(USNewsMag.com) – The charges against Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan, accused of fatally shooting Ricky Cobb II, 33, during a traffic stop in July 2023, have been dismissed.
Londregan, who is white, had pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree assault, second-degree unintentional murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Cobb, who was black.
The charges stemmed from a traffic stop around 1:50 a.m. on July 31st, 2023. Londregan pulled Cobb over because his taillights were out. However, after he was stopped, troopers were asked to take Cobb into custody after learning he was wanted for violation of a protective order in another county. According to the bodycam footage, two troopers were standing outside the car talking with Cobb. However, when they attempted to detain him, Cobb refused to get out of the vehicle and attempted to flee.
The video shows one of the troopers attempting to stop him from driving away by grabbing the steering wheel. However, the video then shows Londregan shooting multiple times at the vehicle, which traveled a short distance before hitting a median. Cobb died at the scene, according to authorities.
On June 2nd, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty stated the charges would be dismissed after Londregan’s defense attorney said he would testify that Cobb reached “for the trooper’s firearm.” The defense also planned to call a Minnesota State Patrol trainer to testify that he “never” told officers they should “refrain from shooting into a moving vehicle.” Prosecutors decided to drop the case as the new evidence meant they could not prove his “actions were not an authorized use of force.”
Londregan’s attorney, Christopher Madel, called for Moriarty’s resignation for her remarks comparing Londregan’s supporters to people at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Civil rights attorneys representing the Cobb family, Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers, and F. Clayton Tyler, criticized the decision, claiming that the county attorney’s office “bowed to political pressure to drop the charges.”
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