ICE: Venezuelan illegal alien shot in leg after resisting arrest and assaulting federal officer in Minnesota
Federal agents launch tear gas at residents protesting a shooting incident on January 14, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan national in the leg after the individual fled a traffic stop in his vehicle, crashed into a parked car and then ran on foot, before violently attacking a federal officer with a shovel and a broom handle during an attempted arrest in north Minneapolis.
The Department of Homeland Security said the agent acted in self-defense following a physical struggle as additional people joined the assault, underscoring the dangers ICE officers face when carrying out duties in the field.
Three men —Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledzema — were arrested on Wednesday in connection to the attack on an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota. All three suspects, who are Venezuelan nationals, entered the United States under the Biden administration. They are currently in the country illegally.
After Sosa-Celis fled a traffic stop around 6:50 pm local time, he crashed his vehicle when trying to get away from federal immigration officers. He then attempted to escape by foot, at which point he “violently assault[ed] the officer.” During the struggle, two other individuals emerged from a nearby apartment and joined the attack, striking the agent with a snow shovel and a broom handle.
Fearing for his life in what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described as an “ambush” by the three individuals, the officer fired a single bullet, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg. The wound was non–life-threatening.
After the attack, the three illegal immigrants fled to a nearby apartment and barricaded themselves inside before federal agents were able to enter and apprehended them. Sosa-Celis remains in stable condition, and the two other accomplices were taken into police custody.
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement. Our officer was ambushed and attacked by three individuals who beat him with snow shovels and the handles of brooms. Fearing for his life, the officer fired a defensive shot,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
At 6:50 PM CT, federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis of an illegal alien from Venezuela who was released into the country by Joe Biden in 2022.
In an attempt to evade arrest, the subject fled the scene in his vehicle and crashed…
Sosa-Celis had been previously arrested for driving without a license and arrested on two counts of giving a false name to a peace officer. However, according to the DHS, he was “released by Minnesota authorities before ICE could even lodge a detainer.”
Ajorna and Hernandez-Ledezma both entered the U.S. in May 2023. Ajorna was later issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge after failing to show up to his hearing while Hernandez-Ledezma was marked by the Biden administration as a “non-enforcement priority.”
The same evening, about 4.5 miles north of where Renee Nicole Good was shot, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D-Minn.) urged protesters at the scene to “go home,” saying they were making matters worse by “taking the bait” to cause chaos.
“For anyone who is taking the bait tonight: stop,” he said at a late-night press conference to address the second ICE shooting to rock his city in a week. “It is not helpful. Go home.”
“We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own chaos,” he stated. “You are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city; you are not helping the people who call this place home.”
MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR: "We cannot counter Donald Trump's chaos with our own brand of chaos."
"For those that are taking the bait — you are not helping. And you are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city." pic.twitter.com/W9LS4273JR
Following the Wednesday night shooting, protestors were throwing snowballs and launching fireworks in the direction of officers, chanting “our streets,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara revealed.
“The crowd is engaging in illegal acts,” he said. “We ask anyone at the scene to leave immediately. This is already a tense scenario, and we do not need it to escalate any further. It has absolutely become an unlawful assembly. There are individuals throwing fireworks at officers, ice, and other projectiles.”
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed Governor Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Mayor Frey for continuing to ramp up anti-ICE resistance, noting that both men are “actively encouraging an organized resistance to ICE and federal law enforcement officers.”
“Their hateful rhetoric and resistance against men and women who are simply trying to do their jobs must end,” McLaughlin said. “Federal law enforcement officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest criminals and lawbreakers.”
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