Video evidence again contradicts official accounts of shootings
Federal authorities announced an investigation Friday of two immigration officers who appeared to have made untruthful statements under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis last month.
It is among at least five shootings in which initial descriptions by the immigration officials were later contradicted by video evidence. Those included the fatal Minneapolis shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in which bystander video quickly raised questions about how federal officials initially described the incidents.
The inquiry announced Friday came hours after a federal judge dismissed felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men who were accused of beating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel on Jan. 14. The officer, who is not named in court filings, fired a single shot from a handgun that struck one of the men, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in the thigh.
In an unusual reversal, prosecutors asked to dismiss the cases because they said new video evidence contradicted allegations made against the men in a criminal complaint and at a hearing last month.
Here is a look at how the five shootings were initially described and what was later learned:
Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis
Date and location: Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis.
What federal officials said initially: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the immigration officer was “ambushed” by Sosa-Celis and others, and fired a “defensive shot” out of fear for his life. “What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement,” she said.
What came out later: Investigators have not released the new evidence that led charges to be dropped, but cracks were already apparent in a Jan. 21 court hearing. The immigration officer’s testimony recounting the moments before the shooting differed significantly from that of the defendants and three eyewitnesses. Available video evidence did not support the officer’s account of being assaulted with a broom and shovel.
Renee Good
Date and location: Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis.
What federal officials said initially: Noem described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” carried out against ICE officers by a woman who “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle.” She said the immigration agent shot “defensively” to protect himself and the people around him. Good died of gunshot wounds to the head.
What came out later: Videos filmed from multiple angles challenged the administration’s narrative. Shortly before the shooting, Good is seen at the wheel of her SUV that is parked diagonally on a street. She tells an immigration officer, “I’m not mad at you.”
Seconds later, another immigration officer grabs at the driver’s side door while Good’s wife urges her to “drive, baby, drive.” It’s unclear in the videos whether the SUV makes contact with ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who shoots while standing near the front of the driver’s side of the SUV and then twice more while quickly moving to the driver’s side as the vehicle pulls forward.
Alex Pretti
Date and location: Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis.
What federal officials said initially: Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Pretti approached Border Patrol officers with a handgun and he “violently resisted” when they tried to disarm him. An agent feared for his life and fired “defensive” shots, she said. Pretti was pronounced dead at the scene. Border Patrol senior official Greg Bovino claimed Pretti intended to “massacre law enforcement,” and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller described him as “a would-be assassin.”
What came out later: None of the half-dozen bystander videos collected by investigators showed Pretti brandishing his gun, which he had a permit to carry. The videos showed Pretti was holding his mobile phone as a masked Border Patrol officer opened fire.
In a tense hearing Thursday in Washington, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky made leaders tasked with carrying out Trump’s mass deportation agenda watch a video of the shooting while he repeatedly scrutinized the forceful tactics used by immigration agents. Paul argued that Pretti posed no threat to the agents and said it was clear from the video that he was “retreating at every moment.”
Silverio Villegas González
Date and location: Sept. 12, 2025, in suburban Chicago.
What federal officials said initially: Homeland Security officials said federal agents were pursuing a man with a history of reckless driving who entered the country illegally. They alleged that Villegas González drove at officers and dragged one with his car. The Department of Homeland Security said the officer fired because he feared for his life and was hospitalized with “serious injuries.”
What came out later: Body-camera videos from local police contradicted the Trump administration’s account. Footage showed the agent who shot Villegas González walking around afterward and dismissing his own injuries as “nothing major.”
An autopsy made public in November declared Villegas González’s death a homicide. The report showed he was shot at “close range,” with wounds to his neck and fingers.
Marimar Martinez
Date and location: Oct. 14, 2025, in Chicago.
What federal officials said initially: A Homeland Security Department news release asserted that Martinez and the driver of another car involved in a crash with a Border Patrol officer were “domestic terrorists.” An FBI agent said in court documents that she was chasing the Border Patrol vehicle and drove at one of the officers after they got out of the vehicle. The officer was forced to open fire, the FBI agent alleged, striking Martinez seven times. She was treated at a hospital and arrested on felony assault charges.
What came out later: Videos emerged that her attorneys said showed agent Charles Exum steering his SUV into her truck.
In a text message presented during a Nov. 5 hearing, Exum appeared to brag about his marksmanship. “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys,” the text read.
The case against her was dismissed.
Schoenbaum writes for the Associated Press.
