An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was charged Monday in relation to the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man during immigration operations in Minnesota earlier this year.
Officer Christian Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.
“Mr. Castro is an ICE agent, but his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota,” Moriarty said, adding that Sosa-Celis never posed a threat. “There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal officers who commit crimes in this state or any other.”
On Jan. 14, Castro allegedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the thigh while pursuing another man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna. Both men were in the country illegally.
The shooting occurred “through the door of a home with many people, including children, inside, while fortunately missing several others,” Moriarty said.
After the shooting, federal authorities accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating an ICE officer with a broomstick or a snow shovel during the incident, but those charges were later dropped after an investigation into whether the agents lied about the incident.
Both officers were put on administrative leave after the judge dismissed the claim.
“Both officers have been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a thorough internal investigation,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said. “Lying under oath is a serious federal offense.”
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The incident happened during Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale effort by the Department of Homeland Security to deport illegal immigrants from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area.
Just weeks before Sosa-Celis’s shooting, federal immigration agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, sparking outrage and protests across the cities and surrounding areas.