DOJ drops assault charges against St. Paul man who ICE agents shot at in December

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Minnesota Reformer) — Federal prosecutors dropped charges against Juan Carlos Rodriguez Romero, a St. Paul man who immigration agents shot at on Dec. 21. The agents on the scene and the Department of Homeland Security accused Rodriguez Romero of ramming agents with his car, though agents’ stories contained contradictions.

On Monday, Department of Justice officials filed a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss their case against Rodriguez Romero, citing insufficient evidence.

Following a May 26 hearing, “the government thoroughly reassessed the evidence in this case, including the evidence obtained after the Indictment issued,” prosecutors wrote. “Given the information presently known, the government is not confident that ‘the admissible evidence at trial will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.’”

Rodriguez Romero faced three federal felony charges: two counts of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon — his car — and one count of assault on a federal officer for allegedly biting the hand of an ICE officer while being arrested.

The case is just the latest in a series of prosecutions related to the Trump administration’s mass deportation drive that later collapsed upon further scrutiny, or were unpersuasive to juries.

In January, an immigration agent mistook a Venezuelan asylum seeker, Alfredo Aljorna, for another man, and chased him in his car. Aljorna and the agent scuffled on the ground for about 15 seconds, and Aljorna’s roommate Julio Sosa-Celis appeared to try to help Aljorna up. Then, the agent fired shots towards the door of the house, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg.

Both Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were charged with assaulting a federal agent — allegedly with a broom and snow shovel — before video evidence emerged from the scene disproving agents’ stories. The DOJ dropped the charges a month later.

In Illinois, U.S. District Judge April Perry rebuked federal prosecutors for misconduct in their attempt to secure grand jury indictments against anti-ICE protestors dubbed the “Broadview Six.”

Prosecutors tried to improperly sway grand jurors, spoke with them outside the grand jury room, and removed jurors who disagreed with their case — then redacted all evidence of those efforts from transcripts provided to the judge, Perry said.

Dozens of similar federal cases against immigrants and anti-ICE protesters have fallen apart across the country. The feds have dismissed more than than one-third of people charged with assaulting federal agents in Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge, according to a Star Tribune tracker — including several people whose photos and names were posted online by former Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

DHS has pushed baseless accusations before — for example, by claiming Renee Good intended to commit an act of “domestic terrorism” before she was shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

According to court documents, Rodriguez Romero, a Cuban national with a pending asylum application, drove away from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers when they initiated a traffic stop on Dec. 21. He pulled into his apartment parking lot, hitting a couple cars in the process. As Rodriguez Romero continued to evade officers, one fired multiple shots at his car. Rodriguez Romero then ran into his apartment building, where he was arrested.

No video has emerged of the events leading up to Rodriguez Romero’s arrest. The evening of his arrest, DHS posted about the events on X, accusing Rodriguez Romero of ramming agents with his car.

“The officer who was struck by Romero’s car defensively fired two rounds from his service weapon, causing Romero to drive off again,” the post reads.

Interviews with agents on the scene, however, contradicted the official timeline and called into question whether Rodriguez Romero had rammed the agents at all, according to court documents filed by Rodriguez Romero’s attorney, Bruce Nestor.

Five of the six agents said their colleague fired shots at Rodriguez Romero in the parking lot before his car collided with federal vehicles. Only one agent described Rodriguez Romero ramming cars before the other fired his gun.

Two agents said their vehicle struck Rodriguez Romero’s 4Runner from behind.

The Reformer emailed questions to ICE early Tuesday afternoon and the agency did not immediately respond.

Although the federal charges are no longer hanging over Rodriguez Romero’s head, he still faces the prospect of deportation to Cuba — which is enduring a humanitarian crisis brought on by fuel shortages worsened by an American blockade and the war in Iran — or to Mexico, where Cuban deportees frequently struggle to make ends meet. Asylum approval rates have plummeted to less than 2% in President Donald Trump’s second term.

(Story written by Madison McVan – Minnesota Reformer)