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Crime, Law and Justice
Tim Nelson
St. Paul

State signals no independent probe for Minneapolis crash that killed 5

People embrace in a small crowd
Sundus Mohamoud Ali (left), Suhdus Adan Odhowa (center), and Rukia Gesaade (right) console each other during the press conference during a press conference at Dar Al-Farooq Center in Bloomington on Monday.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News

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The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has apparently turned down calls for an outside probe of the June 16 crash that killed five young women in Minneapolis.

The women were in a car on Lake Street when a speeding SUV exited Interstate 35W, blew through a red light and broadsided the car at high speed. The alleged SUV driver, 27-year-old Derrick Thomson of Brooklyn Park, faces criminal vehicular homicide, drug and gun charges.

Families of the young women and the Council on American Islamic Relations-Minnesota had called for an independent review of the circumstances, including the actions of a state trooper who had spotted the SUV on 35W ahead of the crash.

A collage of five young women.
Leaders from the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center identified the young woman who died as (from top left, clockwise) Saga Hersi, 19, Minneapolis; Siham Odhowa, 19, Minneapolis; Sabiriin Ali, 17, Bloomington; Salma Abdikadir, 20, St. Louis Park; and Sahra Gesaade, 20, Brooklyn Center.
Courtesy photos

They wanted Gov. Tim Walz to appoint a special investigator independent of the Minnesota State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies to look into whether there was a police pursuit, how traffic camera video of the crash made it onto social media and whether the state followed the proper procedures in reinstating the driver’s license of the suspect. 

Law enforcement critics said last week that lights and a siren might have alerted other vehicles to get out of the way and potentially avoided a high-speed crash.

In a written response, however, Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson made it clear that he did not believe an independent probe was needed or would be undertaken in connection with the crash itself.

Jacobson reiterated that his agency has been “in full compliance with the investigation” into the crash and that Thompson was not being pursued by the state trooper.

The criminal complaint by Hennepin County prosecutors “answers many of the questions that community members have raised about this incident,” he added, noting that the U.S. Attorney’s Office also “reviewed the full incident” before filing federal charges against Thompson.

In the letter, the commissioner wrote that he’s extended an offer to the families to meet with them and privately show the State Patrol squad video.