ICE officer charged with lying about shooting turns himself in: Reports

An immigration officer is facing federal charges for making false statements about the shooting of a Venezuelan migrant during the Trump administration’s deportation crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year, several outlets reported.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Christian Castro was in custody in Texas on Thursday evening after a federal grand jury indicted Castro on six counts making materially false statements to investigators.

The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE for comment.

Castro also faces state assault charges in Minnesota for shooting and wounding Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The state charges also include falsely reporting a crime after Castro allegedly told his superiors at DHS that Sosa-Celis and other people attacked him with a snow shovel and a broom — claims disproven by video evidence.

The federal charges follow the officer’s release last week after spending 90 days in a Texas county jail. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) refused to sign extradition papers requested by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) so he could face charges there.

Mary Moriarty, county attorney for Minnesota’s Hennepin County, said in a statement shared with The Hill that Castro had been arrested again in Texas and said she expected the officer would “appear in federal court” there and eventually in Minnesota.

“Despite Gov. Abbott’s best efforts to shield Mr. Castro, we will see him soon,” she added.

Castro is the first federal immigration officer to be prosecuted by the Justice Department for actions related to the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota earlier this year.

The massive immigration crackdown effort, in which thousands of federal troops were deployed to the Twin Cities, sparked controversy after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Robin Wolpert, an attorney for Sosa-Celis, told The Associated Press in a statement that the Justice Department “grossly undercharged this case,” following ProPublica’s reporting earlier this week that found department officials reportedly blocked a prosecutor’s push to bring more serious charges against Castro.

“Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes,” Wolpert said, according to the AP.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said in a statement Thursday that it will represent Sosa-Celis in his lawsuit against the Trump administration, in which he will seek damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

“Today’s indictment is not enough,” the group’s deputy legal director, Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, said in a statement. “Julio was shot by Christian Castro, arrested, and falsely prosecuted.”

“The enormity of what happened to him is so great, and such an egregious violation of his fundamental rights, that he can never be made whole,” she continued. “We must demand that our system do better to hold these federal agents accountable to him, and to all of us, and that is why we are bringing this administrative claim on his behalf.”