Minneapolis ICE Shooting Video Exposes Federal Lies -- And a Three-Week Cover-Up

The Trump administration's immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis just got caught in a lie -- and the cover-up may be worse than the crime.

Security camera footage released Monday by the city of Minneapolis directly contradicts sworn testimony from federal immigration officers who shot a Venezuelan man in January, then charged him and another immigrant with assaulting them. The video shows what Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called "crystal clear" evidence that "the federal government's account of what happened simply does not match the facts."

Here's the timeline that should alarm anyone who cares about due process: Federal investigators had access to this exculpatory video within hours of the January 14 shooting. They didn't bother watching it until nearly three weeks later -- after they had already charged Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis with beating an ICE officer with a broom handle and snow shovel.

The video, shot from a city-owned security camera in the dark, tells a different story. It shows a person with a snow shovel near the street retreating toward a house and tossing the shovel into the yard as someone being chased runs up from the street, falls on the sidewalk, gets up, and keeps heading toward the house. Three people appear to scuffle near the front steps for about 10 seconds before one of them -- Sosa-Celis -- is shot in the right thigh by a federal officer.

What the video doesn't show: any sustained assault on federal officers with weapons.

Perjury Investigation Underway

In February, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen took the highly unusual step of moving to dismiss all charges against both men with prejudice, meaning they can't be refiled. Rosen cited "newly discovered evidence" that was "materially inconsistent with the allegations" in the criminal complaint and with testimony given at a preliminary hearing.

Translation: federal officers appear to have lied under oath.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed in a statement that two officers "appeared to have given untruthful testimony under oath" and were immediately placed on administrative leave. The agency said the U.S. Attorney's Office is "actively investigating these false statements" and that the officers "may face termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution."

ICE has refused to publicly identify the officers involved.

Part of a Broader Pattern

This shooting was part of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement campaign in Minneapolis that has resulted in three shootings by federal officers since January -- two of them fatal.

Federal officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in separate incidents. State and county prosecutors say they've been stonewalled in their attempts to investigate all three shootings independently.

Late last month, state and county prosecutors sued the Trump administration for access to evidence they say they need to do their jobs. The federal government has refused to share basic information about the shootings, leaving local authorities unable to determine whether criminal charges are warranted against the officers involved.

The January 14 incident quickly became a flashpoint. After the shooting, protesters flocked to the scene and clashed with other federal officers, who showed up wearing gas masks and helmets. The images of militarized federal agents deploying tear gas in a residential Minneapolis neighborhood became a symbol of the administration's hardline immigration tactics.

Released, Re-Arrested, Released Again

Even after the criminal charges were dropped, ICE took both men back into custody for alleged immigration violations. A federal judge ordered their release a second time. Both are now free while they seek legal status.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office declined to comment on the video, citing the active investigation. Attorneys for both men also declined to comment, noting the ongoing federal and state probes.

The camera that captured the incident actively panned over to view the street before any vehicles arrived, indicating someone may have been manually controlling it in real time. That raises questions about who was watching, what they saw, and why it took federal investigators three weeks to review footage that was apparently significant enough for someone to track the incident as it unfolded.

Mayor Frey's statement was blunt: this is not an isolated incident. It's part of a pattern in which federal accounts of immigration enforcement actions "simply do not match the facts."

The video makes one thing clear: when federal officers are willing to lie under oath to justify shooting an unarmed immigrant, the problem isn't just individual misconduct. It's institutional rot -- and it's happening under the Trump administration's watch.