# Eagan, Minnesota *City in Dakota County, Minnesota, and the site of three episodes in the federal and state record.* Eagan is a city in [[Dakota County, Minnesota]]. It lies south of Saint Paul, on the south bank of the [[Minnesota River]] upstream of where that river meets the [[Mississippi River]], and forms part of the southern Minneapolis–Saint Paul suburbs. The 2020 census counted 68,855 residents.[^1] Three documented episodes in this record took place in the city. On August 16, 2001, the FBI arrested Zacarias Moussaoui at an Eagan flight school; the FBI Minneapolis field office requested a search warrant, and FBI headquarters denied it.[^2] The apartment at the center of *[[Minnesota v. Carter]]* was in Eagan.[^3] On July 2, 2019, police shot and killed [[Isak Aden]] in Eagan after a standoff of roughly four hours.[^6] The Aden shooting produced a [[county attorney]] declination on November 13, 2019,[^4] a federal district court ruling on September 29, 2023 that denied qualified immunity to the officers who fired,[^5] and a reversal by the Eighth Circuit on February 12, 2025.[^6] The Aden record is set out here by what each institution produced. The project's Dakota dossier records a stated county practice of sending every fatal officer-involved shooting in Dakota County since 1990 to a grand jury. The Aden case ended instead in a county attorney declination.[^4] Two federal courts then reached opposite conclusions about the same record.[^5][^6] ## Where Interstate 494 forms most of Eagan's northern boundary and Minnesota State Highway 3 most of its eastern one. The south bank of the Minnesota River forms most of the western edge, and the southern edge falls about a mile below Cliff Road.[^1] The [[United States Census Bureau]] puts the city's total area at 33.43 square miles: 31.12 square miles of land and 2.31 of water.[^1] Interstates 35E and 494 and Minnesota Highways 13, 55, 77 and 149 are its main routes.[^1] The city takes its name from Patrick Eagan, the first chairman of the town board of supervisors, who farmed 220 acres near the site of the present town hall. Eagan and his wife, Margaret Twohy, came from County Tipperary by way of Troy, New York, and reached [[Mendota]] around 1853–54.[^1] The area began as an Irish farming community. Its largest growth came after three road projects: the relocation and widening of Highway 77, a six-lane Minnesota River bridge built in 1980, and the completion in the mid-1980s of the last southbound stretch of I-35E toward [[Burnsville]].[^1] Eagan is a Plan A statutory city with a five-member council that includes the mayor. Members are elected at large, on ballots without party endorsement, to staggered four-year terms. Mike Maguire has been mayor since 2007.[^1] On the Dakota County Commission, the city's northern and western precincts are in the Third District, represented by Laurie Halverson since 2021. Its southern and eastern precincts are in the Fourth District, represented by William Droste since 2023.[^1] Eagan is in Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, represented by [[Angie Craig]] since 2019.[^1] Since the 2022 redistricting, 17 of the city's 18 precincts have been in Senate District 52, represented by [[Jim Carlson (Minnesota politician)]] (DFL). The remaining southeastern precinct is in Senate District 56, represented by [[Erin Maye Quade]] (DFL).[^1] The Aden standoff was handled by officers from more than one department. FOX 9's report on the charging decision named one Eagan officer, Jacob Peterson, and four Bloomington officers: Mathew Ryan, Anthony Kiehl, Adam Stier and Daniel Nelson.[^4] The district court allowed a *Monell* claim against the City of Eagan itself to proceed because the city's police chief had authorized the tactical plan.[^5] ## When - **c. 1853–54** — Patrick and Margaret Eagan arrive in Mendota before settling in the Eagan area.[^1] - **1980** — A six-lane bridge over the Minnesota River is completed, following the relocation of Highway 77.[^1] - **August 16, 2001** — The FBI arrests Zacarias Moussaoui at an Eagan flight school. The FBI Minneapolis field office requests a search warrant, and headquarters denies the request.[^2] - **July 2, 2019** — The Aden standoff begins at about 6:45 p.m. and ends at 10:37 p.m., when officers deploy flashbangs and foam rounds and five officers open fire.[^6][^5] - **November 13, 2019** — Officers are not charged in the Aden shooting.[^4] - **September 29, 2023** — In *Aden v. City of Eagan*, No. 0:20-cv-01508 (D. Minn.), the district court denies qualified immunity on Counts I and II and allows the *Monell* claim against the city.[^5] - **February 12, 2025** — In *Aden v. City of Eagan*, No. 23-3391, the Eighth Circuit reverses and remands for entry of summary judgment.[^6] - **February 2026** — The city council adopts a one-year moratorium on new data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations. It covers facilities drawing more than 20 megawatts within 500 feet of homes. Four data centers, each under 20 megawatts, were active or in development when it was adopted.[^1] ## How many - **Residents:** 68,855 at the 2020 census, up from 64,206 in 2010.[^1] - **Households and housing:** 27,609 households and 28,383 housing units in 2020, with 2.7% of units vacant.