ICE Officer Charged with Assault After Video Disproves Sworn Statements in Minneapolis Immigration Shooting

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent is facing multiple criminal charges in Minnesota after local prosecutors determined he lied about the circumstances surrounding the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the charges on Monday, noting that a nationwide warrant has been issued for the federal officer's arrest.

The agent, Christian Castro, has been charged with four counts of felony second-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime. If convicted, Castro faces a potential sentence of three to seven years in prison for each assault charge. Moriarty emphasized at a press conference that a federal badge does not grant absolute immunity to law enforcement officers who commit crimes within the state of Minnesota.

The prosecution marks the latest fallout from "Operation Metro Surge," an aggressive, months-long federal immigration enforcement crackdown executed in the Twin Cities. The sweep has drawn intense scrutiny and sparked a flurry of legal challenges from state and local authorities over the conduct of federal agents in the field.

The criminal charges stem from a January 14 incident in Minneapolis involving two Venezuelan nationals, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo A. Aljorna. Immediately following the encounter, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a public statement claiming that the agents were violently ambushed with a snow shovel and a broom handle, forcing an agent to fire a "defensive shot to defend his life." Federal prosecutors quickly leveled assault charges against both immigrants based on the agents' sworn affidavits.

However, a subsequent review of municipal traffic camera footage completely dismantled the federal narrative. According to the state's newly filed criminal complaint, video evidence shows that Sosa-Celis threw his snow shovel to the ground and stepped away before any physical contact occurred. After a brief struggle on the ground between Castro and Aljorna, the cousins retreated inside a nearby home. Camera footage shows Castro then stood up, approached the residence, and fired a single gunshot directly through the closed front door, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg.

The state's complaint notes that four adults and two children were inside the home at the time of the shooting. Following the gunfire, ICE agents deployed tear gas into the residence, took all four adults into custody, and delayed paramedics from treating Sosa-Celis's bullet wound for nearly an hour.

The dramatic reversal began in February when the U.S. Department of Justice abruptly moved to drop all federal charges against the two Venezuelan men, admitting that federal prosecutors had provided incorrect information to the court based on "untruthful statements" made by ICE personnel under oath.

In response to the state-level charges announced on Monday, DHS released a statement characterizing the actions of Minnesota prosecutors as a "political stunt," while simultaneously acknowledging that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively investigating the officers for lying under oath. The two federal agents involved remain on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the federal investigation.

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