The city of Minneapolis released a video on Monday that contradicts the initial account by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of a shooting in January involving an agency officer and two Venezuelan men. The footage, from a city-owned security camera, shows federal officers chasing one of the men to his residence, where the other man was shot during a confrontation.
Federal authorities dropped all charges against the two men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in February and opened a criminal investigation into whether officers lied under oath. The video, obtained earlier by the New York Times, reveals a struggle lasting about 12 seconds, contrary to the officer's initial claim of a three-minute tussle before he fired a single shot, striking Sosa-Celis in the right thigh.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated, 'The 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.' His remarks come amid ongoing tensions between state prosecutors and federal authorities over access to evidence in three separate shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis.
The Hennepin County attorney's office declined to comment on the video, citing an active investigation. Federal prosecutors had accused Aljorna and Sosa-Celis of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel. The charges were dropped after US Attorney Daniel Rosen cited 'newly discovered evidence' inconsistent with the criminal complaint and preliminary hearing testimony.
