Minneapolis Video Contradicts Feds' Narrative of ICE Shooting

Prosecutors had a key piece of evidence within reach in a controversial ICE shooting in Minneapolis—but they didn't look at it for nearly three weeks, according to a New York Times review of newly released video. The footage, recorded Jan. 14 by a city security camera and obtained via records request, sharply conflicts with sworn statements from immigration agents who said three men beat one of them with a shovel and broom for several minutes before he fired. Instead, the clip shows a roughly 12-second scuffle involving two men and no prolonged attack with a shovel, which appears to be tossed aside before the struggle. The city released video of the incident on Monday, KVUE reports.

Despite Minneapolis police saying the federal government had the video within hours, prosecutors charged Venezuelan immigrants Julio C. Sosa-Celis and Alfredo A. Aljorna with assaulting an officer two days later, relying on agent accounts and an FBI affidavit. The case collapsed only after a prosecutor finally reviewed the footage and moved to dismiss the charges, citing "newly discovered evidence." Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frew tells the Times that "bare due diligence would have shown that the agents were lying." Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg in what officials initially claimed was a "defensive shot." Witnesses said he was hit when an agent fired through a closed door into a home where children were present.

ICE's acting director has since said two agents appeared to have lied under oath and placed them on leave; they could face criminal charges. State investigators, meanwhile, say their review has been hampered by limited federal cooperation. The Times reports that Sosa-Celis and Aljorna and their partners, who lack legal status in the US, were detained for weeks after the shooting but judges eventually ordered them to be returned to Minneapolis while they fight deportation efforts. Lawyers say that since they are cooperating with investigations of the conduct of ICE agents, they could be eligible for special visas.