Surveillance Footage Exposes ICE Agent's False Account of Minneapolis Shooting

Surveillance footage released Monday by the City of Minneapolis has demolished the Trump administration's account of a January shooting that left an unarmed man wounded and exposed federal agents lying under oath.

The nine-minute video directly contradicts claims by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE officials that agent safety justified shooting 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg during a January 14 arrest attempt in North Minneapolis.

The Official Story Falls Apart

Noem had characterized the incident as an "attempted murder of federal law enforcement," claiming the ICE agent "was ambushed and attacked by three individuals who beat him with snow shovels and the handles of brooms" before firing what she called "a defensive shot."

The newly released footage tells a different story entirely.

The video shows Sosa-Celis standing in front of a home holding what appears to be a snow shovel on a snow-covered street. When his cousin Alfredo A. Aljorna exits a vehicle and is immediately tackled by an ICE agent, Sosa-Celis attempts to pull his cousin free. The shovel is thrown to the pavement during the 12-second struggle and is never used as a weapon.

Both men then run toward a nearby home. The ICE agent fires, hitting the unarmed Sosa-Celis in the right thigh as he flees.

"There is a snow shovel there, but it doesn't appear it ever gets used as a weapon," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told The New York Times. "There is no bludgeoning or anything. It sounds like an unarmed person got shot running away."

Federal Prosecutors Relied on Lies

The Justice Department dropped charges against both men in February after ICE acting director Todd Lyons confirmed that "video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements."

Two ICE agents were placed on administrative leave. According to a DHS statement, they "may face termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution" pending the outcome of an investigation.

But the timeline of who knew what raises serious questions about prosecutorial misconduct. Minneapolis police told the Times that federal authorities had access to the surveillance footage soon after the shooting. Yet prosecutors did not actually watch the video until almost three weeks after filing charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna.

Instead, they relied exclusively on the ICE agent's statement and an FBI affidavit describing the footage.

"Bare due diligence would have shown that the agents were lying," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said after viewing the footage for the first time.

Pattern of Deception During Mass Raids

The shooting occurred during Operation Metro Surge, a Trump administration initiative that deployed ICE agents to conduct mass arrests in Minneapolis. More than 4,000 undocumented immigrants were detained during the operation.

The January 14 incident followed the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Renee Good by ICE agents, sparking major protests that required police to deploy chemical irritants to disperse crowds.

In a statement Monday, Frey said the surveillance video "makes it crystal clear that, just like in other situations during Operation Metro Surge, the federal government's account of what happened simply does not match the facts."

The pattern of false statements and excessive force during the Minneapolis raids contributed to growing criticism of Noem's leadership at DHS. Trump fired her last month, claiming she had "served us well" while announcing a new role as "Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas."

Victims Still Fighting Deportation

Both Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were jailed in Minnesota following the shooting. Their partners were sent to an ICE detention center outside El Paso, Texas, before judges ordered they be allowed to return to Minneapolis.

Despite the collapsed criminal case and evidence of federal misconduct, both men continue fighting the Trump administration's attempts to deport them.

The DHS has not provided an update on the status of its investigation into the agents' false statements or indicated when any disciplinary action might be taken.