ICE agent charged with lying under oath about Minnesota shooting

Authorities accidental cause fired into location with radical inside, lied astir circumstances.

Federal prosecutors successful the United States person charged an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) serviceman accused of lying nether oath to investigators regarding the shooting of a Venezuelan antheral during an migration crackdown this year.

Prosecutors alleged that Christian Castro lied to national investigators astir the events that led up to him firing connected 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis done the doorway of a Minnesota location successful January.

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The Associated Press quality bureau and The New York Times reported the indictment, quoting a idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance who was not authorised to sermon the probe publicly. It was expected to beryllium unsealed erstwhile Castro is detained.

Castro, a erstwhile Department of Homeland Security agent, besides faces aggregate authorities felony charges successful Minnesota related to the nonfatal shooting, including battle with a unsafe weapon.

Authorities successful the Midwestern authorities had sought to extradite Castro from Texas to look trial. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican and President Donald Trump loyalist, declined to cooperate with the request.

The ensuing standoff near Castro detained successful Texas for 90 days earlier his release past week. Under Texas law, the authorities cannot clasp the taxable of an extradition bid for longer than that. His whereabouts were unclear arsenic of Thursday.

The charges people a uncommon determination by the Department of Justice nether Trump.

Trump’s apical officials person repeatedly argued that migration agents support wide protections portion conducting enforcement, a presumption rejected by galore ineligible experts.

For example, nary 1 has been charged successful the fatal shootings by migration agents of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti successful Minneapolis successful January.

An Associated Press reappraisal conducted successful February recovered astir 2 twelve ICE employees and contractors had faced transgression charges since 2020.

An American Civil Liberties Union study released successful July documented instances of convulsive tactics oregon different civilian rights violations successful astir a 3rd of 1,200 migration enforcement incidents reviewed successful 2025 alone.

Video grounds contradicts statement

The Trump medication distanced itself from the Castro lawsuit aft video emerged contradicting the agent’s archetypal accounts of the confrontation.

Castro told investigators that Sosa-Celis had attacked him, which the surveillance footage showed did not happen.

Todd Lyons, past acting caput of ICE, said astatine the clip that the footage “has revealed that sworn grounds provided by 2 abstracted officers appears to person made untruthful statements”.

Castro and a chap cause chased Alfredo Aljorna, a Venezuelan national, aft a postulation stop, according to charging documents.

Aljorna fled to the location helium shared with Sosa-Celis. After a little scramble, the 2 men ran inside. Castro past changeable done the closed door, “knowing [the home] was occupied by respective people”, the documents said.

One witnesser said determination were 2 children successful the location erstwhile Castro opened fire. Sosa-Celis was deed successful the leg.

Federal authorities person since suspended Castro and dropped each charges against Sosa-Celis and his co-defendant, who were some initially accused of forcibly assaulting an ICE officer. The different cause progressive successful the incidental was besides suspended, but has not yet been charged.

Thursday’s indictment comes aft ProPublica this week reported that Department of Justice (DOJ) officials had blocked prosecutors from pursuing much superior civilian rights charges against Castro, including “deprivation of rights nether colour of law”.

However, a root adjacent to the probe told the AP the progressive probe could inactive effect successful civilian rights charges.

The Trump medication has scaled backmost the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and dismantled respective Biden-era constabulary oversight initiatives since returning to bureau successful January 2025.

That has travel arsenic the medication has revved up its wide deportation run crossed the country.

In August, migration agents detained 50,925 radical with the Department of Homeland Security hailing it arsenic a caller grounds for the “highest fig of amerciable aliens arrested successful a azygous month”.