Minnesota Prosecutors Charge ICE Officer Christian Castro With Assault In Julio Sosa-Celis Shooting

Minnesota prosecutors charged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro, 52, with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime after a Jan. 14 shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.

“ICE agent charged in non-fatal shooting of Venezuelan man Criminal charges are now filed against a U”

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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Castro fired his service weapon through the front door of a home “knowing there were people who had just run inside,” and that the bullet struck Sosa-Celis’s leg before lodging in the wall of a child’s bedroom.

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The case centers on conflicting accounts, with the Department of Homeland Security previously defending the shooting and then federal charges against Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Aljorna later being dropped after prosecutors cited “newly discovered evidence.”

ICE Director Todd Lyons said in February that “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements,” and that both officers were placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.

At a May 18 news conference in Minneapolis, Moriarty said Castro’s “federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota,” while Attorney General Keith Ellison said, “Nobody is above the law, including ICE agents.”

The DHS press release after the shooting had described Sosa-Celis as resisting and attacking an officer with “a shovel and broom handle,” and then said Castro reacted with “a defensive shot.”

CNBC

Prosecutors and county law enforcement said that narrative was fabricated, asserting Castro fired through the front door “knowing there were people who had just run inside,” and that he “was not hit with any shovels, brooms, or weapons of any kind at any time during this incident.”

ICE spokespersons condemned the prosecution as political, telling CNBC that these actions by “Minnesota sanctuary politicians are unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt.”

Prosecutors said the state will pursue the case even if Castro’s defense tries to remove it to federal court, and Moriarty said she was “pretty confident that we will get him in here to start this process.”

“An ICE agent is facing several assault charges in connection with a January shooting involving two Venezuelan immigrants in Minnesota, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty”

CNN

CNN reported that if convicted, Castro could face a sentence of three to seven years for each of the assault charges and a fine of up to $14,000, while the falsely reporting a crime charge is a misdemeanor with up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The broader Operation Metro Surge context remains part of the legal and political dispute, with the incident occurring “just one week after the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good” and “10 days before ICU nurse Alex Pretti's fatal shooting by federal officers.”

In the aftermath, the Justice Department has declined to pursue charges against any officers allegedly involved in all three shootings, while ICE said the officers’ actions were defended as “a defensive shot” and that “Lying under oath is a serious federal offense.”