The charges against a Minnesota trooper who shot and killed a Black man during a routine traffic stop last July have been dropped.
Ryan Londregan, a white state trooper, was accused of killing Ricky Cobb II, who was 33 years old. Londregan faced charges of second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree manslaughter. He had previously stated that he was not guilty.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced on Sunday night that the charges against Londregan would be dismissed. The firing happened because the defense claimed that Londregan would testify that he saw Cobb try to grab the trooper’s gun, and a trainer from the Minnesota State Patrol said that he never told officers not to shoot at a moving vehicle.
Prosecutors decided to drop the case because new evidence showed that Mr. Londregan’s actions may have been an authorized use of force by a peace officer. They could no longer prove this beyond a reasonable doubt.
Moriarty said she was sorry that she wouldn’t be able to take the case to trial during a press conference on Monday morning.
“She said that Ricky Cobb should still be alive today,” “This makes it even harder for Mr. Cobb’s family and our community because we can’t make progress.” “I apologize deeply for that.”
Civil rights attorneys Bakari Sellers, Harry Daniels, and F. Clayton Tyler are representing the Cobb family. They criticized the county attorney’s office, saying that they had given in to political pressure and decided to drop the charges.
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“According to the attorneys, it seems that if you intimidate the prosecutors enough, you can avoid being charged with murder,” they said in a statement. “The people don’t believe the excuses, and we don’t either.”
Cobb was stopped by the police on July 31, 2023, at around 1:50 a.m. The reason for the stop was initially because his taillights were not working. However, the police later found out that he was wanted for violating a protective order in a nearby county. They were then asked to arrest him and take him into custody, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
The bodycam footage captures two troopers talking to Cobb while they were standing outside the car. The troopers tried to stop Cobb, but he reportedly refused to get out of the car and attempted to drive away. In the video from the body camera, it appears that one of the troopers tried to grab the steering wheel to stop the person, but they managed to drive away. A police officer named Londregan fired multiple shots at Cobb, who then drove a short distance before crashing into a median and dying at the scene, according to authorities.
During a press conference on Monday, Londregan’s lawyer, Christopher Madel, described Moriarty’s claim as “absurd.” Moriarty had stated that Londregan’s team had no prior knowledge of the trooper’s allegation that he had shot Cobb while defending himself and his partner. Madel is asking for Moriarty to resign because of comments she made comparing Londregan’s supporters to the rioters from the January 6th incident.
“I am very offended by that,” Madel said. “These are people who supported a hero who was accused of murder. When did that become considered incorrect?”
Cobb’s family filed a lawsuit in April against Londregan and Minnesota State Trooper Brett Seide. They accused them of “unreasonable seizure” and “excessive use of force” during a traffic stop. Seide was not charged in this case.
During a press conference where she announced the lawsuit, Olivia Stroh, the mother of Cobb’s 7-year-old son, spoke about seeking justice in the case and shared the emotional distress her young son is going through.
“I want to express that it was very painful for me to tell my son that the person he admires, who is supposed to keep us safe, shot his father,” Stroh said about Londregan. “It’s scary to say that to him — he’s only 7 years old.” He doesn’t deserve this. Ricky should not be treated this way. His four other children should not have to go through this, and he definitely deserves justice.
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