ICE agents on leave for lying under oath in Minneapolis shooting investigation

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Todd Lyons, the acting caput of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accused 2 national agents of lying nether oath regarding the mid-January shooting of a Venezuelan nationalist successful Minneapolis.

The 2 officers person been placed connected administrative permission and an interior probe is underway, Lyons said successful his statement.

"Video grounds has revealed that sworn grounds provided by 2 abstracted officers appears to person made untruthful statements. Both officers person been instantly placed connected administrative permission pending the completion of a thorough interior investigation. Lying nether oath is simply a superior national offense," Lyons said. "The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the regularisation of law. ... Violations of this ineffable sworn oath volition not beryllium tolerated."

The announcement comes a time aft the Department of Justice abruptly dropped charges against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who had been federally charged with assaulting ICE officers. The filing entered by U.S. Attorney successful Minnesota Daniel Rosen cited "newly discovered evidence" that was "materially inconsistent" with the charges against them.

An ICE serviceman changeable Sosa-Celis successful the limb connected Jan. 14 adjacent North Sixth Street and North 24th Avenue, inciting choler successful a metropolis wherever conscionable a week before, an cause had changeable and killed Renee Good.

In the hours aft the shooting of Sosa-Celis, 2 dueling narratives emerged. Cellphone video shared by Democratic authorities Sen. Erin Maye Quade shows a pistillate calling 911 soon aft the shooting. The pistillate says her hubby was chased by ICE agents earlier helium reached his home, and was changeable successful beforehand of his family.

The Department of Homeland Security, however, said that Sosa-Celis fled and crashed into a parked car, and past tried to fly connected foot.

When an serviceman caught up to him, Sosa-Celis "began to defy and violently battle the officer," the archetypal connection says. According to DHS, 2 different men past came retired of a adjacent flat and attacked the serviceman with a snowfall shovel and broom handle. The serviceman feared for his life, the DHS said, and "fired a antiaircraft shot" astatine Sosa-Celis, who was deed successful the leg.

The government's relationship of the shooting has since changed; successful an affidavit to enactment charges against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis, the FBI said that Aljorna — not Sosa-Celis — had fled the country successful a car. It goes connected to accidental that 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."

Attorney Frederick Goetz, who represents Aljorna, said, "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; i.e. the agent's claims of being assaulted were not backed up by the video evidence."

Sosa-Celis' lawyer Robin Wolpert said "I americium gladsome to spot that ICE and the DOJ are publically acknowledging and investigating untruthful statements by the 2 ICE officers."

Lyons said that aft ICE's interior investigation, the 2 officers could look termination of employment.

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