Court records say ICE agent was assaulted before Minneapolis shooting

Federal court documents unsealed on Tuesday say an immigration agent in Minneapolis was assaulted before he fired a single shot that wounded a Venezuelan man, according to an F.B.I. agent’s affidavit and a federal complaint. The affidavit said two Venezuelan nationals, Alfredo A. Aljorna and Julio C.

Sosa-Celis, were accused of assaulting the agent with a broom before the agent opened fire, striking Sosa-Celis. It said the incident followed a traffic stop in which ICE agents, driving an unmarked vehicle, ran a license plate, believed the driver owned the car and then pursued the vehicle after the driver sped off and “recklessly zig-zagged through traffic” for 15 to 20 minutes.

The document described the chase ending when the car crashed into a light pole, a foot pursuit toward an apartment building, a struggle on the ground, the agent being hit in the face with a broomstick and possibly struck with a snow shovel, and the agent firing one round while the two men ran inside.

After other officers arrived the affidavit said they used tear gas, the men surrendered, and Sosa-Celis was found with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his upper right thigh. The affidavit differed in some respects from earlier statements by the Department of Homeland Security, the complaint and other initial descriptions, the court records said.

Key Topics

Politics, Ice, Minneapolis, Alfredo Aljorna, Julio Sosa-celis, Fbi