ICE Officer Faces Criminal Charges After Minnesota Shooting
State charges have been filed against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who shot and wounded a man during an attempted arrest in Minnesota in January, as part of Operation Metro Surge.
52-year-old ICE officer Christian Castro was charged with four counts of assault in the second degree and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis in January.
“Mr. Castro is an ICE agent, but his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in announcing the charges.
Moriarty also accused federal officials of obstructing the investigation saying they refused to cooperate and would not help facilitate follow-up interviews with federal officers.
Case Details
Prosecutors say Castro fired through a home’s front door striking Sosa-Celis in the leg while multiple people were inside. They say Castro was not under immediate physical threat at the time, contradicting earlier claims from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that agents had been attacked with shovels and broomsticks.
DHS leadership, including then-Secretary Kristi Noem, initially defended the officers involved, saying an agent “fired a defensive shot to defend his life” and alleging Sosa-Celis participated in “an attempted murder” of federal law enforcement officers.
However, prosecutors say video evidence reviewed in the investigation did not support those claims. Charges against Sosa-Celis and another man involved in the incident were later dropped.
ICE Response
In a statement to CNBC, ICE condemned the prosecution of Castro.
“These actions by Minnesota sanctuary politicians are unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” said an ICE spokesperson.
The spokesperson also noted that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is investigating whether Castro and the second agent made false statements under oath. If substantiated, the officers could face disciplinary action, including termination, as well as potential criminal prosecution.
Castro is the second ICE officer to be charged in Minnesota in recent months. ICE officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr is accused of pointing a gun at two civilians in a vehicle, also during Operation Metro Surge, the operation that surged over 3,000 federal officers to Minnesota. Morgan has denied wrongdoing.
