Supporters of embattled Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty say she's staying true to campaign pledges
MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin County's top prosecutor is taking heat from all sides following the decision to drop a controversial case against a Minnesota state trooper.
But county attorney Mary Moriarty says she's not going anywhere, and some of her supporters say she's doing exactly what they elected her to do.
Moriarty started Tuesday by doubling down after dropping all charges against trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of motorist Ricky Cobb II last summer.
"It appears there is a pattern of publicly criticizing me without getting the full fact," Moriarty said in a statement to WCCO on Tuesday.
Chris Madel, Londregan's attorney, didn't mince words when speaking about Moriarty on Monday.
"This is a person that should not, underline, all caps, bold, should not be county attorney," Madel said.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said on Monday that he would have intervened if she didn't drop the charges, and her move to do so was "the right decision."
"There were problems in this prosecution from the beginning," Walz said.
Last year, Walz became the first governor in decades to reassign a case from a county attorney when he transferred the Zaria McKeever murder case from Moriarty's hands into those of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Moriarty says Walz is treating her unfairly, alluding it's due to her gender and sexuality. Moriarty is the first openly LGBTQIA+ Hennepin County attorney. She says there's a pattern of public criticism that her predecessor Mike Freeman didn't face.
In Monday's press conference, Walz denied a reporter's question about Moriarty's claims.
"Well, that's false. Next question," Walz said.
The heat on Moriarty comes at a time when progressive elected attorneys nationwide are losing reelections, resigning or being recalled, as in the case of San Francisco's Chesa Boudin.
Still, community leaders like Dominique Pierre-Toussaint say what she's doing is what they'd hoped she'd do.
"Hands down, I mean that's what she campaigned on (laughs)! I don't even know how to even say it any different. It's what she campaigned on," Pierre-Toussaint said. "It's very rare to see an individual actually try to really go after the initiative that they campaigned on. It's very rare."
As Moriarty moves forward, Pierre-Toussaint says he's hopeful her reform plans do, too.
"There's a lot that's going on right now, law enforcement and the community," he said. "Let's find the common ground."
