No charges for task force members in Winston Smith death

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A central Minnesota prosecutor has decided not to charge two members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force who fatally shot Winston Smith Jr., a Black man, in Minneapolis.

Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan said in a letter dated last week that the task force members were justified in using deadly force.

Smith was killed on June 3 as he sat in an SUV at a Minneapolis parking ramp.

Authorities have said he was shot after he fired at task force members who were trying to arrest him on a weapons violation. A woman in the SUV with Smith has said she never saw him with a gun.