US federal prosecutors have charged Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro with making false statements about the January shooting of Venezuelan migrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis.
Castro turned himself in to federal authorities on Thursday and remains in custody, according to a person familiar with the case who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The federal charge centres on Castro’s account of the incident, in which he said he opened fire after being attacked with a shovel and a broom while attempting to make an arrest. Surveillance footage and witness accounts are understood to have contradicted that version.
ICE agent Christian Castro faces federal charge
Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg on 14 January during Operation Metro Surge, the large-scale federal immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. He was wounded at a house in north Minneapolis, where local prosecutors allege Castro fired through the front door as people were inside.
A Hennepin County criminal complaint alleges the bullet struck Sosa-Celis before coming to rest in the wall of a child’s bedroom. Castro has denied wrongdoing through his lawyer.
The shooting took place one week after the fatal shooting of Renee Good and 10 days before the death of Alex Pretti, two other incidents involving federal immigration agents that triggered widespread protests and heightened tensions across Minneapolis.
Unrest followed the Sosa-Celis shooting, with several federal vehicles left at the scene later raided.
Minnesota prosecutors separately charged Castro in May with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said the evidence indicated that Sosa-Celis did not pose a threat and that Castro had not been struck by a shovel, broom or other weapon.
Castro was arrested in Texas in late May on a Minnesota warrant, prompting a dispute between Minnesota officials and Texas Governor Greg Abbott over his extradition.
He was released from a Cameron County jail last month after reaching the legal detention limit. A judge rejected Minnesota’s request to keep him held while officials pursued his return, ruling that Abbott had not formally refused the extradition request.
Abbott said he was awaiting advice from the Texas Secretary of State on whether Castro met the legal definition of a fugitive. The governor argued that Castro had been ordered to leave Minnesota by the Department of Homeland Security and had not crossed state lines to evade prosecution.
The federal false-statements case is the first known prosecution by the US Justice Department of an immigration officer over conduct during Operation Metro Surge. Federal prosecutors in Minnesota had also considered civil rights charges over the shooting, but those proceedings were not pursued.
Justice Department officials said charging decisions were “collaborative and deliberative” and would be based on the facts and law of the individual case. Castro is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
