MINNEAPOLIS — The ongoing battle to stem the tide of gun violence in Minnesota featured new players this week, two Special Response Teams from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Mike Luger announced Friday that the ATF teams took part in two raids, helping local law enforcement make 16 arrests and seize 29 guns. They also grabbed some auto sears, illegal pieces of hardware that allow people to convert their semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic machine guns.
The ATF's Jeffrey Reed said the special teams were brought in because the targets of the ongoing investigation were considered high-risk, violence-prone drug gang members.
"Individuals in these gangs are connected to criminal acts that include homicides, arms trafficking, drug dealing and other conspiratorial crime that have affected the peace of our communities," Reed told reporters at a press conference hosted by Luger's office.
Luger said he was grateful for the assist of the ATF and other agencies that are part of a concerted effort by federal, state and local authorities to disrupt heavily armed criminals who appear to lack regard for the consequences of their crimes.
"While we are fortunate that two of these elite teams traveled to our community to help us arrest high level targets, it is sad news that we in Minnesota need them in the first place," Luger remarked.
He said that, while the collaborative effort is making a dent in the flow of drugs and firearms, gun violence in the Twin Cities is still at an appalling level. What's alarming to Luger and other law enforcement veterans is the extent to which fentanyl dealers are using those auto sear devices to essentially arm themselves with machine guns.
Luger screened a public safety announcement the agency has created, directed to armed gang members. It reminds them that most firearms violations are now being handled in the federal courts, where convictions result in stiff mandatory sentences.
"Anyone considering selling fentanyl and using a machine gun needs to understand that fentanyl and a machine gun can equal 30 years in prison," Luger explained.
"There is belief on the street that there will not be serious and swift consequences and they can get away with what they are doing. So, we are trying to get the word out that is simply not the case."
Cases in point
Luger listed the example of Derrick Scott, who was arrested in Minneapolis with a makeshift machine gun and a large quantity of fentanyl.
"When Mr. Scott was brought into federal custody, he told the officers he would have no trouble doing a short amount of prison time and that he would get back on the street, get more machine guns when he's released," Luger said.
"But Scott’s bravado is badly misplaced. Possessing a machine gun in furtherance of the sale of fentanyl carries with is a mandatory 10-year federal prison sentence."
Another example he cited was Saladean Salean, who is accused of shooting seven people over the course of a few days, including one fatal shooting. He may be prosecuted in state court with the murder case, but in the meantime a federal weapons conviction could seal the door tightly on Salean.
"As his victims went to the hospital day after day, he obtained more weapons and shot more people. We have charged Salean with weapons violations."
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Kraus cited the case of Nicholas Dancy, who was barred from possessing a firearm due to previous convictions.
"Between May 27 and June 5, 2002, Dancy robbed three grocery stores along University Avenue. During the robberies Dancy used a firearm to threaten employees and demand cash."
Dancy now faces a battery of federal charges, which would come with significant prison time.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said the ramped up multi-agency enforcement efforts are having an impact bringing violence down and getting firearms out of the hands of felony offenders who are barred from having them.
But he's also seeing the strong correlations between illegal weapons and fentanyl trafficking, noting that the same arrests that net firearms have also turned up thousands of deadly fentanyl pills.
Sobering stats
Minneapolis Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman delivered a list of statistics to help reporters understand the sheer volume of the gun violence problem in the city.
She said the number of people shot in Minneapolis so far this year is 101-percent higher than at the same time in 2019, the most recent pre-pandemic year with normal seasonal crime stats. Dispatchers have received more than 5,000 calls from citizens reporting gun shots, shattering previous records.
Of the city's 58 homicides so far in 2022, 47 of them -- 81 percent -- were carried out with firearms.
"Behind the statistics are people. Our friends and neighbors, our colleagues, our family members whose lives have been impacted, forever changed by violent crime."
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