Chaotic protests ensue after federal agent shoots Venezuelan immigrant following car chase, struggle

A new wave of angry protests erupted in Minneapolis after a federal agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan immigrant during an arrest attempt on Jan. 14 on the city’s North Side.

The reignited tensions brought fresh pleas for calm from elected officials in a city on edge for more than a week over the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent.

The Twin Cities area has been at the center of the largest immigration crackdown in American history since shortly after the start of the new year.

Hours of clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement left residential streets blanketed by tear gas Wednesday night. Hours later, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to squelch protests and civil unrest. The use of the U.S. military to patrol American streets and restrain civilians is exceptionally rare.

In response, Gov. Tim Walz posted a direct appeal to Trump on social media: “Stop this campaign of retribution.”

The chaotic chain of events began about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, when federal authorities conducted a “targeted traffic stop” on an undocumented migrant who they said fled the scene in his vehicle before crashing into a parked car in the Hawthorne neighborhood. When the officer caught up with the man, he “began to resist and violently assault the officer,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. The department has not specified the federal officer’s agency.

During a struggle on the ground, two men rushed from a nearby residence and, alongside the original arrest target, attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle, McLaughlin said. The agent fired a defensive shot “fearing for his life,” she added, striking the suspect in the leg.

Both the agent and the suspect, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, were hospitalized with unspecified injuries.

On Jan. 15, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem denounced the event as “an attempted murder of federal law enforcement” and called on Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to “get their city under control.”

The DHS said that Sosa-Celis entered the country illegally in 2022 and was previously convicted of driving without a license. Federal officials also said he was arrested on two counts of giving a false name to a peace officer and released by local authorities before “ICE could lodge a detainer.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune verified that a man named Julio Cesar was cited for misdemeanor driving without a valid license in Rogers, Minn., on Oct. 18, 2023. That is the same violation that the DHS cited for Sosa-Celis, along with giving a false name to a peace officer. The citation says that the car had no license plates and Cesar said he had recently bought the vehicle, did not have a driver’s license and used an “out of country passport” to identify himself. Cesar never paid the misdemeanor traffic ticket, which has an outstanding balance of $208.

The other two men accused of taking part in the assault were identified as Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma. Both reportedly entered the country illegally in May 2023, but federal officials provided no criminal history for either man. Courts records show no criminal offenses in Minnesota for anyone with those names.

Brieella Johnson said she saw a large number of federal agents show up and surround the house.

“There were two officers by the window on the side saying ‘Come out or we’re going to shoot.’”

Agents threw smoke bombs to the front of the house, filled the alley and told a neighbor filming in Johnson’s yard that she could not stand there or film because it was a crime scene.

After the agents arrived, they fired a smoke bomb into the house, and Johnson saw two people led outside in handcuffs: a young Latino man and an elderly woman. The man appeared to be limping, and was not speaking as he was led away, Johnson said.

Within two hours, about 200 protesters had gathered on the street to confront federal officers, hurling insults, blowing whistles and demanding the agents remove their masks.

Several individuals could be seen throwing chunks of ice at agents. Others in the crowd reported being hit from close range with rubber-coated bullets while federal agents attempted to push people back.

Shawn Jackson’s children, including a 6-month-old baby, were taken to the hospital via ambulance after a flash-bang detonated his car airbags and filled the vehicle with smoke, he told media at the scene. The family was trying to leave a relative’s house in the area as the protest escalated.

In a late-night night news conference from City Hall, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara urged everyone at the shooting scene to leave and said protesters are “engaging in unlawful behavior.”

“Anyone who is taking the bait tonight, stop. … You are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Local authorities were not involved in the initial arrest attempt, car chase or shooting. MPD remained on site for crowd control until about 10:30 p.m., assisted by the Minnesota State Patrol and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

Hours earlier, Walz had told the Trump administration to “end this occupation” during a live address about the continued surge of federal immigration agents in Minnesota. Walz also called on Minnesotans to protest peacefully and record federal agents’ activities with their phones.

The DHS chastised Walz and Frey, accusing them of “actively encouraging an organized resistance to ICE and federal law enforcement officers.”

The ACLU of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against the federal government, alleging federal agents have unlawfully stopped and detained Minnesotans during immigration enforcement operations.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three U.S. citizens: 20-year-old Mubashir Khalif Hussen, 25-year-old Mahamed Eydarus and 22-year-old Javier Doe, which is a pseudonym. The organization will ask a federal district court for an emergency order to stop ICE and CBP from “continuing to violate Minnesotans’ rights.” The ACLU also plans to file a motion seeking class certification for Minnesotans who were stopped or arrested as part of what it calls unlawful enforcement policies.