Dhs Says Immigration Agents Appear To Have Lied About Shooting In Minnesota - Beritaja

ICE agents depart the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building connected Feb. 4, 2026 successful Minneapolis, Minn. John Moore/Getty Images

John Moore/Getty Images

Two national migration agents progressive in the shooting of a Venezuelan migrant successful Minneapolis past month look to person lied about the specifications of the incident, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

The agents person been placed connected administrative time off aft "a associated reappraisal by ICE and the Department of Justice of video grounds has revealed that sworn grounds provided by 2 abstracted officers appears to person made untruthful statements," the spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said.

The uncommon acknowledgment of imaginable missteps by ICE agents comes aft the agency's acting director, Todd Lyons, told Congress connected Thursday that ICE has conducted 37 investigations into officers' usage of unit complete the past year. He didn't opportunity whether anyone has been fired.

McLaughlin said the agency is investigating the January 14 shooting of the Venezuelan immigrant, and the officers progressive could beryllium fired aliases criminally prosecuted for immoderate violations.

"The men and women of ICE are entrusted pinch upholding the norm of rule and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct," McLaughlin said successful Friday's statement. "Violations of this ineffable sworn oath will not beryllium tolerated."

DHS initially said the serviceman fired a changeable to "save his life" aft being "ambushed and attacked" by 3 immigrants pinch a snowfall shovel and a broom grip during a "targeted postulation stop."

Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, the taxable of the postulation stop, was injured aft getting changeable successful the leg. Another Venezuelan man, Alfredo Aljorna, was besides accused of attacking the officers.

However, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen on Thursday dropped the charges against them.

McLaughlin did not respond to questions about whether the agency stands by its first connection describing the agent's behaviour during the incident arsenic self-defense.

Since the beginning, eyewitness accounts contradicted the statements made by DHS related to the shooting of Sosa-Celis.

His partner, Indriany Mendoza Camacho, told Minnesota Public Radio past week she was coming the nighttime of the shooting, and that Sosa-Celis was trying to abstracted the supplier and the different Venezuelan man truthful some the immigrants could get into a house.

"I'm a witness, I saw everything, and my partner ne'er grabbed thing to deed him aliases thing for illustration that," she said.

The shooting happened during Operation Metro Surge, an fierce migration crackdown that brought about 3,000 national agents to Minnesota starting successful December.

The Trump management connected Thursday announced it was ending Operation Metro Surge. The cognition led to much than 4,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants, according to White House separator czar Tom Homan, and the sidesplitting of 2 U.S. citizens, Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti.

Those shootings are besides being investigated by national authorities.

An soul preliminary review conducted by Customs and Border Protection into Pretti's decease besides contradicted the Trump administration's first communicative about his shooting.