Tipsheet

DHS Releases New Details in Minneapolis ICE Ambush. Here's What We Know.

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  January 15, 2026 1:15 PM

There was another ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis last night, when an ICE agent was attempting to arrest an illegal immigrant from Venezuela and was ambushed by two others, who struck the agent with a shovel and broomstick. The agent fired his weapon in self-defense and struck the illegal immigrant, who was reportedly resisting arrest, in the leg.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released more information on the shooting, including the identities of the three men involved, and that the agent who was ambushed suffered serious injuries.

"DHS says the three used shovels and broomsticks as weapons after ICE attempted to arrest Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis who is here illegally from Venezuela," Bradley wrote. "DHS @Sec_Noem says the officer who was hit by a shovel is badly beaten up and injured and getting treatment."

DHS also issued a press release with details on the attack

At 6:50 PM CT on January 14, 2025, federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis for Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis who was released into the country by President Joe Biden in 2022.

Attempting to evade arrest, Sosa-Celis fled the scene in his vehicle, crashed into a parked car, and proceeded to flee on foot. The law enforcement officer pursued Sosa-Celis also on foot, caught up to him, and attempted to apprehend him when Sosa-Celis began to resist and violently assault the officer. While Sosa-Celis and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.

As the officer was being ambushed and attacked by the two individuals, Sosa-Celis got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick. Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life. Sosa-Celis was hit in the leg. All three subjects ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside. ICE successfully arrested all three illegal aliens.

The attacked officer and Sosa-Celis are both in the hospital. All three illegal aliens were arrested and are in ICE 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,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “Mayor Frey and Governor Walz have to get their city under control. They are encouraging impeding and assault against our law enforcement which is a federal crime, a felony. This is putting the people of Minnesota in harm’s way."

This attack on another brave member of law enforcement took place while Minnesota’s top leaders, Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, continue to refuse cooperation with federal efforts to arrest and remove violent criminal illegal aliens from their communities.

The hateful rhetoric and resistance against men and women who are simply trying to do their jobs must end. Federal law enforcement officers are facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest criminals and lawbreakers.

All three of the illegal aliens involved in this violent attack on law enforcement were let into our country by the Biden administration.

The three men involved in the attack are Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. DHS said Sosa-Celis is "a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela, previously convicted for driving without a license and arrested for two counts of giving a false name to a peace officer, was the subject of a targeted enforcement operation. He was released by Minnesota authorities before ICE could even lodge a detainer. Sosa-Celis illegally entered the United States in August 2022 under the Biden administration."

The second man is Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, who is also an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. He "illegally entered the United States in May 2023 under the Biden administration. After he failed to show up for his immigration hearing, he was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge," according to DHS.

The third man is Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledzema, again from Venezuela. He entered the United States illegally in 2023, and DHS says the "Biden administration marked this illegal alien as a non-enforcement priority."

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem went on Fox News to discuss this latest violent attack against ICE agents.

"Our agents were out doing what they're doing every single day across this country," Noem said. "Doing targeted enforcement, going after individuals who are breaking federal law, when this individual drove away, crashed his car, tried to run into a home, and as they were wrestling on the ground, trying to detain this individual, two other men came out of that building and started attacking [the agent]."

"This kind of violence is perpetrated by what we hear the governor saying, what we hear the mayor in Minneapolis saying. And their irresponsibility is extremely reckless," Noem continued. "Governor Tim Walz has my phone number. I have called him and talked to him."

"I want to remind you that Minneapolis itself, under the mayor's leadership and the governor's leadership, released almost 500 criminals out onto the streets, rather than bring them to justice and turn them over to federal authorities," Noem added. "So they know they're releasing murderers, and rapists, and drug traffickers on the streets of Minneapolis. We're out there making sure they don't harm American citizens, and we're getting attacked while we do it. But we're going to continue doing our work and do what's right because it's what President Trump promised the American people."