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Two ICE Agents Face Criminal Probe over Lying to a Jury After Shooting a Venezuelan Immigrant in Minnesota

HeadlineFeb 16, 2026

In Minnesota, two lCE agents have been suspended and face a criminal investigation into whether they lied to a jury about the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant last month. The officers claimed Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna attacked them with a snow shovel and a broom after a traffic stop on January 14, and said one of the officers fired in self-defense. Shortly after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described it as “an attempted murder of federal law enforcement.” But video evidence directly contradicts claims the men attacked federal agents. Sosa-Celis says he had retreated into his home and was shot in the leg while in the process of closing and locking the door. On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed felony assault charges against the cousins, after the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis said newly discovered evidence had contradicted the officers’ testimony and after ICE admitted the federal agents made false statements under oath.

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