ICE agent charged in shooting of Venezuelan immigrant during Operation Metro Surge arrested in Texas

MINNEAPOLIS — The ICE agent charged with shooting a Venezuelan immigrant in north Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge and lying about the circumstances has been arrested in Texas after Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents tracked him there.

Christian Castro, 52, was taken into custody Friday by Texas Rangers and agents with the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General. They executed the nationwide arrest warrant issued for Castro by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office last week.

The BCA agents who tracked Castro to Texas lacked the jurisdictional authority to detain him, but were present when he was taken into custody. Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime for his actions during and after the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis on Jan. 14.

“Today’s arrest is a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr. Castro,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “The BCA’s investigative work was instrumental in this process and we’re grateful for their collaboration as we pursue accountability for this incident on behalf of Mr. Sosa-Celis, his family, and our community.”

If Castro does not surrender willingly to Minnesota, he would need to be extradited on a warrant issued by Gov. Tim Walz. In accordance with the extradition clause of the U.S. Constitution, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott would have to decide whether to enforce that warrant and could order his Secretary of State, the Texas Attorney General or local law enforcement to “investigate or assist in investigating the demand.”

The shooting of Sosa-Celis came exactly one week after Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross and set off another round of intense protests amid the largest immigration enforcement action in U.S. history.

Sosa-Celis and his roommate, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, were initially charged with assaulting a federal officer as Trump administration officials widely publicized their mug shots; former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused them of an act of “attempted murder.” The charges were later dropped when video evidence directly contradicted the story given by federal officers.

When Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the charges against Castro, the Department of Homeland Security referred to it as an unlawful “political stunt.”

But a DHS spokesperson also said the U.S. Attorney’s Office is currently investigating Castro and other agents over lying under oath about the shooting of Sosa-Celis and the officers may face disciplinary action “including termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution” once the investigation is complete.

“In Minnesota, we believe in equal justice under the law. That means nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government,” Ellison said in a statement Friday. “I am pleased to hear Christian Castro has been taken into custody and will stand trial for the crimes he allegedly committed in Minnesota. Justice demands no less.”

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, former Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Sosa-Celis and Aljorna “began to resist and violently assault the officer” and that Castro — whom they never identified — fired a defensive shot while on the ground because he feared for his life.

Moriarty said before announcing charges that the only medical treatment Castro received was for an abrasion on his hand and that the investigation showed Castro was standing when he fired the shot.

“His narrative about what he said happened before, like he was hit with a shovel and broom and all of that, in the head multiple times; they did a thorough examination including X-rays” at a medical facility, Moriarty said. “There’s no demonstrable trauma to his body, except for an abrasion to his left hand at the base of the thumb.”

That initial narrative of the shooting, provided by Castro and another ICE agent and amplified by the Trump administration, came undone when city security footage of the shooting was turned over to the BCA.

The video evidence showed Aljorna racing to the house after he crashed his car into a light pole. Castro pursued him. Sosa-Celis was waiting outside. There was a brief scramble in the yard as the three men were entangled. A snow shovel and broom were near the area, but there was no indication they were used as weapons.

“He was not hit at all,” Moriarty said last week. “His own boss, ICE director Todd Lyons, acknowledged that two ICE agents lied in the aftermath of this incident. Mr. Castro was one of them.”

The shooting prompted a standoff between protesters and federal agents while local police tried to ease tensions and get Sosa-Celis medical aid. ICE agents ultimately broke down the door and detained several people inside. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were charged federally. Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, a third man who lived in a different part of the duplex and had nothing to do with the situation, was publicly identified as attacking the officer and sent to Texas. He was detained for weeks without charges.

Two women in the home, who had no criminal record and were never accused of a crime, were shackled and sent to a Texas detention facility where they remained for two weeks, separated from their two small children.

Castro is the second ICE agent to face prosecution from Moriarty’s office. Last week, ICE agent Gregory Morgan Jr. turned himself in on second-degree assault charges for allegedly pointing a gun at two motorists during a traffic altercation during Operation Metro Surge.

He was released on $100,000 bail as his case proceeds through court.