ICE officer faces federal charges over Minnesota shooting

Federal prosecutors have charged an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with lying to investigators about the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minnesota, adding a federal criminal case to state assault charges already pending against him.

Christian Castro, an ICE officer, was charged by a federal grand jury in a six-count indictment returned Wednesday, CBS News reported, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. The case has not yet been unsealed. NPR also confirmed the federal charges through a person not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.

The charges stem from a January encounter in north Minneapolis during a broad immigration crackdown in Minnesota known as Operation Metro Surge. Authorities say Castro fired his weapon through a closed door and shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, in the leg.

Castro initially claimed under oath that Sosa-Celis attacked him, but surveillance footage contradicted that account, NPR reported. CBS News reported that the indictment charges Castro with making false statements to investigators about the incident. Law enforcement officers are currently trying to locate Castro, one source told CBS News.

The shooting occurred during a federal immigration surge that drew widespread bipartisan criticism, NPR reported, including criticism over the killings of two U.S. citizens. CBS News reported that the shooting happened a week after agents killed Renee Good.

In the immediate aftermath, official accounts of the encounter shifted. The Department of Homeland Security initially said Sosa-Celis fled a traffic stop, crashed a vehicle and ran away on foot. DHS said two men emerged from a nearby apartment and attacked an agent with a broom handle and a snow shovel. Sosa-Celis then allegedly broke free and began striking the officer, DHS said, before an officer fired what the department described as a “defensive shot to defend his life.”

But an FBI affidavit filed in support of federal charges against Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna gave a different account. According to CBS News, the affidavit said Aljorna was the person who fled and that Sosa-Celis initially struck Castro with a broomstick while the agent tried to arrest Aljorna. Cellphone video shared by a Democratic state lawmaker showed a woman telling 911 that her husband had been chased by ICE agents before reaching his home and was shot in front of his family, CBS News reported.

Federal prosecutors charged Aljorna and Sosa-Celis in January with forcibly assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers. Those charges unraveled within weeks. Prosecutors dropped the case in February, citing “newly discovered evidence” that was “materially inconsistent” with the allegations. The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be brought again.

Todd Lyons, then the acting head of ICE, said at the time that video evidence contradicted sworn statements by Castro and another officer. Both were placed on administrative leave, and Castro has since been suspended without pay.

“Video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements,” Lyons said. “Both officers have been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a thorough internal investigation. Lying under oath is a serious federal offense.”

Castro is also facing state-level assault charges in Minnesota. Local prosecutors charged him in May, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has refused to extradite him, CBS News reported, prompting a legal battle. The Hennepin County attorney sought to extradite Castro from Texas to Minnesota, but a federal judge in Texas last week ruled against Minnesota’s request to keep him in jail pending extradition, NPR reported. Castro was released from a Texas jail last week.