Newly released surveillance footage showing an immigration officer shooting a Venezuelan man in north Minneapolis on Jan. 14 contradicts initial government reports of the incident that wounded one and derailed the lives of several others. 

City officials on Monday released footage from a traffic camera that captured an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shooting Julio Sosa-Celis. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immediately branded Sosa-Celis and two other Venezuelan men as “attempted murderers” in a Jan. 14 news release and claimed the men beat the ICE agent with brooms and a shovel leading him to fire his gun “defensively.”  

Federal prosecutors used testimony from two ICE agents on the scene to charge Sosa-Celis and his roommate and friend, Alfredo Aljorna, with assault on a federal officer. But those charges were dropped Feb. 13, after the U.S. Attorney’s Office reviewed what it called newly available evidence “materially inconsistent with the allegations.”  Acting ICE director Todd Lyons said the two agents at the scene are under investigation for making false statements in sworn testimony. 

A joint ICE and Department of Justice review of video evidence revealed that two officers appear to have made untruthful statements about the incident, an ICE spokesperson told Sahan Journal in a statement Monday. The agents have been placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a larger investigation. 

“Lying under oath is a serious federal offense. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively investigating these false statements. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution,” ICE said in a statement. 

The 10-minute video, taken from a traffic camera about 50 yards from the home at the corner of 24th Avenue and Lyndale Avenue N., shows events leading up to, during and after ICE agents arrived in pursuit of Aljorna. There is no audio in the video. 

Here’s what it captured: 

A man, known now from court records and interviews to be Sosa-Celis, stands outside of the home on the phone. He grabs a snow shovel as he waits. A grey Ford Focus sedan comes into view and erratically parks up on a snow bank on a nearby corner. An SUV with police lights arrives moments after. As the driver of the car, known through court records to be Aljorna, runs toward the house, Sosa-Celis is seen throwing the snow shovel into the yard. 

As Aljorna runs up to the house he slips on the icy walkway. The ICE agent launches himself on top of Aljorna. There is a struggle that lasts roughly 15 seconds, in which Sosa-Celis appears to be trying to help Aljorna to his feet and pull him toward the home. The video of the struggle is blurry, but does not appear to show the men swinging any objects at the ICE agent. 

The men break free and the ICE agent rises and gets into a firing position. There appears to be a muzzle flash. At the time of the shooting, Sosa-Celis and Aljorna are out of view. Sosa-Celis was struck in the leg.

From the moment Aljorna arrives on the scene to the apparent gunshot only about 30 seconds pass. 

State lawsuit seeks evidence

Minnesota and Hennepin County investigators are continuing to probe the shooting. The video is described in state search warrant applications first reported by Sahan Journal.

The Department of Justice and DHS are not cooperating with state and local law enforcement as they attempt to investigate three shootings by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge. Sosa-Celis was shot a week after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Nicole Macklin Good in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez shot and killed Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, according to Pro Publica. 

But with no apparent action from federal agencies forthcoming, state officials last month filed a lawsuit demanding access to evidence in the three shootings. 

“Minnesotans are seeing their federal government hide evidence and obstruct investigations into these incidents. We will not sit by and let that happen,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said on March 24. “We are prepared to fight for transparency and accountability that the federal government is desperate to avoid, and we will fight as long as it takes.”

Robin Wolpert, Sosa-Celis’ attorney, told Sahan Journal she can’t comment on the footage because it is evidence in ongoing state and federal investigations. The agent who shot Sosa-Celis has not been identified. 

The city released the footage Monday morning, when the New York Times published an article breaking down the video. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Sosa-Celis and Aljorna based on the statements of ICE agents without viewing the video footage, the Times reported. More than three weeks passed until prosecutors watched the footage, the Times reported. Shortly afterward, the U.S. Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss the charges with prejudice, meaning prosecutors will be unable to file the charges in the future. 

Sahan Journal observed a bullet hole in the door to the duplex where Sosa-Celis and Aljorna lived after the shooting. The door has since been replaced.