25 January 2024
Several family members of Ricky Cobb II expressed gratitude and a hope for justice a day after the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged a Minnesota State Trooper with murder in Cobb’s killing last summer.
“We want equality, we want justice,” said Rashad Cobb, Ricky’s twin brother, during a Thursday news conference at the Hennepin County courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. “We’re not asking for the world, we’re asking for what’s righteous and what’s ours.”
The family and their attorneys thanked Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s office while also acknowledging that the charges are just the first step in the long process toward justice for Cobb’s killing.
“We commend the county attorney’s office for standing up for bravery and taking their oath seriously,” said Harry Daniels, the family’s attorney. “They are not just seeking to arrest and lock people up, but to be true ambassadors of justice.”
Trooper Ryan Londregan was charged with second degree unintentional murder, first degree assault and second degree manslaughter, the county’s top prosecutor Mary Moriarty announced on Wednesday. In a statement released shortly after the charges were announced, Cobb’s family called the decision important for the family and for promoting accountability of law enforcement going forward.
“Ryan Londregan stole my son from me. He gunned Ricky down my son for no reason while he was defenseless,” Nyra Fields-Miller, Cobb’s mother, said in the statement. “Nothing can ever make up for that. But today’s decision is the first step toward closure and justice.”
Moriarty explained during that her office determined Londregan shooting Cobb was an instance of unnecessary use of deadly force after examining State Patrol training policies. The training outlines how to extract someone from a vehicle using one or two troopers, and that shooting someone is unlikely to stop them from driving away – two policies that were not followed by Londregan during the traffic stop with Cobb, she said.
Cobb, a Black motorist, was killed in July on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis during a traffic stop initiated by Londegran and two other troopers for driving without taillights. The troopers tried to arrest Cobb after learning he had violated a protective order, and as the troopers opened Cobb’s doors, Cobb appeared to have attempted to drive off. Londregan then shot at Cobb, killing him.
“As with all Minnesota law enforcement officers, state troopers may only use deadly force when it is necessary to protect a person from a specific, identified threat of great bodily harm or death that is reasonably likely to occur,” Moriarty said. “That did not exist in this case. Ricky Cobb II should be alive today.”
The killing reignited feelings of outrage and exasperation at law enforcement that prompted thousands to flood the streets in protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and killing of Daunte Wright in 2021 that has sustained calls for police accountability since.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) completed its investigation and handed their findings to Moriarty’s office in September. In the months that followed, Cobb’s family and other community members expressed frustration at how long it was taking for Moriarty to announce a charging decision, but Moriarty said Wednesday that the wait was so her office could do its due diligence before making a decision.
“We wanted to be thoughtful about the decision in this case, understanding how important it is to Ricky Cobb’s family, to Trooper Londregan and to our community,” she told reporters. “We were careful, thoughtful and obtained all of the information that we knew we needed to make that decision, and so that’s why it took that much time.”
Law enforcement groups, on the other hand, came out in support of Londregan and criticized the decision.
The Minnesota State Patrol Troopers Association (MSPTA) said in a statement that it stands firmly with Londregan, who it said found himself in a “potentially life-threatening” situation that “necessitated the use of deadly force” when Cobb attempted to drive away. The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) echoed that sentiment, releasing a statement reiterating that Londregan’s actions were driven by his lawful duty to apprehend Cobb.
“MPPOA will vigorously defend our trooper who is unjustly charged as a result of acting in accordance with his legal responsibilities,” said MPPOA Executive Director Brian Peters. “The State Troopers used their training and acted accordingly to arrest the driver and address the imminent threat to both law enforcement personnel and the public at large as the driver unlawfully and dangerously attempted to escape in his vehicle.”
Col. Matt Langer, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, said in a statement that Londregan will remain on paid leave as the Department of Public Safety’s Internal Affairs division completes its own investigation, as per the troopers’ union contract. That investigation will then inform whether Londregan remains employed by the agency.
Langer said the State Patrol is also conducting its own “critical incident review” in an effort to examine and inform possible changes to the agency’s training and other policies.
Londregan is expected to make his first appearance before a judge later this week or early next week, at which point he will hand over his firearms and passport as part of his conditions of release.