MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minneapolis on Friday ordered the dismissal of felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men, including one shot in the leg by an immigration officer, after evidence emerged undercutting the government’s version of events.
In a highly unusual motion to dismiss filed Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel N. Rosen said “newly discovered evidence” in the case against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis “is materially inconsistent with the allegations” made against them in a criminal complaint and at a hearing last month.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be resubmitted.
The dismissal follows a string of high-profile shootings involving federal immigration agents in which eyewitness statements and video evidence have called into question claims made to justify using deadly force. Dozens of felony cases against protesters accused of assaulting or impeding federal officers have also crumbled.
A lawyer for Aljorna and Sosa-Celis said Friday that they are “overjoyed” that all the charges have been dismissed. Had they been convicted, the two immigrants would have faced years in federal prison.
“The charges against them were based on lies by an ICE agent who recklessly shot into their home through a closed door,” said attorney Brian D. Clark. “They are so happy justice is being served."
It is unclear whether the men could still be deported.
No comment from federal authorities on move to dismiss
An FBI investigator said in an affidavit that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop in Minneapolis on a vehicle driven by Aljorna on Jan. 14. He crashed the vehicle and fled on foot toward the apartment duplex where he lived. An immigration officer chased Aljorna who — according to the government — violently resisted arrest.
The complaint alleges Sosa-Celis and another man attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle as the officer and Aljorna struggled on the ground. The officer, who is not named in court filings, fired his handgun, striking Sosa-Celis in his right thigh. The men ran into an apartment and eventually were arrested.
A request for comment from the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota received an automated response Friday saying the office no longer has a public information officer. There has been a wave of staff departures from the federal prosecutor's office since the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge, a concentrated immigration enforcement effort targeting the Twin Cities.
A Justice Department spokesperson in Washington declined to comment.
After the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attacked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing the Democrats of “encouraging impeding and assault against our law enforcement which is a federal crime, a felony.”
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement," Noem said in a Jan. 15 statement. “Our officer was ambushed and attacked by three individuals who beat him with snow shovels and the handles of brooms. Fearing for his life, the officer fired a defensive shot.”
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to requests Friday asking whether Noem stands by those statements. The department also has not responded to questions about whether there was any investigation into the shooting or whether the ICE officer would face disciplinary action.
Clark, the lawyer for Aljorna and Sosa-Celis, urged the government Friday to release the name of the ICE agent and charge him "for his crime.”
Court filings show state authorities have opened their own criminal investigation into the shooting, though the FBI has refused to share evidence, provide the name of the ICE officer or make him available for an interview.
Holes already apparent in prosecution case
Rosen's motion seeking to drop the charges did not detail what new evidence had emerged or what falsehoods had been in the government's prior filings, but cracks began to appear in the government's case during a Jan. 21 court hearing to determine whether the accused men could be released pending trial.
In court, the ICE officer's account of the moments before the shooting differed significantly from testimony from the two defendants and three eyewitnesses. The ICE officer’s account that he was assaulted with a broom and snow shovel was also not corroborated by available video evidence.
Aljorna and Sosa-Celis denied assaulting the agent with a broom or a snow shovel. Neither video evidence nor testimony from a neighbor and the men’s romantic partners supported the agent’s account that he had been attacked with a broom or shovel or that a third person was involved.
Frederick Goetz, a lawyer representing Aljorna, said his client had a broomstick in his hand and threw it at the agent as he ran toward the house. Attorney Robin Wolpert, representing Sosa-Celis, said he had been holding a shovel but was retreating into the home when the officer fired, wounding him. The men’s attorneys said the prosecution’s case relied wholly on testimony from the agent who fired the gun.
Neither Aljorna and Sosa-Celis had violent criminal records. Both had been working as DoorDash delivery drivers at night in an attempt to avoid encounters with federal agents, their attorneys said.
Aljorna and Sosa-Celis retreated into their upstairs apartment and barricaded the door, so federal officers used tear gas to try to force the men out, the FBI agent said. Concerned about the safety of two children under 2 inside the home, Aljorna and Sosa-Celis surrendered.
A third Venezuelan man, Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez Ledezma, who lived in the apartment downstairs was also arrested.
Though he was never federally charged, a Jan. 30 court petition seeking his release says Hernandez Ledezma was detained without a warrant and within hours flown to an ICE detention facility in Texas. He alleges his removal was to prevent him becoming a material eyewitness who could undercut the federal government's case and help the Minnesota state investigation.
Hernandez Ledezma was returned to Minnesota and discharged from ICE custody on Monday after a federal judge ordered his release.
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Biesecker reported from Washington.
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