MINNEAPOLIS — Christian Castro, the ICE deportation officer charged by Minnesota with assault and false reporting after the January shooting of Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, was booked into the Hennepin County jail Wednesday. After months of Texas-sized legal foot-dragging, the guy accused of firing through a Minneapolis home’s front door is finally facing the state case. Revolutionary stuff: alleged misconduct by a federal agent may actually reach a courtroom.
Reuters reported that Castro’s lawyer called the surrender planned and voluntary; Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety disputed that account, saying he was arrested. Either way, he landed in custody in Minneapolis, which is more progress than the whole affair managed for most of the summer. Reuters reporting and Minnesota Star Tribune reporting.
The state charges allege Castro fired a round through the door as people entered the duplex, wounding Sosa-Celis in the leg; Hennepin County says the bullet continued into the wall of a child’s room. Castro is presumed innocent. Separately, a federal grand jury indicted him on six counts alleging materially false statements to the FBI about the shooting. The Justice Department says additional charges have not been ruled out. Hennepin County Attorney’s Office; U.S. Department of Justice.
Castro is expected in Hennepin County court Thursday and federal court in St. Paul on Friday, according to Reuters. So, put down the Michelob and mark the calendar: one of the rare occasions when the phrase “nobody is above the law” is getting at least a test drive instead of sitting on cinder blocks behind the nonexistent Winchester McDonald’s.
Sources
- https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/ice-agent-charged-assault-lying-012528271.html
- https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-officers-arrest-ice-agent-wanted-in-operation-metro-surge-shooting/601890584
- https://www.hennepinattorney.org/news/news/2026/May/castro-arrested
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/christian-castro-indicted-grand-jury-making-false-statements
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Featured image: Hennepin County Government Center 2018.jpg by McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
