The recent murders of the writer and poet Renee Good (37 years old) and the nurse and activist Alex Jeffrey Pretti, also 37 years old, at the hands of ICE agents in Minneapolis (Minnesota), added to the contradictory death of Geraldo Lunas Campos that occurred on January 3, exponentially monopolize the scope of the world media, but they do not ignore the strange case of Julio César Sosa Celis, the Venezuelan shot in a leg during a confusing and violent confrontation in the same city on January 14.
The exact location of the incident is near the intersection of North Sixth Street and North 24th Avenue. The incident specifically occurred outside the duplex where Sosa lived with his family, after he tried to enter the home after being chased by ICE agents.
The shooting occurred during a struggle stemming from a traffic stop over a case of mistaken identity, as officers were initially looking for another person. The Venezuelan received a gunshot wound to the leg. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
In this case, as in that of many other victims of the anti-immigration policy of the second Trump administration, versions are constructed and narratives are developed to, to a certain extent, justify the excessive actions of ICE. The objective, however far-fetched it may seem, is to fabricate consent in public opinion, which is nothing other than making the perpetrator the victim.
The story describes the incident where Julio César Sosa Celis was injured as occurring after a traffic stop — road closure — that sparked protests and strong confrontations between immigration agents and protesters in Minneapolis. In most of the news agency notes, the Venezuelan is labeled as an illegal immigrant,” it is said that he entered the United States in 2022, although other notes refer that it was in 2023, who had a criminal record for driving without a license and for giving a false name to an agent.
The helpless ICE
According to the Telemundo Network, the incident where Sosa was injured, as described by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), occurred as follows: “Sosa Celis (was identified) as the target of a “selective traffic stop” when he was accompanied by two other Venezuelan immigrants identified as Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernández Ledezma, also undocumented and who entered the United States in 2023.” It is then stated that Sosa fled the traffic stop in his vehicle and later crashed into another parked vehicle and then continued his escape on foot.
The same portal stated that Aljorna and Hernández “ambushed” and attacked the immigration agent with “a snow shovel and a broomstick” while he was arresting Sosa. The note continues indicating that, in the struggle, Sosa broke free and began to hit the agent with a shovel or a broomstick, as recorded in the DHS statement. The statement goes on to say that the ICE agent shot in self-defense because he “feared for his life” and was “ambushed” by the three Venezuelan immigrants. Finally, the DHS story states that the three subjects ran back and took shelter inside the apartment. ICE successfully arrested the three undocumented immigrants.
FBI vs. DHS
On January 22, the Minnesota Star Tribune website opened a story regarding the Sosa Celis case with the following title: The FBI reveals how an identity mistake by ICE led to the persecution and shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant. The source indicates that the agent fired a single shot, wounding a man who was not the original target. This was established in the explanation provided by the FBI about what happened that afternoon of January 14 in an apartment north of the city of Minneapolis where Sosa Celis was injured in the leg, which turned into a case of mistaken identity as a result of the riots that night.
This is stated in the sworn statement, by FBI special agent Timothy Schanz, which contrasted with what DHS officials initially alleged, and then maintained in the days following the event. Schanz’s story shows that the traffic control attempt carried out by two ICE agents was not directly compromised by Sosa Celis.
Recent records support what was published by the Minnesota Star Tribune, although the identity of the officer responsible for the shooting has not yet been released. The affidavit, filed on January 16 and made public before the detention hearing of Venezuelans Sosa Celis and Aljorna on January 21, indicates that both are accused of assaulting a federal officer.
Sosa Celis and Aljorna have been friends for a long time, they worked as Door Dash delivery drivers and, according to the DHS, they entered the United States illegally in May 2023. Sosa had temporary protected status (TPS), but his current immigration status is uncertain. They both lived on the top floor of a duplex in north Minneapolis with their 19-year-old partners and their young children. After the shooting, the young women were transferred to a detention center in Texas to await immigration hearings, while the children were handed over to their grandmothers in Minnesota. Neither woman has a criminal record in the state.
Federal Judge Douglas Micko ordered the release on parole of Sosa Celis and Aljorna while the judicial process against them continues. As part of the measures imposed, both must strictly comply with a series of conditions, including GPS monitoring that will be applied to Aljorna, to ensure compliance with legal provisions during the development of the case.
America in flames
However, there is an additional dimension that is fundamental in the context of the immigration offensive promoted by the Trump government. This offensive takes on the appearance of civil and military confrontation, involving armed groups, DHS-ICE immigration agents—also equipped with weapons—and members of the National Guard, who respond directly to the orders of state governors, within the framework of American federalism. The consequences of this scenario are reflected in injured people, children separated from their families, and deaths in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to AFP, during the Donald Trump administration, deaths of migrants in ICE custody reached worrying levels, especially after the death of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of an agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7. In 2025, at least 30 people lost their lives in ICE detention centers, the highest number since 2004, while in the first days of 2026 alone, four additional deaths of men between 42 and 68 years old, originating from Honduras, Cuba and Cambodia, were reported. This increase coincides with an exponential increase in arrests, going from 36,000 adults in December 2023 to more than 68,000 at the end of 2025.
