ICE officer charged with assault in shooting during Minneapolis immigration crackdown

By Whitney Wild, CNN

(CNN) — An ICE agent is facing several assault charges in connection with a January shooting involving two Venezuelan immigrants in Minnesota, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

The federal agent, Christian Castro, has been charged with four counts of second degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, Moriarty said at a news conference Monday.

CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

CNN is working to determine whether Castro has an attorney.

Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was shot by a federal agent during the January incident, and his cousin Alfredo A. Aljorna were facing federal charges after the Department of Homeland Security said they had violently attacked an agent, prompting him to fire a defensive shot. But the Justice Department dropped the charges in February, and ICE said two of its agents who made false statements about the incident under oath were placed on administrative leave.

Moriarty said Castro was never under threat during the incident, adding he was not hit by a shovel, a broom or another object.

In its initial account from January 15, DHS said federal agents were targeting Sosa-Celis in a traffic stop when he fled first in his vehicle and then on foot resisting and violently assaulting the officer trying to apprehend him.

The agency claimed two other men, including Aljorna, came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the agent. All three men struck the agent with a snow shovel or broom handle during the incident, the statement said, before the agent fired “a defensive shot to defend his life.”

But the next day, the DOJ offered a different account in a filing supporting criminal charges against the men, saying Aljorna was driving the vehicle agents were pursuing. Aljorna fled from the car, and he and Sosa-Celis struck the agent with a shovel or broom, the affidavit said.

In a stunning reversal, the Justice Department filed a motion in February seeking to drop criminal charges against the two Venezuelan men. In it, the DOJ said federal prosecutors provided incorrect information to the court, while ICE issued a statement admitting its federal agents made “false statements” under oath.

The two federal agents involved were placed on administrative leave while the Justice Department investigates their “untruthful statements,” which were revealed by a review of video evidence, then ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement at the time.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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