Fargo, North Dakota, has become the latest flashpoint for fears about facial recognition software and artificial intelligence (AI) in law enforcement. Police investigation of a local bank fraud case led to the arrest and months-long detention of a rural Tennessee woman who, it appears, had never even been to North Dakota.
U.S. marshals arrested Angela Lipps, 50, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, in July of 2025, on charges related to bank fraud in North Dakota. Facial recognition software linked a woman in surveillance footage of the crimes with photos of Lipps. Months passed before Lipps' attorney could present evidence showing she had been in Tennessee at the time.
Fargo's police chief claims the charges had a stronger basis than the facial recognition alone, but Lipps' attorneys plan to sue. Lipps says that the months in jail caused her to lose everything she had in Tennessee: her home and car, her good name, and even her dog.
How Fargo Police Got Angela Lipps
In the spring of 2025, law enforcement in Fargo was investigating multiple bank frauds with a suspect who used a false military ID. To identify the suspect, detectives reviewed the surveillance footage using facial recognition software. Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski described this as "an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center." It matched the suspect's image with pictures of Angela Lipps, drawn from her driver's license and social media.
Fargo police then sought and received an arrest warrant for Lipps as a "fugitive from justice." In July, they found her in Carter County, on the eastern borders of Tennessee. Lipps, a grandmother of five, states that marshals arrested her "at gunpoint while babysitting four young children." Since she was arrested as a fugitive, Lipps was held without bail. She says that while she was in jail in Tennessee, her court-appointed attorney told her she would have to go to North Dakota to fight the charges.
However, no one brought Lipps to North Dakota until October. The Fargo Police Department claims it was unaware Lipps was in its custody until early December. In mid-December, Lipps' defense attorney Jay Greenwood was finally able to work with her and talk to the police. They provided bank records and receipts showing that Lipps was in Tennessee during the time of the bank fraud in North Dakota.
On Christmas Eve, Lipps' case was dismissed, and she was free — but hundreds of miles from home. Lipps claims that authorities offered her nowhere to go and no clothing safe for the North Dakota winter (FPD disputes both these assertions). Defense attorneys provided Lipps with a hotel room on Christmas, and a local nonprofit leader helped her travel home.
Was This a Wrongful Arrest? If So, What Is the Remedy?
Following the controversy, Police Chief Zibolski has asserted that the AI identification was not the only evidence that led to Angela Lipps' arrest warrant, although he says he cannot discuss it further. He has also stressed that the investigation is "active and ongoing" and that the charges against Lipps could be refiled.
Nonetheless, Attorneys Eric Rice and Dane DeKrey are preparing to file a lawsuit against the Fargo authorities involved in Lipps' arrest. By her own account on her fundraising page, Lipps lost not just her personal assets but her reputation, as well as her physical and mental health. If proven, these losses could mean she has a significant claim for damages on one or more grounds.
However, Lipps' lawsuit could be complex. Her months of imprisonment did not stem from just one AI identification by Fargo police; several state authorities were involved. Police Chief Zibolski points out that the Cass County State's Attorney's Office filed for Lipps' arrest warrant, asserting that there was probable cause to arrest her, and a judge agreed. Why Lipps had to wait so long in jail is a separate matter entirely involving her attempt to contest her extradition to North Dakota. All this complicates the question of who, if anyone, can be held accountable in a lawsuit.
When Should Police Rely on Facial Recognition Software?
Although she may have spent the longest time in jail for it, Angela Lipps is only one of at least a dozen people in the U.S. who have been arrested due to facial recognition errors. Nijeer Parks spent ten days in a New Jersey jail, and recently, truck driver Jason Killinger sued the Reno, Nevada, police officer who held him for hours over a software misidentification. Critics like the ACLU say that facial recognition software is often more inaccurate for darker-skinned men and women, leading to more mistaken matches and arrests. The Lipps case has drawn serious concern from at least one North Dakota lawmaker, although no state regulations have been proposed yet. Some states and jurisdictions have developed guardrails to prevent false identifications from leading to arrests. Stories like Angela Lipps', and the lawsuits that follow, may help push for more laws and regulations.
Related Resources
- Boston is Latest City to Ban Facial Recognition Technology, Even as Federal Legislation Introduced (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- Is Congress About to Take a Shot at Regulating Facial Recognition Technology? (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- Racial Profiling Goes High-Tech: Facial Recognition Gone Wrong (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
