Ryan Londregan, trooper who killed Ricky Cobb II, returns to work with Minnesota State Patrol
MINNEAPOLIS — A White state trooper who shot and killed a Black man during a traffic stop in Minneapolis last summer is now back on the job.
Ryan Londregan had been charged with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Ricky Cobb II on the morning of July 31, 2023, during a traffic stop for inactive taillights. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in May and they were dropped in June after the Hennepin County Attorney's Office determined it could no longer meet its burden of proof.
At the beginning of August, an investigation by the Minnesota State Patrol exonerated Londregan, helping clear the way for him to eventually return to work.
The Minnesota State Patrol confirmed on Monday that Londregan is no longer on paid leave and is now working for the agency again out of Golden Valley.
Londregan's attorney Chris Madel says he now has two goals remaining: getting the civil case filed by Cobb's family dismissed and "getting him (Londregan) an award for being the hero that he is."
The civil suit filed in April against Londregan and Brett Seide, another trooper involved in the traffic stop, accuses the state troopers of unreasonable seizure and excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
After charges were dropped against Londregan, attorneys for Cobb's family called for an investigation into the killing by the U.S. Department of Justice as well as "disturbing failures in both training and procedure at the Minnesota State Patrol outlined in a report released by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office."
Last month, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association filed a formal complaint against Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, alleging she acted unethically in prosecuting Londregan. The complaint says Moriarty and her office "repeatedly courted pretrial publicity that they knew would be substantially likely to materially prejudice a jury"; "knowingly [made] false statements of fact while representing the State against Trooper Londregan"; and engaged in "conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice."
