Minneapolis officials released a security camera video on Monday that contradicts Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) accounts of a January shooting involving federal officers and two Venezuelan men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. The video shows the confrontation lasting about 12 seconds, not three minutes as initially claimed by an ICE officer.
Key Takeaways
A video released by Minneapolis officials contradicts ICE's account of a January shooting involving two Venezuelan men and federal officers. The video shows a confrontation lasting about 12 seconds, not three minutes as initially claimed by an ICE officer. Charges against the two men were dropped due to inconsistencies in evidence.
The city released the video after The New York Times reported that it raised questions about why it took weeks for federal charges against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis to collapse. The video shows a person standing with a snow shovel outside a house, then retreating toward the house while being chased by an ICE officer.
Federal authorities dropped all charges against the two men in February after discovering evidence that was inconsistent with initial allegations. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated that the video makes it clear that the federal government's account of what happened does not match the facts. The Hennepin County attorney’s office declined to comment on the video, citing an active investigation.
The shooting occurred during a confrontation involving two ICE officers who were suspended and placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. According to UPI, federal investigators had access to the video within hours of the January 14th incident but did not watch it until nearly three weeks later, after they had charged Aljorna and Sosa-Celis.
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