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ICE Agent Pleads Not Guilty to Lying About Minneapolis Shooting
Confirmed
In Short: Christian Castro, an ICE agent, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of lying to the FBI about a shooting during a deportation crackdown.
Christian Castro, an ICE agent, pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges of lying to the FBI about a shooting that occurred during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis in January.
Castro was accused of shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan delivery driver, through the front door of a Minneapolis home during Operation Metro Surge, part of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts.
According to prosecutors, Castro told investigators that he was attacked by Sosa-Celis and another man, but evidence suggests he fabricated this story to justify the shooting.
Castro's plea came a day after he appeared in state court in Minneapolis to face charges of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and falsely reporting a crime.
The court appearances follow a months-long legal battle to have Castro, who lives in Texas, returned to Minneapolis to face charges.
Castro's defense attorneys have said he plans to plead not guilty to the state charges as well, indicating a prolonged legal battle ahead.
What's confirmed
- – An immigration officer pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he lied to the FBI about being attacked before he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis early this year.
- Castro drove from Texas to Minneapolis on Wednesday to surrender himself, his lawyers said, and spent the night in the Hennepin County jail before being released on bail.
- After the nonfatal shooting on January 14, Castro told investigators that he fired at Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan delivery driver, when Sosa-Celis and another man attacked him in a struggle on the ground.
- “Mr. Castro invented a story to justify shooting through a front door into a house with multiple people in it,” Moriarty told reporters after Thursday’s state court hearing.
- Christian Castro, who has been suspended without pay from his job as a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, is the first federal law enforcement officer to be charged by the US Justice Department with wrongdoing in Operation Metro Surge, which saw thousands of armed, masked agents deployed to Minnesota’s cities last winter.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of lying to the FBI about a January shooting in Minneapolis pleaded not guilty Friday to six federal counts of making materially false statements.
- An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges, alleging he lied to the FBI about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during operations in Minneapolis in January.
- Christian Castro, right, an immigration officer who is accused of shooting a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis early this year and lying to investigators about what happened, leaves with his attorney Daniel Gerdts, left, after a hearing at the Warren E.
What's still developing
- Fox News correspondent Christina Coleman reports from Dallas on a federal judge blocking attempts by Minnesota to extradite ICE agent Christian Castro from Texas.
- Sosa-Celis' shooting was followed by hours of protests and vandalism.
- “His appearance in a Hennepin County courtroom today is a critical step in our efforts to hold him accountable for that shooting.” Friday’s hearing, in U.S.
- Paul, involves the separate federal case in which he is charged with making false statements to investigators regarding the shooting.
- He pleaded not guilty to the six counts of making false statements — one for each lie he allegedly told the FBI.
- Christian Castro, 52, appeared before a US magistrate judge after being indicted on six counts of making false statements about the January 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, the Associated Press reported.
- He’s also not allowed to talk with other ICE agents.
- Prosecutors had recommended 8-14 months of imprisonment, citing Kazmierczak’s guilty plea in May to “one-count indictment, pursuant to a plea agreement” and his prior run-ins with law enforcement.