Minneapolis Video Contradicts Feds’ Narrative of ICE Shooting
A surveillance video that investigators possessed shortly after a January shooting involving immigration agents in Minneapolis was not reviewed by prosecutors for nearly three weeks, according to a New York Times analysis of recently released footage.
The video, captured by a city security camera on Jan. 14 and obtained through a public records request, appears to contradict sworn statements from immigration agents involved in the incident. Agents had reported that three men repeatedly beat one of them with a shovel and a broom for several minutes before the agent fired his weapon. However, the recording shows a brief struggle lasting about 12 seconds between two men, with no extended attack. The shovel seen in the footage is dropped before the physical confrontation begins. The city released the video publicly on Monday, according to KVUE.
Minneapolis police officials said the federal government received the footage within hours of the event. Nevertheless, two Venezuelan immigrants—Julio C. Sosa-Celis and Alfredo A. Aljorna—were charged with assaulting a federal officer just two days later. Prosecutors relied primarily on statements from immigration agents and an FBI affidavit when filing the charges.
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The case eventually unraveled after a prosecutor reviewed the video and asked the court to dismiss the charges, describing the recording as newly discovered evidence. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frew said that even a basic review of the video would have revealed that the agents’ accounts were false.
During the confrontation, Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg. Officials initially described the gunfire as a defensive action by the agent. Witnesses, however, said the shot occurred when an agent fired through a closed door into a home where children were present.
Following the release of the footage, the acting director of ICE stated that two agents appear to have provided false testimony under oath. Both agents have been placed on leave and could face criminal charges.
State investigators examining the incident say their work has been slowed by limited cooperation from federal authorities. According to the New York Times, Sosa-Celis, Aljorna, and their partners—who do not have legal status in the United States—were held in detention for several weeks after the shooting. Judges later ordered that they be returned to Minneapolis while they challenge deportation proceedings. Their attorneys say the men may qualify for special visas because they are cooperating with investigations into the conduct of ICE agents.
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