Trump's FBI sent a financial crimes expert into a Minneapolis ICE storm. It didn't go well

Federal agents fired teargas canisters and flash-bangs at protesters, who responded by throwing fireworks, filming and jeering. It happened in a north-side Minneapolis neighborhood on the night of Jan. 14, following the second shooting by ICE officer in a week, after the killing of Renee Nicole Good.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed an ICE officer fired in self-defense, striking Julio Cesar Sola-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, in the leg.

But Sola-Celis’s mother told the Washington Post her son was shot while opening the door for a housemate fleeing ICE. Bystander video reviewed by the Minnesota Reformer revealed at least one child inside the house as agents repeatedly shot into it, breaking a second-floor window.

Following the detentions of Sola-Celis and two other men, as protesters confronted federal agents, FBI agents and officers with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrived to investigate the incident, according to the Reformer.

According to video posted by independent journalist Andrew Mercado and others, the federal agents hastily withdrew, using armored personnel carriers. They left behind at least two vehicles that were heavily damaged by protesters. Among other items, protesters recovered an operational plan, challenge coins, a laptop, and an official photo ID for an FBI special agent.

Mercado’s livestream shows an image of the ID for FBI Special Agent Elijah Steimle, saved on a cellphone held by an unidentified woman, who told Mercado she found the ID in the car. Also recovered from the vehicle was a receipt showing Steimle stayed at a hotel in Baldwin, Wis., about 50 miles outside Minneapolis, on Jan. 7, the day of the death of Renee Good, and the day after.

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‘Complex financial crimes’

The misplaced ID, recovered during the chaotic aftermath of the Sola-Celis shooting, opens a window onto an extraordinary shift of federal resources.

FBI Director Kash Patel has mandated that agents augment typical duties by supporting the massive immigration crackdown ordered by President Donald Trump in Minneapolis and other cities. Special agents have been pulled away from counterterrorism, counter-intelligence, cybercrime and financial crimes investigations, to help ICE detain people sought for immigration violations.

Steimle is one of the FBI special agents with specialized skills nonetheless assigned to assist with Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis.

Federal court records reveal that Steimle is trained to investigate “complex financial crimes.” For example, his name appears on an affidavit filed in federal court in support of a criminal complaint for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

That investigation resulted in the conviction of Sebastian Chelemen, a 38-year-old Canadian national who defrauded elderly people by tricking them into believing younger family members had been arrested and needed cash to make bond. In 2024, Chelemen was sentenced to 50 months in prison, and ordered to pay $460,350 in restitution.

“Elder fraud is a massive and growing problem that affects one of our most vulnerable age groups,” Jermaine Deans, acting special agent in charge for the FBI Springfield office in Illinois, said at the time.

“It accounts for billions of dollars in losses and in many instances leaves victims financially and emotionally devastated. This sentence demonstrates the commitment of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to relentlessly pursue and hold accountable those who seek to harm the elderly.”

At the time of Chelemen’s arrest, Steimle was assigned to the FBI’s Springfield office. It is unclear whether Steimle is still assigned to that office. The hotel receipt discovered in Minneapolis listed an address in Manitowoc, Wis.

Attempts to contact Steimle for comment were unsuccessful.

In an email to Raw Story, the FBI said it “does not comment on or confirm personnel information.”

Prior to joining the FBI, Steimle was a regional president for Bank First in the Manitowoc area and was working for an MBA in finance at Marquette University, as reported in a 2021 local news item.

He earned a masters in accountancy from UW-Madison and passed his CPA exam, according to a 2020 Facebook post by the Young Professionals of Manitowoc County reflecting his recognition by the local chamber of commerce as one of the county’s top 15 young professionals.

Regarding Steimle’s work for the FBI in Minneapolis, some social media users commenting on images of his ID and receipt were scathing.

“Now he’s a slave catcher… interesting career shift,” one wrote.

“History will remember,” wrote another.

‘Delaying justice’

Kayla Staph, a former FBI special agent who specialized in cyber and counterterrorism investigations before leaving the agency in September, told NPR on Tuesday the mandate to shift to immigration enforcement was a “culture shock” to many agents.

“We are subject matter experts in counterterrorism and counter-intelligence, things like cyber,” Staph said.

Now, she added, such agents are “Shifting to an area where we have no frame of reference for it, we’re not trained in the law, we’re not trained in the tactics.

“We have a set of tactics in how we do arrest operations or search warrant operation, and we are not familiar with how ICE, or [Enforcement and Removal Operations], which is under ICE, do their things.”

Initially, Staph said, agents were only asked to participate in “coordinated takedowns to arrest the worst of the worst,” but increasingly almost everyone at the agency is being told to volunteer for “rotations” to assist with routine detentions.

“It’s impossible to do the work we were doing and be in another place,” Staph said. “Can’t be in two places at once … If less time is spent on our cases — writing our search warrants, opening cases, bringing forward indictments — those cases lag, and that is bad for justice. We are delaying justice.”

The FBI told Raw Story the agency “has been committed to supporting our partners in immigration enforcement and will remain so.

“All our work is focused on providing safer communities for our citizens every day,” a statement said. “The FBI does not comment on specific operational adjustments or personnel. However, we continuously assess and realign our resources to respond to the most pressing threats to our national security and to ensure the safety of the American people.”

Mary McCord, a former acting assistant attorney general of national security at the Department of Justice, told NPR diverting FBI resources was harming public safety and national security.

“This has a bigger impact than just any individual case, because there’s a signaling function here — to nation-states who want to use cyber functions to harm us in the realm of national security that we’re not putting the resources into that right now,” McCord said.

“To cyber criminals that want to steal money through various online schemes — we’re not paying attention to that anymore. And the more you divert FBI resources into this administration’s chosen causes … these major diversions mean something is not being investigated. And that can harm national security and public safety.”