Two more Minnesota State Patrol trainers are supporting the actions of the trooper charged in connection to a deadly shooting last summer.

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) on Tuesday renewed its call for Gov. Tim Walz to reassign the case against Trooper Ryan Londregan from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, citing two recent statements of support from troopers.

The sworn statements, from recently retired Tech Sgt. Troy Morrell and Lt. Jonathan Wenzel, say that Londregan followed his training when he fatally shot Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis on July 31.

Morrell’s statement says he was the State Patrol’s emergency vehicle operations/vehicle contacts coordinator until his retirement in September while Wenzel has previously served as a firearms instructor and coordinator, including for Londregan’s class in 2021.

Their statements come a month after a use-of-force trainer for the agency said Londregan acted in accordance with his training and a defense memo seemingly showed that another use-of-force expert, former California police officer Jeffrey Noble, told prosecutors he believes Londregan acted reasonably if he shot Cobb because he feared for his partner’s safety when Cobb started driving away.

Londregan is facing second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter charges for shooting Cobb when he started to drive away as another trooper was still leaning into the passenger’s side of the vehicle.

MPPOA has used the troopers’ statements to urge Walz to reassign the case to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. A spokesperson for the governor reiterated Tuesday that Walz continues to monitor the case and “has not shut the door to reassigning it,” but no decision has been made at this point.

“It is a dangerous and unjust world where an officer can follow policies, training, and act in accordance with the law and still be charged criminally,” MPPOA General Counsel Imran Ali said. “Based on the Hennepin County Attorney’s past statements about police and her ongoing public comments regarding Trooper Ryan’s case, it is clear the Hennepin County Attorney has an anti-law enforcement bias. With the rise of violence towards law enforcement increasing significantly, we simply can’t wait. We ask Governor Walz to act to provide fairness and equity in Hennepin County.”

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has repeatedly said it has “significant evidence” supporting the charges against Londregan and said Tuesday, “We will litigate this case in court, which is where it belongs.”

The case has been contentious and political in the pre-trial stage, with many politicians and groups using new court filings and statements as an opportunity to weigh in on the case. Hennepin County Judge Tamara Garcia has tried to rein that in a bit by ordering the parties to only offer exhibits during on-the-record hearings and having excerpts of sealed documents redacted.

The Cobb family’s attorneys have panned the political commentary regarding the prosecution and have said the governor shouldn’t intervene.

“This isn’t about justice. If it was, politicians and the police union wouldn’t be trying to influence an active prosecution,” the Cobb family’s attorneys said. “This is about trying to subvert the wills of the grand jury and the people of Hennepin County.

“This family has one ask: that this be treated like any other murder case. We call on Governor Walz to put justice before politics and let County Attorney Moriarty bring this prosecution without any further interference. Reassigning this case would create a clear conflict of interests and removing it from the County Attorney should not be an option. Mr. Cobb’s family has suffered enough. They don’t deserve this too.

“The police union may want to defend a murderer who gunned down an unarmed man. The Governor should not.”

Londregan’s next hearing is scheduled for April 29.