ICE agent Christian Castro has been arrested in Texas for a non-fatal shooting in Minneapolis in January, which he lied about.
ICE is still reeling from its mistakes in Minneapolis, where an ICE agent, Christian Castro, has now been arrested for the January 14 shooting death of Julio Cesar Sosa Celis.
The 52-year-old ICE agent is the second federal agent to be charged for his conduct during the Minnesota crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, the first being Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr.
What happened on the evening of January 14? What did the ICE agent do?
On the evening of the shooting, Castro got into a brief scuffle with Alfredo Aljorna, a Venezuelan immigrant he was trying to arrest after a car chase, according to court documents. After Aljorna broke free and entered his Minneapolis home, Castro fired a shot through the front door, wounding Aljorna’s roommate, Julio C. Sosa Celis, in the leg.
It was a non-fatal injury. Both are Venezuelans and reside in the United States legally.As protests over the shooting broke out, Castro misled investigators, telling them he had fired in self-defense, while three men clubbed him for several minutes using a shovel and broom.Aljorna and Sosa Seles were also charged based on this account.But surveillance footage later revealed that Castro’s account was incorrect.
The charges against the two Venezuelan men were dropped.As Castro was placed on leave last February, Todd Lyons, interim director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he was under investigation for lying under oath.But ICE officials do not support the state’s charges against Castro and his arrest and believe this is nothing more than a political ploy. The agency added in a statement on Friday that “this is a federal issue, and must be dealt with at the federal level.”If Castro waives his right to an extradition hearing in Texas, he could be transferred to Minnesota to stand trial quickly. If he opposes his extradition, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, would need to submit a formal extradition request to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican.