\n<\/p>\n
Cedrick Frazier\u2019s blunt<\/span> message for Minneapolis voters practically jumps off his yard signs: \u201cPROSECUTE ICE. VOTE FRAZIER.\u201d<\/p>\n The slogan reflects the city\u2019s deep anger over the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal officers in January. It also reflects Frazier\u2019s belief that the backlash gives him the edge in the race to serve as Minneapolis\u2019s top prosecutor.<\/p>\n Frazier, a public defender turned state representative, is vying with former federal prosecutor Anders Folk in the race to become Hennepin County Attorney. The county, which includes Minneapolis, was beset by violence<\/a> and chaos<\/a> this winter amid a Trump administration immigration crackdown known as \u201cOperation Metro Surge<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, the contest was shaping up as a referendum on so-called progressive prosecutions \u2014 fallout from a debate that began six years ago after George Floyd was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin.<\/p>\n Now it has morphed into something more. Either Frazier or his opponent will likely decide whether to prosecute the federal immigration agents who killed Good and Pretti. Those stakes give the race national implications, Hamline University political science professor David Schultz said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are going to be looking at this race and asking: What does it tell us about holding law enforcement accountable?\u201d he said. \u201cIf you hadn\u2019t had Metro Surge, if you hadn\u2019t had George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, it would be: Minneapolis is holding an election for county attorney \u2014 no big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n A county attorney in Minnesota has broad responsibilities that range from general counsel for local government to prosecuting crimes to pursuing child support cases.<\/p>\n Voters, however, only wanted to talk about one thing as Frazier canvassed the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis earlier this month: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s winter invasion. Without prompting, two voters in two blocks thanked him for his campaign promise to go after ICE.<\/p>\n The reminders of Minneapolis\u2019s turbulent decade are everywhere in the city. A couple blocks away from a campaign field office, one building is still tagged with \u201c#JUSTICE4GEORGE\u201d graffiti. Within a short drive, the memorials for Good and Pretti are overflowing with flowers and handwritten tributes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In an interview with The Intercept, Frazier was careful to say that he has not made any decisions about cases involving federal agents. Any explicit statement to that effect could be used to throw him off the case.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t see it any different than saying we\u2019re going to go after crime,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cWe\u2019re just making it very clear and very explicit that if you come here, regardless of what your title is, and if you violate the law here, there will be accountability for that.\u201d<\/p>\n A native of the South Side of Chicago, Frazier moved to rural Minnesota for college and never left the state. He has three daughters and went from serving as a Hennepin County public defender to state representative for New Hope, a suburb of Minneapolis.<\/p>\n The 47-year-old built strong connections with the state affiliate of the Democratic Party and Minnesota\u2019s powerful labor movement. His day job outside of his part-time legislative position is as an attorney for the state\u2019s main teacher union.<\/p>\n If he is elected, Frazier will likely face crucial decisions about whether to file or continue pursuing charges in the Good and Pretti killers. The sitting county attorney, Mary Moriarty, began the investigation<\/a> into those killings with the aid of state Attorney General Keith Ellison, but she could leave the ultimate charging decision up to her successor. Frazier says he has no confidence in parallel federal investigations.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no trust whatsoever in a Donald Trump-led Department of Justice actually getting us any justice or accountability for what happened here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His opponent, Folk, brings a strikingly different resume and support base to the race.<\/p>\n A Minnesota native and 49-year-old first-time candidate who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, he worked his way up through the ranks at the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Minneapolis, where some of his most notable early cases focused on Somali American men accused of traveling to the Horn of Africa to fight for the designated terror group al-Shabaab.<\/p>\n After a stint at a national law firm, he returned to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in 2018 to serve as first assistant. He was briefly the interim top prosecutor after the resignation of the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in 2021. During that stint, he signed Chauvin\u2019s indictment on federal civil rights charges connected to the murder of George Floyd.<\/p>\n In 2022, he left public service and became a partner at the white-shoe law firm Jones Day, which has helped corporations<\/a> fight union campaigns<\/a>.<\/p>\n His blue-chip resume attracted support from wealthy campaign donors and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who endorsed<\/a> him early on.<\/p>\n Folk, whose campaign declined a request for an interview, leans on his prosecutorial experience to make the case that he is best suited to prosecute federal officers.<\/p>\nWalking the Block<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u201cTagged With Trump\u201d<\/h2>\n