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The Justice Department moved to driblet national charges against 2 men charged with assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers successful Minneapolis past month, including 1 Venezuelan suspect who was changeable successful the limb by an officer, citing "newly discovered evidence" that was "materially inconsistent" with the allegations against them.
The filing, entered Thursday by U.S. Attorney successful Minnesota Daniel Rosen, moves to disregard the charges against the men with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot beryllium reintroduced.
In January, the 2 men, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, were charged successful a federal transgression complaint with forcibly assaulting, resisting oregon impeding national officers successful show of their authoritative duties. The charges came aft Sosa-Celis was changeable by an ICE officer, which drew nationwide attraction amid the national migration surge successful Minnesota.
It is unclear specifically what caller accusation led to the charges getting dismissed. But the government's relationship of the alleged battle was not consistent.
A time aft the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said Sosa-Celis had fled the country of a "targeted postulation stop" successful Minneapolis successful his vehicle, crashed into a parked car and kept fleeing connected foot. When an ICE cause caught up to him, 2 men allegedly attacked the cause with a broom grip and snowfall shovel, and Sosa-Celis allegedly broke escaped and besides started striking the officer. DHS said an serviceman past fired a "defensive changeable to support his life." Sosa-Celis and 2 different men ran into an flat but were aboriginal taken into custody, DHS said.
But successful an affidavit to enactment charges against the 2 men, the FBI said that Aljorna — not Sosa-Celis — had fled the country successful a car, and Sosa-Celis was the 1 who initially struck the ICE serviceman with a broom instrumentality portion helium tried to apprehension Aljorna. The FBI alleged that Aljorna past broke escaped and started attacking the ICE serviceman with the aforesaid broomstick. The affidavit besides says that the serviceman "had mediocre oregon sporadic lighting" and "had trouble seeing the assailants."
And successful a cellphone video from the moments aft the shooting that was shared online by a authorities lawmaker, a pistillate appears to archer a 911 relation that her hubby was chased by ICE agents earlier helium reached his home, and was changeable successful beforehand of his family.
Frederick Goetz, an lawyer for Aljorna, told CBS News he's "delighted" by the determination to disregard the charges with prejudice. He besides commended the U.S. Attorney's Office successful Minnesota — which has been deed by a question of resignations successful caller weeks — for "doing the close thing."
"It is my knowing that the video surveillance grounds that captured the incidental was materially inconsistent with the national agent's claims of what happened," Goetz continued, penning that "the agent's claims of being assaulted were not backed up by the video evidence."
CBS News has reached retired to the Justice Department and an lawyer for Sosa-Celis for comment.
The shooting occurred a week aft ICE cause Jonathan Ross fatally changeable Renee Good successful southbound Minneapolis, and 10 days earlier 2 DHS agents successful the metropolis fatally changeable Alex Pretti.
In the days aft Good and Pretti's shootings, thousands of protesters demonstrated successful the streets successful Minnesota, raising tensions successful the Twin Cities.
At 1 point, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and nonstop the subject into the state, but successful the past week, borderline czar Tom Homan has taken implicit operations. He announced Thursday the extremity of the surge of migration agents successful the state, citing a precocious fig of "public information arrests" during "Operation Metro Surge" and the diminished request for national officers to respond to "agitators."
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