The U.S. Justice Department has filed a motion to dismiss criminal charges against two men accused of assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during a January incident in Minneapolis that culminated in an ICE officer shooting a Venezuelan immigrant.
In a court filing, the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, asked a judge to dismiss the case, stating that "newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations." Rosen asked that the dismissal be with prejudice, which would bar the government from refiling the same charges.
The shooting wounded Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national. The encounter occurred amid a broader escalation of federal immigration enforcement activity in Minnesota under the Trump administration. Initial accounts released by the Department of Homeland Security described a targeted traffic stop on Sosa-Celis, saying he sped away, crashed his vehicle and fled on foot. DHS said at that time that officers pursuing him were struck with a snow shovel and a broom handle by Sosa-Celis and two other men, and that an ICE officer fired in response.
Subsequent court documents that were unsealed presented a different sequence. An FBI affidavit says ICE officers scanned a license plate registered to a different person suspected of an immigration violation, which led officers to pursue the wrong individual. According to the affidavit, the person who had been driving the car was the sole occupant at the time of the crash - not Sosa-Celis.
The affidavit states that the actual driver, another Venezuelan immigrant, crashed the vehicle and fled to an apartment building where Sosa-Celis was also present. At the building, the affidavit says, an ICE officer attempting to detain the driver was struck by that individual and by Sosa-Celis with a broom, while a third man used a shovel. The officer fired during that confrontation.
However, the FBI affidavit also indicates a different detail about the moments leading to the discharge of the firearm. It says the alleged assailants dropped the broom and shovel when they saw the officer draw his gun and were fleeing as he fired, a contrast with the Department of Homeland Security’s initial statement that the officer had fired a defensive shot to defend his life while being attacked.
The administration’s deployment of armed federal immigration agents in Minnesota has prompted protests nationwide. Rights advocates have said the enforcement actions have made the environment unsafe for both citizens and immigrants and have raised concerns about due process protections. The dispute over the factual record in this case highlights the competing accounts surrounding the operation.
Tom Homan, identified as the administration’s border czar, said the president agreed to end the deportation surge in Minnesota.
Legal status and next steps
The motion filed by the U.S. attorney asks the court to dismiss the charges permanently, reflecting the government’s assessment that material evidence undermines the foundation of the original allegations. The filing does not add new factual claims about the incident beyond what is contained in the court documents and the affidavit.
Context noted in filings
Court records and agency statements present differing narratives about who was in the vehicle, how the stop unfolded, and the conduct of those involved at the scene where the officer fired. Those discrepancies form the basis for the prosecutor’s request to dismiss the indictment with prejudice.