Hernandez-Ledezma’s attorney says the dismissal of charges against his neighbors “vindicates the unjustness of his arrest, detention”
Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-LedezmaNamed by DHS as one of three men present during the January 14 encounter; he held Temporary Protected Status and had no pending immigration-court matters. Statement issued through his legal representative.
After a federal district court found his own immigration detention unlawful and ordered his release, a statement from Jeanette Boerner, director of Adult Representation Services, on behalf of Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma said his "life has been turned upside down by ICE's actions in Minnesota," and that the court's ruling and the dismissal of the charges against his neighbors Sosa-Celis and Aljorna "vindicates the unjustness of his arrest, detention, and the deliberate smearing of his name and broadcasting of his photo," though it "doesn't give him back the weeks he spent in detention."
“Gabriel's life has been turned upside down by ICE's actions in Minnesota. The district court order finding his detention unlawful and ordering his release, along with the decision to dismiss charges against his neighbors, vindicates the unjustness of his arrest, detention, and the deliberate smearing of his name and broadcasting of his photo along with unfounded allegations, but it doesn't give him back the weeks he spent in detention. We look forward to further investigation into this matter and hope that those responsible face consequences.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Was ICE Officer Christian Castro Justified in Shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis?
On January 14, 2026, ICE officer Christian Castro fired his service weapon through the closed front door of a north Minneapolis home during a foot pursuit that followed a traffic stop, wounding 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg. The Department of Homeland Security said the following day that Castro had been ambushed and beaten with a snow shovel and broom handle by Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Aljorna and a third man, Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, and fired a defensive shot fearing for his life; federal prosecutors initially charged Sosa-Celis and Aljorna with assaulting Castro. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna told investigators they had not attacked Castro, and habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of their partners disputed DHS's account. On February 12, 2026, federal prosecutors dismissed the charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna with prejudice, citing newly discovered evidence materially inconsistent with the allegations; the next day, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said a joint ICE-DOJ review of video evidence indicated two officers' sworn testimony appeared untruthful, and placed them on administrative leave. In May 2026, Hennepin County prosecutors charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, alleging he was not attacked and fired at Sosa-Celis and Aljorna after they had already gone inside the home, where children were present. In September 2026, following a monthslong dispute over his extradition from Texas, federal prosecutors separately indicted Castro on six counts of making materially false statements to the FBI about the shooting. Castro has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges; the state charges and the underlying dispute over whether his use of force was justified remain unresolved.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Sahan Journal's report on the dismissal of charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna and its aftermath. It reports that a district court found Hernandez-Ledezma's own immigration detention unlawful and ordered his release, and quotes a statement from Jeanette Boerner, director of Adult Representation Services, on his behalf. It also quotes Sosa-Celis's attorney Robin Wolpert calling the case "a grave injustice" and "a 180-degree turn." A BCA declaration described Hernandez-Ledezma as one of three key witnesses to the shooting whom state investigators had been unable to interview because he was in immigration detention.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
DHS's January 15 release had named Hernandez-Ledezma, along with Sosa-Celis and Aljorna, as one of the three men who attacked Castro. A Bureau of Criminal Apprehension declaration filed in his habeas case described him as one of three key witnesses to the shooting whom state investigators had been unable to interview because he was in immigration detention.
After the quotation
Sahan Journal reports that agents forcibly broke down the door of Hernandez-Ledezma's separate unit of the duplex while arresting people in the unit upstairs, and that he had Temporary Protected Status and no pending immigration-court issues. Unlike Sosa-Celis and Aljorna, he does not appear in the later state or federal charging documents against Castro; his own immigration status regarding the January 14 encounter beyond the habeas ruling is not addressed in the sources we reviewed.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to ICE's conduct toward Hernandez-Ledezma during and after the January 14 encounter, his attorney's statement condemns his detention as unlawful and unjust and calls for accountability. It is recorded on this case because Hernandez-Ledezma was one of the three men DHS's original account named as attacking Castro, and the statement responds directly to that dismissal and to his own detention arising from the same encounter; it targets ICE's broader conduct rather than Castro's shooting specifically.
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- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
More from this case
Read the full caseAmnesty condemns the shooting
Amnesty International
“unlawful use of lethal force”Read statement
Justice Department says indictment challenges Castro's account of the shooting
United States Department of Justice
“Castro was indicted on six counts of knowingly and willfully making materially false statements to the FBI during the interview on or about Jan. 14.”Read statement
ACLU of Minnesota calls the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis a shocking attack
ACLU of Minnesota
“According to criminal charges later filed against Castro by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, Castro fired through the closed front door while standing in the front yard and under no physical threat. The bullet struck Sosa-Celis before entering the wall of a child’s bedroom. This shocking attack occurred at the height of Operation Metro Surge, during which federal agents committed some of the most flagrant constitutional violations we have witnessed in the United States since the civil rights era.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Hernandez-Ledezma’s attorney says the dismissal of charges against his neighbors “vindicates the unjustness of his arrest, detention”". First published: 2026-09-22. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/1404-after-a-federal-district-court-found-his-own