A federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was arrested in Minneapolis on Wednesday on charges including assault and false reporting of a crime, stemming from a January shooting incident during a high-profile immigration enforcement operation in the city. Christian Castro, the ICE officer, was taken into custody by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and booked into the Hennepin County jail on an outstanding arrest warrant.
The case revolves around a confrontation on January 14 when Castro shot and wounded Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national, in the leg through the door of his apartment while children were inside. The shooting occurred during Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale ICE deployment tied to former President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which sparked weeks of protests and violent clashes between ICE agents and demonstrators in Minneapolis.
Castro faces state assault charges in Minnesota, as well as allegations that he filed a false report claiming that Sosa-Celis and others had attacked him with a snow shovel and broom. Video evidence has contradicted Castro’s account. These are the first charges brought by the Department of Justice against a federal law enforcement officer connected to the Minneapolis operation.
Earlier attempts to apprehend Castro were complicated after he returned to Texas. Minnesota officials issued an arrest warrant, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott declined to sign extradition papers requested by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, citing questions about whether Castro could be classified as a fugitive since he had been reassigned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to Texas following the shooting. Castro spent about 90 days in a Texas jail before being released on bond in late August after a federal judge denied Minnesota’s request for immediate extradition.
Following a federal grand jury indictment in early September accusing Castro of making false statements to investigators, he was re-arrested in Texas. Under an agreement with Minnesota authorities, Castro voluntarily traveled to Minneapolis to surrender but was arrested just before arriving.
Castro is expected to appear in Minneapolis state court on Thursday and then in federal court in St. Paul on Friday to face the charges laid out in the indictment.
DHS has suspended Castro from his duties at ICE while a civil rights investigation into the shooting remains open. Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County Attorney who is prosecuting the state case, stated that Governor Abbott’s effort to protect Castro from accountability had failed and expressed readiness to proceed with the prosecution.
Castro’s defense lawyers maintain that he always intended to face the charges in Minneapolis and reject claims that he might flee to Mexico. The developments mark a significant legal step amid ongoing scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement tactics employed during the Trump administration.