DOJ investigating if ICE agents lied under oath after judge drops assault charges against Venezuelan men

The Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into whether federal immigration agents lied under oath after prosecutors dropped charges against two Venezuelan men accused of assaulting an officer in Minnesota.

A federal judge in Minneapolis agreed to dismiss the case Friday after evidence emerged showing the government’s version of events was “materially inconsistent with the allegations” against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, according to Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor.

The abrupt reversal follows an aggressive effort to prosecute the two men, who were accused of attacking an officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle, which Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem called “attempted murder.” The officer, who was not named in court documents, fired his handgun and hit Sosa-Ceclis in the leg.

The one-page motion from Donald Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said the government was backing off that case entirely, and dismissed the charges with prejudice, meaning they can’t be refiled.

In a statement Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons said sworn testimony about the incident from two officers appears to include “untruthful statements.”

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“Both officers have been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a thorough internal investigation,” he added.

“Lying under oath is a serious federal offense. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively investigating these false statements. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution,” according to Lyons.

After the shooting, Noem accused Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey 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 January 15, the day after the incident. “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.”

In court hearings, the ICE officer’s account of the moments leading up to him firing his weapons appeared to be significantly different from testimony from the two defendants and three eyewitnesses.

His account that he was assaulted with a broom and snow shovel was also not backed up by video evidence or testimony from eyewitnesses.

In the FBI affidavit in support of the criminal complaint against the men, an ICE officer accused Sosa-Celis of using a broom to hit him “in his face” while he saw another man “approach him with a snow shovel” and “began striking” him.

After “tussling” with Aljorna, the officer said he was “alone, in the dark, facing the males” by himself, according to the affidavit. After breaking free, Aljorna looked back at the officer “with a scowl on his face,” Sosa-Celis handed him the broom, Aljorna “repeatedly struck” the officer, according to his testimony in the affidavit.

After the officer drew a pistol and fired one round, the men ran into a nearby apartment complex.

Officers then fired tear gas towards the building to draw them out, and the men surrendered over feared that young children inside would be hurt.

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A third Venezuelan man, Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez Ledezma, who lived in the apartment downstairs, was also arrested, though he was never charged.

He filed a petition seeking his release from ICE custody, arguing that he was unlawfully detained without a warrant and flown to an immigration detention center in Texas to prevent him from serving as a material eyewitness who could contradict the government’s claims.

A judge in Texas ordered his immediate return to Minnesota February 9.

The 19-year-old partner of one of the two men was also detained by immigration agents and transferred from Minnesota to El Paso and then New Mexico, where a judge ordered her release.

District Judge Paul Magnuson in Minneapolis had previously ordered Aljorna and Sosa released from pretrial detention and ordered ICE not to deport any witnesses before they could testify.

It remains unclear whether ICE will still seek to deport the two men.

The collapse of the case is the latest in a streak of losses for ICE and the Justice Department as the Trump administration seeks to rapidly deport thousands of people while failing to account for due process protections, according to federal judges across the country.

Dozens of felony cases against protesters accused of assaulting or impeding federal officers have also fallen apart in recent weeks, after Attorney General Pam Bondi promised “severe consequences.”

But an Associated Press review of 100 felony assault cases brought against demonstrators in Democratic-led cities over the last year found that 55 people had their cases reduced or dismissed altogether. At least 23 pleaded guilty to avoid trial, and most of them had charges reduced in plea deals that resulted in little or no jail time.

All five defendants whose cases went to trial so far have been acquitted.