ICE agents lied under oath about shooting a man in Minneapolis, because why stop at one crime when you can commit two

When you’re part of a government force whose legality is already in question, maybe the best strategy to subscribe to isn’t “go big or go home” — especially when that involves first shooting someone, then lying about it to other federal prosecutors.

The Department of Justice filed a motion on Thursday (per CNN) seeking to dismiss criminal charges against Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, the two Venezuelan men accused of attacking ICE agents in Minneapolis.

The DOJ admitted it had provided incorrect information to the court, while ICE Director Todd Lyons confirmed the agents made false statements under oath.

Here’s the story according to what the news outlets are reporting. The Department of Homeland Security’s initial account of the January 14 incident claimed federal agents were targeting Sosa-Celis in a traffic stop when he crashed into a parked car and fled on foot.

According to DHS, Sosa-Celis violently assaulted an officer and began striking him with a shovel or broomstick, prompting what the agency graciously termed a “defensive shot.”

The plot twist? None of this actually happened.

The Justice Department’s own court filing painted an entirely different picture. Turns out Aljorna was driving the vehicle, not Sosa-Celis. The DOJ’s affidavit also conveniently omitted DHS’s dramatic tale of the shovel-wielding assault, instead describing a far more mundane sequence of events where the agent fired toward the two men as they ran inside a home, unsure if he’d even hit anyone.

According to Aljorna’s attorney Frederick J. Goetz, ICE agents were following Aljorna while he was at work as a DoorDash driver. Fearing for his safety after the fatal shooting of Renee Good just a week earlier, he drove home. An agent tackled him near his front door, and he slipped out of his jacket and ran inside with his cousin Sosa-Celis. As they closed the door, an agent shot Sosa-Celis in the leg.

Now, you may be wondering why the government has decided to go the transparency route for once, especially following the senseless murder of two American citizens in Minneapolis in the past month by ICE agents. Well, the DOJ cited “newly discovered evidence” that was “materially inconsistent” with the charges. Which is a fancy way of saying our agents told us one thing, but the cameras showed something completely different. The federal agency has yet to disclose the contents of the video footage, but it must have been pretty damning for the DOJ to decide cutting their losses was the only play left.

The two ICE agents have been placed on administrative leave, with the agency confirming they made “false statements” under oath.

Here’s a pro tip for federal agents doing Trump’s bidding: if you’re entertaining the possibility of unlawfully gunning down Americans in the near future, maybe don’t follow it up with perjury—not when you’re living in the age of smartphones and security cameras.