Surveillance footage released Monday exposes a critical gap between what federal agents claimed happened during a North Minneapolis shooting and what actually occurred on the ground.
On January 14, ICE agents shot Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg after a car chase ended near his home. Federal investigators initially asserted that Sosa-Celis had beaten an agent with a broom and snow shovel. Prosecutors filed charges based on that account and secured a court filing from defense attorney Robin Wolpert denying the allegations.
The newly released video tells a different story. Footage from city cameras at North 24th and Lyndale avenues shows Sosa-Celis initially holding a shovel but throwing it into the snow as his roommate Alfredo Aljorna and the pursuing agent approached. A brief scuffle lasting about 12 seconds then erupted on the sidewalk between the three men, with grainy images showing what could be a broom in the doorway. The confrontation ended when Aljorna and Sosa-Celis retreated inside. Moments later, with the men out of view, the agent assumed a firing stance and discharged his weapon.
The chase itself had unfolded over nearly 20 minutes after agents attempted to stop Aljorna, who eventually veered into a snowbank near his residence before fleeing on foot.
What made the reversal especially troubling: Minneapolis police shared the video with state investigators, who passed it to federal counterparts. Yet prosecutors apparently never watched it before pressing charges. The New York Times reported that authorities had access to the footage within hours of the shooting.
A month after charges were filed, prosecutors abandoned them. Department of Homeland Security officials conceded that video evidence contradicted the sworn testimony of two ICE agents, calling their accounts "untruthful." Both agents were placed on administrative leave and face potential criminal perjury charges.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara's assessment was blunt: the agents "hung themselves."
The timing of the incident added pressure to an already tense moment in the city. The shooting occurred just one week after the killing of Renee Good, a Minneapolis woman shot by a man with a history of contacts with law enforcement.
Aljorna and Sosa-Celis, both Venezuelan nationals, had been granted temporary protected status in 2024 but lost that shield when President Trump revoked the designation for Venezuelans. During their detention following the shooting, their girlfriends were sent to an immigration detention facility in El Paso.
"It is a grave injustice," Wolpert said of the case, noting that while charges have been dismissed, "a lot of suffering happened in between."
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