Federal immigration agent Gregory D. Morgan Jr. is scheduled to make a first appearance in court Friday afternoon on charges that he pointed a gun at a vehicle earlier this year.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Morgan, 35, of Temple Hills, Maryland, in April with felony first- and second-degree assault for allegedly pointing his gun at people on Highway 62 near the Portland Avenue exit.
Morgan’s first appearance is scheduled for 1:15 P.M. at the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility in front of Hennepin County District Court Judge Paul Scoggin.
Morgan turned himself into the sheriff’s office Thursday and was booked that afternoon. He posted bond that day and was released.
Morgan’s incident occurred while he was in Minnesota working as part of Operation Metro Surge, the largest immigration enforcement effort in U.S. history.
According to the criminal complaint: Morgan was driving east on 62 in a rented black SUV on Feb. 5 when another driver briefly cut him off, not knowing he was an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Traffic camera footage from the Minnesota State Patrol showed the victims’ car briefly veering onto the shoulder but quickly returning to its lane. Morgan then had an opportunity to merge or pass it, but instead, he illegally drove onto the shoulder and positioned his SUV next to the car.
Morgan then allegedly pulled a gun on two people in the other car.
“Driving while pointing a weapon out of your moving vehicle at the victims who were in another moving vehicle could have led to yet another disastrous incident in a community that has already suffered too many,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a press conference last month.
Morgan’s attorney, Ryan Pacyga, addressed the charges in a news conference Thursday shortly before Morgan posted bond. Pacyga argued that Morgan feared for his life during the incident. The other vehicle swerved “aggressively,” and Morgan “did not know what the intention was,” Pacyga said.
“It happened fast, it was alarming and it happened during an extraordinarily tense time in our Twin Cities community,” Pacyga said.
He added that there’s “much more to this story than a brief video clip.”
Pacyga characterized Morgan as an 8-year law enforcement veteran who has spent “much of his life serving others, including vulnerable people.” Morgan has no criminal record, he added.
Morgan, who lives and is stationed in the east coast, was ordered to come to Minneapolis for Operation Metro Surge as a condition of his employment, according to Pacyga. When Moriarty filed the charges in April, they included a nationwide arrest warrant for Morgan.
Pacyga said Morgan has been cooperating with the process, and that he had been in touch with the county attorney’s office for weeks to go through the process of turning Morgan in to avoid an arrest and extradition from the east coast.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
