Video undermines ICE account of officer shooting a man in Minneapolis | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
The city of Minneapolis on Monday released a video refuting Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) initial account of a shooting in January involving an agency officer and two Venezuelan men.
Video from a city surveillance camera shows federal officers chasing one of the men into his home. Another Venezuelan living there was also shot during the conflict, which eventually led to the firing of two federal officers who participated in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, called Operation Metro Surge.
Meanwhile, federal authorities dropped all charges against the two immigrants in February and opened a criminal investigation into whether the officers lied under oath about what happened.
After the municipality published the video New York Timeswhich previously obtained a copy, reported that the footage raises questions about why it took weeks for the federal government’s case against two men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, to collapse. Among other things, although the ICE officer at the center of the case initially claimed he struggled with two men for about three minutes before shooting, the video released Monday depicted a confrontation that lasted about 12 seconds.
The Times reported that federal investigators accessed the video within hours of the Jan. 14 shooting but did not watch it until nearly three weeks after charging the two men.
“The video makes clear that, as in other situations during Operation Metro Surge, the federal government’s account of what happened does not match the facts,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement.
Frey’s statement reflected the frustration of state and district attorneys over federal authorities’ refusal to share information about the Jan. 14 shooting and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents.
The video also contradicted federal authorities’ initial accounts of the murders of Good and Pretti, which occurred on January 7 and 24, respectively. But unlike the Aljorna and Sosa-Celis case, there is no indication that the federal government will take any action against the agents involved in the killings of Good and Pretti.
Minnesota prosecutors sued the Trump administration in late March for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate all three shootings.
The Hennepin district attorney’s office declined to comment on the video released Monday of Aljorna and the Sosa-Celis case, citing the active investigation into the matter.
Federal authorities initially accused Aljorna and Sosa-Celis of beating an ICE officer with a broom handle and snow shovel. The officer fired a single shot from his pistol, striking Sosa-Celis in the right thigh. Protesters quickly flocked to the scene and clashed with other police officers wearing gas masks and helmets.
The city of Minneapolis has made no statement about what the video depicts, other than to say the incident is “related” to the shooting. A statement added: “The city has no additional information and will not be commenting further at this time.”
In the video shot from a distance in the dark, a person standing outside the house, near the street, with a snow shovel in his hand, can be seen retreating towards the house and throwing the shovel into the garden. This occurs when a person being chased by another person runs down the street, falls onto the pavement, gets up, and continues moving toward the house.
The three appear to be jostling near the front steps for about 10 seconds. It’s unclear exactly when Sosa-Celis was shot. A car with its lights flashing pulls up and another person approaches.
The camera actively panned to view the street where the incident occurred before any vehicles arrived; This suggested that someone might be manually checking the event in real time.
The cases against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis were dropped after a highly unusual motion by U.S. attorney Daniel Rosen, Minnesota’s federal attorney general. Rosen said the “newly discovered evidence” is “materially inconsistent” with the allegations made in the criminal complaint and the evidence presented at the preliminary hearing. He said dismissal with prejudice (which meant the charges could not be refiled) would “serve the interests of justice.”
Rosen and other federal prosecutors involved in the case, as well as the justice department, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Monday.
ICE did not mention Monday’s video in its statement but reaffirmed its previous statement that the two officers involved had given false statements under oath. The officers were immediately placed on administrative leave pending the completion of an internal investigation, the agency said. Their names were not made public.
“Lying under oath is a serious federal crime,” the ICE statement said. “The U.S. attorney’s office is actively investigating these false statements.
“Following the conclusion of the investigation, officers may face termination of employment as well as potential criminal prosecution.”
The statement did not provide detailed information about the status of the case.
Aljorna’s attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Sosa-Celis’ attorney, Robin Wolpert, said: “The video is evidence in ongoing state and federal investigations, so I cannot comment.”
Both men are free while seeking legal status. They were ordered released even before the criminal charges were dropped, but before releasing them, ICE detained them again, again for alleged court-ordered immigration violations.
Associated Press contributed reporting
