A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent wanted for shooting a Venezuelan man during a crackdown in Minnesota was arrested in Texas on Friday, authorities said. Christian Castro was taken into custody 11 days after Minneapolis prosecutors charged him with assault and falsely reporting a crime.
Castro is the second federal agent charged over conduct during “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. ICE director Todd Lyons said Castro and another agent lied about the circumstances of the non-fatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa Celis. Video evidence released last month contradicted the agents' accounts.
Hennepin County prosecutors said Castro, 52, was located in Texas and arrested with help from the state's bureau of criminal apprehension, the Department of Homeland Security inspector general's office, and the Texas Rangers. “Today’s arrest is a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr Castro,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.
Prosecutors allege Castro fired through a front door and shot Sosa Celis in the thigh after chasing another man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, to the apartment where both men lived. Both Sosa Celis and Aljorna were legally in the US. Federal authorities initially claimed Sosa Celis struck an officer with a broom handle, but surveillance video showed no such attack and the altercation lasted 12 seconds, not three minutes.
ICE called the charges “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt”. The US attorney's office is investigating whether officers lied. The arrest marks a rare instance of accountability for ICE, which has faced scrutiny over shootings and use of force during immigration operations.
