A federal judge has permanently dismissed criminal charges against two men accused of assaulting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a chaotic encounter in Minneapolis that ended with one of them being shot.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson granted a motion from federal prosecutors to drop the case against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, closing the matter with prejudice, a legal designation that bars the charges from being refiled.
The decision followed what prosecutors described as “newly discovered evidence” that was “materially inconsistent with the allegations” outlined in the original affidavit and preliminary testimony. That testimony, court filings revealed, had been “based on information presented to the Affiant.”
The development triggered immediate fallout within the Department of Homeland Security. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed that the two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the Justice Department investigates whether they provided false sworn statements.
“A joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements,” McLaughlin said.
The case stems from a Jan. 14 confrontation that federal officials initially characterized as an ambush. At the time, authorities said officers attempted to stop a Venezuelan migrant later identified as Sosa-Celis, who allegedly refused to pull over, crashed into a parked vehicle and fled.
Officials claimed two individuals then exited a nearby apartment and attacked the officer with household tools.
“As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, the original subject got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick,” McLaughlin said at the time. “Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life.”
Sosa-Celis was struck in the leg and transported to a hospital.
However, an FBI affidavit filed days later complicated that account. According to the document, the traffic stop began after officers scanned a license plate linked in an ICE database to a different individual believed to be in the country unlawfully. Investigators later acknowledged that the registered owner and the actual driver, Aljorna, bore a similar appearance, raising the possibility that officers pursued the wrong person.
The vehicle ultimately crashed into a light pole. Court filings state that Aljorna ran toward an apartment building where Sosa-Celis was standing on a porch. During the attempted arrest, the affidavit alleges that Sosa-Celis and another individual struck at officers with a broomstick and shovel.
But the affidavit also describes a pivotal moment: “As soon as the assailants saw [the officer] draw his pistol, they dropped the broom and the snow shovel and began to run toward the [apartment],” the affidavit stated. “[The officer] simultaneously fired one round from his pistol towards the vicinity of the assailants and at the time was uncertain if his shot struck any of them.”
That sequence particularly the timing of the shot appears central to the newly reviewed video evidence.
The dismissal comes amid heightened scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Weeks before the Jan. 14 shooting, ICE officers fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good during a separate incident, sparking protests and renewed debate over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
