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Two Venezuelans accused of assaulting a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during arrests during riots in Minneapolis last month were ordered released by a federal judge this week, pending ICE arrest, according to court records cited by the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, 26, and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, 24, were released under court-ordered conditions on Tuesday after a judge found they were not a serious flight risk, the newspaper reported. The men were re-arrested by ICE almost immediately after the hearing and did not leave court before agents took them back into custody.
The Tribune reported that the men’s attorneys said ICE detained them “without explanation” shortly after the judge’s decision, prompting a habeas corpus petition Tuesday night. The court then blocked ICE from removing the men from Minnesota and gave the federal government until Friday to explain its actions.
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ICE has arrested three men who were allegedly involved in beating an agent with a shovel during an enforcement operation. (DHS and Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
“These re-incarcerations are unconstitutional, and they should be released immediately,” attorney Brian Clark wrote in the emergency petition, per the state.
The two were arrested after a January 14 standoff that began when ICE agents attempted to conduct a traffic stop in north Minneapolis, DHS said at the time.
According to DHS, the police were trying to arrest Sosa-Celis when he fled the scene in his car, crashed into a parked car and ran on foot.
DHS said the police officer caught Sosa-Celis and tried to detain him, which is when Sosa-Celis allegedly started resisting and violently assaulting the police officer.
As the two struggled to the ground, DHS said two people came out of a nearby apartment and began hitting the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle. DHS said Sosa-Celis then let go and hit the officer before the agent, fearing for his life, fired a defensive shot at Sosa-Celis in the leg.
Despite being injured, DHS said Sosa-Celis and two other men retreated into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk by their vehicles, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Richfield, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
ICE eventually arrested all three suspects and detained them, DHS said. The police officer and Sosa-Celis were both hospitalized following the altercation.
The agency described the incident as an “attempt to kill law enforcement,” and said the ICE officer was ambushed and beaten with a snow shovel and broom handle before firing a self-defense shot that hit Sosa-Celis in the leg.
DHS has publicly identified three Venezuelans — Sosa-Celis, Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma — as the suspects accused of assaulting an ICE agent and taken into custody after the January 14 incident.
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US Customs and Border Protection officers stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a protest Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
The Tribune reported that the federal affidavit in the case makes no mention of Hernandez-Ledezma, and he has not been charged with any related crimes. The newspaper said he was being held at a state detention center in Texas and could not independently confirm his presence or involvement in the incident.
Attorneys for the suspects told the court that photographic evidence and witness statements raise questions about the timing and circumstances of the shooting, including allegations that the gun may have been fired after the suspects entered the residence, according to the Tribune.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
