuesday, said he and other prosecutors were “rallying around” Moriarty in the wake of the two shootings of protesters by federal law enforcement officials in Minneapolis this month.
Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed in her car by an ICE officer on Jan. 7 as she appeared to attempt to drive away during a confrontation with agents. Then, on Saturday, Alex Pretti, 37, was killed after similarly confronting agents on a Minneapolis street. Video of the shooting, which contradicted federal officials’ accounts, appeared to show border patrol agents disarming Pretti, who was carrying a legally owned handgun in a holster. They then shot him multiple times.
Krasner called those killings criminal, and has vowed to charge federal agents if they committed similar acts in Philadelphia.
“There are state prosecutors coming together right now to make sure that people understand there will be accountability. There will be accountability now. There will be accountability in the future. There will be accountability after [Trump] is out of office,” he said. “If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities. We will find you. We will achieve justice, and we will do so under the Constitution and the laws of the United States.”
Krasner told the New York Times on Tuesday that the other participating prosecutors include those elected in Austin and Dallas, Tex.; several cities in Virginia; and Pima County in Arizona, which includes Tucson.
This is a developing story and will be updated.