Minneapolis — A federal immigration officer wanted for shooting a Venezuelan man during the Trump administration’s crackdown in Minnesota was arrested Friday in Texas, authorities said.
Christian Castro, of ICE, was taken into custody 11 days after prosecutors arrested him in Minneapolis. She accused him of assault and false reporting a crime in the non-fatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa Celis on January 14.
Prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, said the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension located Castro, 52, in Texas and worked with agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the Texas Rangers to arrest him.
“Today’s arrest is a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr. Castro,” Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty said.
Online court records do not list an attorney for Castro, and it was not immediately clear whether he has one. Messages seeking comment were left with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Office of the Inspector General for Homeland Security and the Texas Rangers.
Castro is the second federal agent to be charged for his conduct during the Minnesota crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge. He is one of two agents who Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said lied about the circumstances of the incident.
According to prosecutors, Castro shot through the front door of the home and shot Sosa Celis in the thigh after Castro and another officer chased another man, Alfredo Alejandro Aleurna, to the Minneapolis duplex where he and Sosa Celis lived. Moriarty said Sousa Siles and Aljorna are legally present in the United States.
Federal authorities accused at first Sosa Celis and Aljorna hit an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel. A federal judge later dismissed those charges, as did Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice I opened an investigation Whether the officers lied about what happened.
In a statement after the charges were announced, ICE said the US Attorney’s Office was investigating the statements made by the officers, who could face disciplinary action including termination and prosecution. ICE called the Hennepin County attorney’s actions “illegal and nothing more than a political ploy.” DHS’s Office of Inspector General, which Moriarty credited with aiding in the arrest, is separate from ICE and is supposed to serve as an oversight body for DHS agencies, including ICE.
Minneapolis last month The video has been released It shows the moments leading up to the shooting of Sosa-Selis, captured from a distance on a city-owned security camera.
The video shows a person standing carrying a snow shovel outside the house, near the street, then retreating towards the house and throwing the shovel into the yard. This occurs when a person being chased by another person runs down the street, falls on the sidewalk, gets up, and continues toward the house.
The three appear to be fighting near the front steps for approximately 10 seconds. The exact moment Sosa-Selis was shot is unclear. A car with flashing lights stops, and another person gets in.
The Trump administration sent thousands of officers to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area as part of President Donald Trump’s national deportation campaign and Operation MetroSurge was considered a success.
But tensions rose during the weeks-long campaign, and American citizens were shot dead Rene is good and Alex Pretty by federal officers sparked mass unrest and raised questions about officers’ conduct.
Minnesota leaders and the Trump administration disagreed over who has the authority to investigate and prosecute federal officers for their on-duty conduct.
Moriarty’s office last month Accused immigration agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. With the assault, he allegedly pointed his gun at people in a car on the highway. He turned himself in last week, and his lawyer rejects the charges.
The county is also investigating the killings of Goodes and Pretty and filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in March to access evidence in those cases and the Sousa Siles shooting.