ICE agent arrested over shooting of Venezuelan man in Minnesota

Christian Castro, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, was arrested in Texas after Minnesota prosecutors charged him with assault and falsely reporting a crime. The arrest followed a January 14 non-fatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis. Prosecutors said Castro fired through a home’s front door and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh after officers chased another man to the apartment duplex where Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna lived. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were legally residing in the United States. Federal authorities initially accused them of assaulting an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel, but a federal judge dismissed the charges. ICE and the Justice Department investigated whether officers lied about the incident, and Castro became the second federal agent charged in the crackdown known as Operation Metro Surge.

"Christian Castro, of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, was taken into custody 11 days after Minneapolis prosecutors charged him with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the 14 January non-fatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Hennepin county prosecutors in Minnesota said the state's bureau of criminal apprehension located Castro, 52, in Texas and worked with agents from the inspector general's office of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Texas Rangers to arrest him."

"According to prosecutors, Castro fired through a home's front door and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh after Castro and another officer chased a different man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, to the Minneapolis apartment duplex where he and Sosa-Celis lived. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were legally residing in the US, Moriarty said."

"Federal authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel. A federal judge later dismissed the charges, and ICE and the justice department opened an investigation into whether officers lied about what happened. In a statement after the charges were announced, ICE said the US attorney's office was investigating statements made by offic"

"Castro is the second federal agent to be charged over their conduct during the Minnesota crackdown, which was known as Operation Metro Surge. He is one of two agents that ICE's director, Todd Lyons, said lied about the circumstances of the incident. Today's arrest is a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr Castro, the Hennepin county attorney, Mary Moriarty, said."

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