ICE Agents Under Criminal Investigation for Allegedly Lying About Shooting
INSIDE: Thomas Albus ... Pete Hegseth ... Jesse Jackson
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
‘Materially Inconsistent’
Two ICE officers were put on leave and are under criminal investigation for potential perjury in an incident in which one of the officers shot a Venezuelan national in Minneapolis last month, according to acting ICE director Todd Lyons.
As has happened in the other shootings by federal agents in Minnesota, video evidence appears to have done in the officers.
“A joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements,” Lyons said in a statement.
The dramatic reversal in the case came after the Trump DOJ last week dropped criminal charges against the wounded man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, and his Venezuelan friend, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna. Both men had both been accused of assaulting the ICE agent who opened fire, allegedly hitting him with a broom and snow shovel.
The feds had not yet brought an indictment when, in a highly unusual move, they sought to dismiss the charges with prejudice, meaning they cannot be re-filed. A judge granted the request and dismissed the case on Friday.
In moving to dismiss the case, the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office made an extraordinary admission: “Newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the
allegations in the Complaint Affidavit … as well as the preliminary-hearing testimony … that was based on information presented to the Affiant.”
The complaint affidavit by FBI Special Agent Timothy G. Schanz was based on, among other things, “information I have learned from other law enforcement officers.” It appears to rely heavily on the accounts offered by the two ICE agents who are now suspected .
Lawyers for the two Venezuelan men had insisted that the ICE agent who discharged his weapon fired through a closed door after the two Venezuelan men had fled inside. They had offered in court photographic evidence of what they claimed was a bullet hole through an exterior door and a corresponding bullet hole in an interior wall.
“Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” Lyons said, in a significant change of tone from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s initial claim that it was an “attempted murder” and DHS’ assertion that the attack had been fueled by rhetoric from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats.
The investigation of the two ICE agents is being conducted jointly by ICE and the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office. The feds continue to refuse to cooperate with a separate state investigation into the shooting.
Another ‘Facilitate’ Case …
In a new ruling, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns of Boston ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Babson College freshman Any Lucia López Belloza, who was detained en route home to Texas at Thanksgiving and removed to her native Honduras, where she had not lived since she was a young child. López’s deportation came despite a court order barring her removal.
Jan. 6 Never Ends
Saber-rattling ahead of the midterms, President Trump vowed to impose a nationwide voter ID requirement via executive order if Congress fails to act. Your occasional reminder that an executive order is the executive branch’s version of an office-wide internal memo.
Current and former DOJ and FBI officials are alarmed that a conspiracy-fueled search warrant for the Fulton County voting center made it past a magistrate judge, MSNow reports.
Ahead of the FBI seizure of ballots and voting records in Atlanta, St. Louis U.S. Attorney Thomas Albus, who signed the search warrant, took part in meetings with some of the fringe lawyers tasked by President Trump with reinvestigating his 2020 loss, including Ed Martin and Kurt Olsen, ProPublica reports.
Trump Attack on Higher Ed
UCLA: In a major win for University of California faculty groups and unions, the Trump administration dropped its appeal of a court order blocking its $1.2 billion settlement with UCLA.
Harvard: The Trump DOJ sued Harvard University to obtain sensitive admissions data to determine with it is using race in admission decisions. According to the WSJ, the administration is seeking “all admissions data for the past five academic years, including applicant test scores, a racial breakdown of applicants, grade-point averages, extracurricular activities, essays and admission outcomes.”
Nationwide: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is creating a list of top universities that will no longer be eligible for tuition assistance for service members because they are “biased,” CNN reports:
Boat Strike Campaign Death Toll at 124
Three people were killed in a Feb. 13 U.S. attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, bringing the death toll in the lawless campaign of attacks to 124.
Trump Uses Military as Political Props
In a campaign-style rally at the newly renamed Ft. “Bragg” — no longer named for the notorious Confederate general but, in a sly wink and nod of white nationalists, for an obscure WWII paratrooper — President Trump gave an overtly political speech to uniformed personnel, urging them to vote Republican in this year’s midterm elections.
Judge Rejects White Nationalist Revisionism
On the official day of celebration of George Washington’s birthday, when the federal courts are usually closed, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered the Trump administration to restore exhibits about slavery to the national park site commemorating the first president’s former home in Philadelphia.
In her strongly worded opinion, citing Orwell’s 1984, the Bush II appointee wrote:
The government here likewise asserts truth is no longer self-evident, but rather the property of the elected chief magistrate and his appointees and delegees, at his whim to be scraped clean, hidden, or overwritten. And why? Solely because, as Defendants state, it has the power.
Rejecting the government’s argument, Rufe entered a preliminary injunction against the administration ordering it to restore the slavery exhibits and not to make any further changes to the President’s House site.
What It Means to Be a White ‘Race Traitor‘
America’s racial caste system, which places white people on top, has existed since before the country was founded. And yet there have always been white people who have worked against and betrayed notions of racial hierarchy, rejecting the fictions that undergird them and the illegitimate power that racial caste justifies. These people are perhaps the most powerful weapon against these systems.
That’s why, like so many of the archetypal race traitors before them, the willingness of Good and Pretti to put themselves in danger for the cause of racial justice proved an unparalleled galvanizing force, one that simultaneously affirms the best about America, and the worst.
Jesse Jackson, 1941-2026
In my youth, I wrestled with strong feelings about Jesse Jackson, both pro and con. As an adult, I was better able to resolve the conflicting elements of who he was when I came to understand: It was hard for Jesse Jackson to be Jesse Jackson.
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I had the honor to shake Jesse Jackson’s hand in 1999. Your reporting on varied events is excellent; well-covered roundup! Thank you👍
Always an excellent review.