Greg Bovino and his federal agents are under investigation for “Operation Metro Surge.”

Local authorities in Minnesota are investigating former Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and other federal agents for potentially breaking the law during Operation Metro Surge in the Minneapolis area.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced in a news conference Monday that her office is already looking into 17 instances of “potential unlawful behavior” and asked local residents to submit any potential evidence of federal agents committing illegal activity through an online form at the new Transparency and Accountability Project. Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County, where Border Patrol and ICE agents focused much of their activity.

Citizens will be able to upload video and audio evidence of agents breaking the law, and they can send descriptions if they saw anything illegal from ICE and Border Patrol, Moriarty said, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

“I want to be clear with our community about the challenges these investigations entail, because the federal government has refused to provide us information about the actions of their officers in Minnesota,” Moriarty said.

One of the 17 instances under investigation includes Bovino throwing a gas canister into a park full of residents in south Minneapolis on January 21. The incident occurred just two weeks after Renee Good was shot and killed, and three days before Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents. Another incident under investigation concerns Border Patrol agents confronting protesters outside of Roosevelt High School on January 7, also in South Minneapolis.

“There are many victims whose stories need to be told,” Moriarty said. “We will investigate and pursue charging where appropriate.”

The Trump administration effectively made Bovino its scapegoat for the horror in Minneapolis, reassigning him to his old office in California (and possibly retirement after that) after mass protests in the city. But he has largely escaped criminal charges, even from previous misdeeds in Chicago.

That could soon change. A local jurisdiction taking steps to investigate and even charge ICE and Border Patrol agents over illegal actions as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda is a big step. These agents have rarely been held accountable, and have in fact been protected from prosecution, as White House officials such as Stephen Miller have gone as far as to claim that they have “federal immunity.” Hennepin County is about to test that, and if it’s successful, may inspire other localities.