[^1] - **Largest employers:** West, part of Thomson Reuters, with 5,000 Eagan-based employees; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, with 3,900; and the state's largest UPS hub, with 1,400.[^1] - **The Aden standoff:** - More than eighty officers contained Aden, with sniper coverage.[^5] - Five officers fired twelve rounds, producing eleven gunshot wounds.[^6] - All lethal rounds were fired within 3.73 seconds.[^6] ## In the at-issue record **AI-Dakota-009 (*Minnesota v. Carter*).** The project's at-issue record places the apartment in *Minnesota v. Carter* in Eagan. Acting on an informant's tip, an officer watched through a gap in a ground-floor window for several minutes.[^3] Justice Ginsburg dissented, joined by Justices Stevens and Souter. She wrote that an invited guest "should share his host's shelter against unreasonable searches." The State's position prevailed, and the resulting precedent applies nationally.[^3] **AI-Dakota-021 (Isak Aden).** *The standoff.* Isak Aden, 23, remained outside in Eagan from about 6:45 p.m. on July 2, 2019, for roughly four hours.[^6] More than eighty officers, four snipers, K-9 units, an MRAP and two armored vehicles contained him.[^3][^5] According to the at-issue record, he had put his handgun on the ground at officers' request.[^5] At 10:37 p.m. officers deployed flashbangs and foam rounds, and five officers fired twelve rounds.[^6] *The account of the final seconds.* The two sources differ on whether Aden was holding a gun when he was shot. The Eighth Circuit's opinion recites "twelve lethal rounds" fired within "3.73 seconds of Aden picking up his gun."[^6] The project's Dakota dossier, summarizing the district court record, describes him as unarmed at the moment he was targeted.[^5] *The county decision.* The project's Dakota dossier records the county's stated practice that every fatal officer-involved shooting in Dakota County since 1990 goes to a grand jury. The Aden case was resolved instead by a county attorney declination on November 13, 2019.[^4] *The federal litigation.* On September 29, 2023, Judge [[Jerry W. Blackwell]] of the District of Minnesota ruled on the officers' claims of qualified immunity. He denied qualified immunity to every officer who fired, and to three supervisors on the less-lethal force. He held that "a reasonable jury could conclude that any immediate threat had been extinguished."[^5] On February 12, 2025, the Eighth Circuit held that "the use of lethal force was objectively reasonable." It reversed and remanded for entry of summary judgment.[^6] The project's dossier states that no settlement was paid; the court opinions in the pack do not themselves address settlement.[^6] ## In the Minnesota record ### Where - Eagan is in Dakota County, on the south bank of the Minnesota River.[^1] - Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested at an Eagan flight school on August 16, 2001. The related warrant request came from the FBI's Minneapolis field office.[^2] - The *Minnesota v. Carter* apartment was in Eagan, Dakota County.[^3] - The Aden standoff and shooting took place in Eagan on July 2, 2019. Eagan and Bloomington officers were named in reporting on the charging decision.[^6][^4] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Eagan, Minnesota* (revision 1378621910, retrieved Oct. 27, 2026) — location, boundaries, area, history, census counts, government, employers and the February 2026 data-center moratorium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagan,_Minnesota [^2]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, *Zacarias Moussaoui* (famous cases history page, n.d.) — August 16, 2001 arrest at an Eagan flight school; the Minneapolis field office's search-warrant request and the headquarters denial. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/zacarias-moussaoui [^3]: Minnesota wiki, *At-issue records AI-Dakota-009 and AI-Dakota-021* (Dakota package; drawn from Backstrom_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §§III, V) — for AI-Dakota-009, the Eagan location of the *Carter* apartment, the window observation and the Ginsburg dissent; for AI-Dakota-021, the containment force. The record lists a Supreme Court source on supreme.justia.com whose URL is not in the evidence pack. [^4]: FOX 9, *No charges for officers in deadly Eagan Minnesota shooting of 23-year-old man* (Nov. 13, 2019) — the charging decision of November 13, 2019, and the officers it names. https://www.fox9.com/news/no-charges-for-officers-in-deadly-eagan-minnesota-shooting-of-23-year-old-man [^5]: United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, *Aden v. City of Eagan*, No. 0:20-cv-01508, order on summary judgment (Sept. 29, 2023) — qualified immunity denied on Counts I and II; the "immediate threat" finding; the *Monell* claim allowed because the chief authorized the tactical plan; the containment force. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/minnesota/mndce/0:2020cv01508/188567/93/ [^6]: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, *Aden v. City of Eagan*, No. 23-3391 (Feb. 12, 2025) — the standoff from about 6:45 p.m. to 10:37 p.m.; twelve rounds, eleven wounds, and lethal rounds within 3.73 seconds of Aden picking up his gun; the holding of objective reasonableness; reversed and remanded for entry of summary judgment. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/23-3391/23-3391-2025-02-12.html