Samantha Trepel

Guest Author

Samantha Trepel is the Rule of Law Program Director at States United Democracy Center. Prior to joining States United, she served as a Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a Special Litigation Counsel in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, prosecuting criminal civil rights violations and hate crimes. There, she led the federal civil rights prosecution of the officers responsible for the death of George Floyd. Before joining the DOJ, Sam clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She received a BA from Yale University and a JD from Yale Law School.

Articles by this author:

Protestors clash with federal agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on January 8, 2026. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed an American woman on the streets of Minneapolis January 7, leading to huge protests and outrage from local leaders who rejected White House claims she was a domestic terrorist. The woman, identified in local media as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was hit at point blank range as she apparently tried to drive away from agents who were crowding around her car, which they said was blocking their way. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)

DOJ’s Dangerous Silence in the Face of Federal Immigration Agents’ Violent Tactics

Jan. 8, 2026 Samantha Trepel