ICE officer charged in Minnesota shooting of Venezuelan man

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer has been charged in Minnesota after prosecutors accused him of shooting a Venezuelan man during an attempted immigration arrest and then providing a false account of the incident.

Christian Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the January 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, authorities announced. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said a nationwide warrant has been issued for his arrest.

According to prosecutors, Castro fired his weapon through the front door of a residence as Sosa-Celis and others ran inside. “Mr. Castro fired his service weapon at the front door of the home, knowing there were people who had just run inside that presented absolutely no threat to him or anyone else,” Moriarty said. The bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg and continued into a child’s bedroom.

The incident occurred when ICE officers confronted Sosa-Celis and another Venezuelan man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, near their home. Moriarty said both men were in Minnesota “lawfully” and described the case as “a case of mistaken identity.”

The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed the men attacked the officer with a shovel and broom. They were charged with assault, but those charges were later dismissed with prejudice after prosecutors said new evidence was “materially inconsistent with the allegations.”

Video footage released in February and April appeared to contradict the original account, showing one man dropping a shovel and another running unarmed before an officer tackled one of them.

In mid-February, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said video review indicated two officers appeared “to have made untruthful statements” under oath. “Lying under oath is a serious federal offence,” he said, adding they could face termination and prosecution.

Moriarty stressed Castro “was not under any physical threat… He was not hit at all.”

The case comes amid broader scrutiny of federal immigration operations in Minnesota, including a separate assault charge against another ICE agent and public backlash following the fatal shootings of two US citizens during the enforcement campaign.

By Tamilla Hasanova