The Daily Populous Tuesday January 20th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by cnn.com and submitted by ewzetf

Newly obtained videos of the moments right after the Wednesday incident in which an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot a Venezuelan man in the leg in Minneapolis appear to contradict at least some of ICE’s claims about events leading up to the shooting.

In a statement Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said the agent targeted, chased and then shot the man in self-defense as the agent was being “ambushed” by three people. But accounts in the videos contradict the identity of the person DHS says federal agents chased, and the details of the shooting itself.

According to DHS, federal agents were conducting a “targeted traffic stop” when, they say, Julio Sosa-Celis, an undocumented Venezuelan national, resisted arrest and started to “violently assault” one of its officers. During the struggle, DHS said in the statement, two additional people came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the officer using a snow shovel and a broom handle.

According to DHS, Sosa-Celis “got loose” and began striking an agent “with a shovel or broom stick.” DHS says the agent then “fired a defensive shot,” which hit Sosa-Celis in the leg.

The three people who allegedly assaulted the officer ran into the apartment building and barricaded themselves before agents arrested all three, DHS said.

But videos from Sosa-Celis’ family appear to tell a different story. One of them shows a video call made by Sosa-Celis’ partner and reviewed by CNN, frantically describing to family members what she says happened, according to Alicia Celis, the mother of Sosa-Celis, who spoke to CNN.

The call appears to contradict ICE’s claims in DHS’ Thursday statement. There, ICE said it was Sosa-Celis who was driving a vehicle that crashed, and Sosa-Celis who fled on foot before agents struggled with him on the ground.

In the call, Sosa-Celis’ partner seems to say the driver of the car was not Sosa-Celis, but Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna — another man ICE detained during the same raid.

“Julio arrived first. They were chasing Alfredo — he had to jump from his car,” Sosa-Celis’ partner says during the call. “He ran and they threw themselves on top of him. After, Julio threw open the door, and they shot.”

The incident marks the second time in a week an immigration agent shot someone while on the job, sparking heated clashes in Minnesota and prompting President Donald Trump to threaten to use the Insurrection Act. Exactly one week earlier, an ICE agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three, in her vehicle.

Sosa-Celis was taken to an ambulance and hospitalized; the city of Minneapolis confirmed he had non-life-threatening injuries. CNN has contacted city officials to determine whether he is still hospitalized.

In a statement to CNN on Saturday, DHS stood by its initial statement that the subject of the raid on Wednesday was Sosa-Celis and that he was driving the vehicle.

The family’s version of events, heard in a livestreamed Facebook video when family members frantically called 911 to ask for help, also differs from DHS’ statement.

In the video, the family tells a 911 dispatcher that agents shot Sosa-Celis as he tried to enter his home.

Residents confront federal agents following a shooting incident Wednesday in Minneapolis. Scott Olson/Getty Images

“They were following my husband for about 30 minutes. They were trying to crash into him. He arrived at home and because we closed the door on them, they shot him!” a woman can be heard telling the dispatcher. It’s not clear who is speaking or whether Sosa-Celis is the person referred to as being followed.

Throughout the initial video, several family members can be heard pleading with the dispatcher for help.

“Where did they shoot your cousin?” a 911 dispatcher asks the family over the phone. “In the leg! The leg! Please help us! We have kids!” a man responds.

“We have a small child in the house!” one woman says in the background. “And if they shoot?” another woman asks.

“Do you know who shot them?” the dispatcher asks the group. “The ones from ICE! The ones from ICE!” a man replies.

The stream ends with the family continuing to speak with the dispatcher on the phone.

A different video obtained by CNN shows what was happening outside the home while the family waited inside.

In the video, agents are seen approaching the home and setting off a flash-bang. Smoke can be seen, and ramming sounds are heard as someone says, “They’re in! There’s more than a dozen of them.”

Mothers of detained men dispute DHS statement

Alicia Celis also told CNN she has spoken to her son only once, briefly, from the hospital after the shooting. Celis said she had not asked her son about ICE’s claim he attacked agents with a broom or shovel.

“(Julio) only called me to tell me that he is fine, for me not to worry, and for me to stay calm and not cry,” Celis said.

In the Thursday statement from DHS, ICE said the agent who shot Sosa-Celis did so after chasing him on foot after Sosa-Celis crashed into a parked car. DHS also described the agent as “fearing for his life” when he fired the shot. But in an interview with CNN, Mabel Aljorna, the mother of Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, disputed both of those claims on the basis of her conversation with her son immediately after the shooting.

Aljorna said her son told her he was the one being pursued on foot by ICE, and that Sosa-Celis was already inside the home when the agent shot him — not outside, where ICE says the agent fired the shot.

“He told me, ‘Mom, ICE was chasing me. Once we were inside, they shot at Julio.’”

After ICE shot and then detained Sosa-Celis, Sosa-Celis joined a Facebook livestream while in the hospital. In that video, he says there was a physical confrontation between him and agents before the shooting as he tried to help Aljorna get inside the home.

Members of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension search for evidence Thursday near where a shooting by federal agents occurred the night prior in Minneapolis. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

However, he also claims he was inside the house and the ICE agent was outside — and the two were separated by a closed door — when the agent shot him, while Sosa-Celis was locking the door and Aljorna was already inside.

“What happened was that ICE had been chasing my cousin from far way. He came over here, and he tried coming to the house,” Sosa-Celis said. “He got there and he was able to escape. We struggled with them. We were successful in helping my cousin get inside. And as I tried shutting the door, ICE shot me in the leg.”

“The shot that was fired happened when my cousin managed to escape, and he entered inside,” Sosa-Celis said on the livestream. “I closed the door. And as I was locking it, I heard the shot, and that’s when I realized I had been shot in the leg.”

CNN visited the home Friday. The front doorway was boarded up and there was no evidence to be found about the condition of the front door at the time of the shooting.

CNN has been unable to directly reach Sosa-Celis and Aljorna for comment.

SpleenBender on January 19th, 2026 at 21:03 UTC »

From the Declaration of Independence:

> That whenever ANY form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.

Emphasis mine.

whowhodillybar on January 19th, 2026 at 20:54 UTC »

> In a statement Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said the agent targeted, chased and then shot the man in self-defense as the agent was being “ambushed” by three people. But accounts in the videos contradict the identity of the person DHS says federal agents chased, and the details of the shooting itself.

You don’t fucking say?

Color me surprised you can’t trust a single thing out of this Admin.

B-Z_B-S on January 19th, 2026 at 20:52 UTC »

Because the DHS and Kristi Noem are lying to us. Kristi Noem murdered her puppy in a fit of rage. She doesn't care about honesty.