ICE officer Christian Castro has been federally charged with making false statements about the January shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown, with Texas Governor Abbott and the Justice Department also drawn into the fight.
Federal prosecutors have charged a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with making false statements to investigators about the events surrounding the January shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown. The charges against Christian Castro, the officer authorities say shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg, remain under seal, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The federal case marks a significant step in a saga that has pitted Minnesota prosecutors against federal authorities and Texas over jurisdiction and political motives. Castro was released from jail in Texas last week after Governor Greg Abbott declined to immediately sign an extradition warrant sought by Minnesota, which has charged the officer separately with assault and false reporting in connection with the same shooting.
Federal authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel during the confrontation. Those charges were dropped after video evidence suggested officers may have lied about the encounter, and federal officials opened an investigation into the shooting.
Minnesota prosecutors say Castro, 52, fired through the front door of a Minneapolis duplex and struck Sosa-Celis in the thigh. The officer had been chasing a different man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, who lived in the duplex with Sosa-Celis. Minnesota officials have said both men were legally present in the United States.
Castro was arrested in May on the Minnesota charges and held in Brownsville, Texas, near the Mexican border, while state officials sought his extradition. Minnesota authorities tried to prevent his release out of concern he might flee to Mexico, pointing to a conversation in which he discussed marrying a woman and buying a house there after his release.
Abbott's refusal to immediately sign off on the extradition warrant drew sharp criticism from Minnesota officials, but the governor cited continuing federal investigations into alleged fraud in Minnesota government social service programs, which the Trump administration used to justify its immigration enforcement push in the state.
Last week, a federal judge declined to order Texas to hand Castro over, clearing the way for his release. The Department of Homeland Security has called Minnesota's prosecution of the officer unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt, arguing that federal authorities hold jurisdiction in the case.
Castro was suspended from ICE without pay in February while the federal investigation unfolded. At the time, ICE's acting director, Todd Lyons, said the men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct, adding that violations of the sworn oath would not be tolerated.
Lyons also pledged the agency's full commitment to transparency, accountability, and the fair enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. The federal false-statements charges now on the table reflect that commitment to holding officers accountable when they fall short of those standards.
The case has also exposed friction inside the Justice Department. Earlier this week, a federal prosecutor working on the case told attorneys for Sosa-Celis and other victims that Justice Department officials blocked his push to bring a more serious civil rights charge against the officer for the shooting.
That prosecutor, Matthew Evans, was fired on Thursday and is now under investigation for alleged obstruction of a grand jury probe, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The person disputed Evans' characterization of the civil rights matter, saying that probe is continuing and that no final decision has been made on additional charges.
The sealed federal charges against Castro will eventually come to light as the courts process the case, and the separate Minnesota assault and false-reporting charges remain unresolved on the state side. The continuing civil rights review means the officer could still face additional federal exposure beyond the false-statements counts.
For the administration, the case illustrates a straightforward principle: enforcement operations will proceed, but the officers carrying them out are not above the law. Federal authorities moved swiftly to suspend Castro, investigate the shooting, and bring charges once the evidence warranted -- a record that stands in contrast to the political theater emanating from Minnesota.
ICE officer Christian Castro has been federally charged with making false statements about the January shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown, with Texas Governor Abbott and the Justice Department also drawn into the fight.
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