The United States of America (US) Department of Justice has moved to drop charges against two men charged with assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minneapolis after an officer shot a Venezuelan immigrant.
In a statement dated February 11, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that the newly discovered evidence on the complaint against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis was materially inconsistent with the allegations, and the case cannot continue.
“Newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations in the Complaint Affidavit, filed on January 16, 2026, as ECF 1-1, as well as the preliminary-hearing testimony (ECF 18, 19) based on information presented to the Affiant. Accordingly, dismissal with prejudice will serve theinterests of justice,” read part of the statement.
The shooting of the Venezuelan man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, came during the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota.
The ICE officers stated that the shooting took place when they were conducting a targeted traffic stop on Sosa-Celis when Julio sped away, crashed his car, and fled on foot.
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They added that at the time, Sosa-Celis and two other men hit an ICE officer who pursued him with a snow shovel and broom handle, prompting the shooting, but the court documents open a new tab, revealing new evidence.
However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit argued that the ICE officers had scanned a licence plate registered to a different person suspected of an immigration violation, leading them to chase the wrong person.
It stated that another man was driving the car and was the sole occupant. After the crash, he fled to an apartment where Sosa-Celis was. At the building, an ICE officer tried to detain the driver, who was struck by him and Sosa-Celis with a broom, while a third man used a shovel, before the officer fired.
Even though the officer had initially stressed that he had fired a defensive shot to defend his life, the FBI affidavit alleged the attackers dropped the broom and shovel when they saw the officer draw his gun and were fleeing as he fired.
ICE Operation in Minneapolis
In January, Trump deployed an additional 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis area in response to allegations of welfare fraud.
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The deployment was one of the largest concentrations of Department of Homeland Security personnel in a US city in recent years.
It followed an immigration enforcement campaign launched by ICE late last year to target individuals in Minneapolis who were issued deportation orders, including members of the city’s Somali community.
The Trump administration has sent ICE agents to other cities across the US, where they have made thousands of arrests as part of what the administration says is a crackdown on crime and immigrants who illegally entered the country.
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