US Justice Department moves to drop charges against men arrested after Minneapolis ICE shooting
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An FBI affidavit said the alleged attackers dropped their broom and shovel when they saw the officer draw his gun and were fleeing as he fired.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has moved to drop charges against two men charged with assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minneapolis in January after an officer shot a Venezuelan immigrant, a court document showed on Feb 12.
The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, Mr Daniel Rosen, asked a judge to dismiss the charges, writing that “newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations”.
Mr Rosen sought the dismissal with prejudice, which means the charges cannot be reintroduced.
The shooting that wounded the Venezuelan man, Mr Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, came during President Donald Trump’s widely condemned surge of immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Mr Trump’s immigration crackdown, said in January that officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop on Mr Sosa-Celis when he sped away, crashed his car and fled on foot.
DHS said at the time that Mr Sosa-Celis and two other men hit an ICE officer who pursued him with a snow shovel and broom handle, prompting the shooting.
But court documents unsealed later told a different story.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit said the ICE officers had scanned a licence plate registered to a different person suspected of an immigration violation, leading them to chase the wrong person.
The affidavit said another man was driving the car and was the sole occupant – not Mr Sosa-Celis. The car’s actual driver – another Venezuelan immigrant – crashed and fled to an apartment building where Mr Sosa-Celis was present, it said.
At the building, an ICE officer trying to detain the driver was struck by him and Mr Sosa-Celis with a broom, while a third man used a shovel – before the officer fired.
While DHS said initially that the officer “fired a defensive shot to defend his life”, the FBI affidavit said the alleged attackers dropped the broom and shovel when they saw the officer draw his gun and were fleeing as he fired.
The Trump administration’s use of armed federal immigration agents has led to nationwide protests, especially after the fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minnesota in January.
Rights advocates say Mr Trump’s actions have made the environment unsafe for citizens and immigrants and violate due process protections. Mr Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said Mr Trump has agreed to end his deportation surge in Minnesota. REUTERS
