ICE Officer Freed on Bond in Minneapolis Shooting
ICE Officer Freed on Bond in Minneapolis Shooting
The News
ICE officer Christian Castro was released from federal custody Friday after a court appearance in McAllen, Texas, on charges that he lied to investigators about the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis.
A federal magistrate ordered Castro released on a $75,000 unsecured bond with a GPS ankle monitor. He was shackled at the wrists, waist and feet during the brief hearing, according to The Associated Press.
His attorneys, David A. Lindenmuth and Rolando Cantu, said Castro intends to plead not guilty.
The Charges
The indictment accuses Castro of falsely telling an FBI agent that a man grabbed a red broom off a front porch and beat him with it, and that another man hit him with a snow shovel, before he opened fire from the ground as the men fled.
Prosecutors say none of that happened. “No person struck” Castro “with a broom as he described, and no persons wielded the broom and snow shovel as he described,” the indictment says.
According to the indictment, Castro had a short “physical interaction” with Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and another man outside a Minneapolis home. The two ran inside a house where a 1-year-old child was present, and Castro fired a shot through the front door while standing as they tried to close it, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg.
Timeline
Castro shoots and wounds Sosa-Celis outside a Minneapolis home during Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration crackdown that brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities.
Federal prosecutors charge Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna with assault, then drop the charges after video evidence indicates the officer may have lied about the encounter.
ICE suspends Castro while the investigation proceeds.
Castro is released from jail after Texas’ governor declines to immediately sign an extradition warrant handing him to Minnesota authorities, which had separately charged him with assault and false reporting of a crime.
Castro turns himself in to federal authorities Thursday evening on the federal indictment.
A judge in McAllen releases him on a $75,000 unsecured bond with GPS monitoring and orders him to appear in federal court in Minnesota on Sept. 18.
Reactions
Lindenmuth urged the public not to rush to judgment and to let his client “have his day in court,” noting that Castro served in the military before becoming a federal immigration officer.
“His life has been that of public service to our country and to our nation, either through its military or protecting its borders and enforcing its laws,” Lindenmuth said after the hearing.
Sosa-Celis’ attorney, Robin Wolpert, is pressing for stiffer charges, saying Castro’s statements were made to “cover up the fact that he shot my client through the door of an occupied house without a self-defense justification.”
“Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes,” Wolpert said. The ACLU of Minnesota said Sosa-Celis also plans to seek damages from the federal government.
What's Next
Castro is due in federal court in Minnesota on Sept. 18, where his lawyers say he will enter a not-guilty plea.
He still faces the separate Minnesota state charges of assault and false reporting of a crime, which mirror the federal allegations.
A person familiar with the investigation told the AP that the civil rights probe is continuing and that additional charges could still be brought.
More
This is the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during Operation Metro Surge, the crackdown that drew sweeping protests and arrests in the Twin Cities and included the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.
The case has caused turmoil inside the Justice Department. In an email obtained by ProPublica, the line prosecutor told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and others that Castro would be charged only with making false statements over his “strongest objections,” and that the decision was “being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney.”
That prosecutor, Matthew Evans, has since been fired, and the Justice Department is now investigating whether he broke any laws in handling the case, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to the AP anonymously. An automatic reply from Evans’ department account said he was on leave.
Poll
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