Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said on Friday that a review of video evidence conducted by ICE and the Department of Justice has found that testimony given under oath by two federal officers "appears to have made untruthful statements." The statements relate to events that preceded the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis last month.
Lyons said both officers have been placed on administrative leave while the U.S. Attorney's office investigates the alleged false statements. He added that "upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution."
The announcement followed a separate move by the Justice Department the day before to drop charges against the Venezuelan immigrant, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was wounded in the incident - he was shot in the leg - and against another man who had been accused of assaulting a federal officer.
The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, asked a judge to dismiss the charges, saying that "newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations." Rosen sought dismissal with prejudice, which would bar the government from bringing the same charges again.
Federal immigration agents and ICE have encountered substantial public criticism for a recent surge of enforcement activity in Minneapolis. That series of operations has been linked in related reporting to the deaths of two U.S. citizens, and has drawn heightened scrutiny of federal tactics and oversight.
In recent remarks this week, Tom Homan, who serves as a border enforcement official in the current administration, indicated that the enforcement surge in Minneapolis "would be winding down." The timing of Lyons' statement and the U.S. Attorney's decision to seek dismissal of charges underscores ongoing legal and administrative reviews around the episode.
The investigations into the officers' testimony and the decision to drop criminal charges illustrate parallel legal processes involving internal personnel actions and prosecutorial reassessment based on evidence reviews.