ICE Agent Arrested in Texas After Minneapolis Shooting Charges

Federal Agent Faces Multiple Assault Charges

A federal immigration agent who shot a Venezuelan man through a Minneapolis home's front door has been arrested in Texas, marking a dramatic escalation in a case that has exposed contradictions between federal and state law enforcement priorities. Christian Castro was charged earlier this month with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime , and was arrested Friday morning in Harlingen, Texas, "without incident."

On Jan. 14, amid Operation Metro Surge, 52-year-old Christian Castro shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national , during what federal authorities initially described as a justified use of force. However, video evidence and witness accounts contradicted the original federal claims that Julio Sosa-Celis and his cousin had attacked the agent with a shovel , leading to state charges against the federal officer.

The arrest represents a rare instance of state prosecutors successfully pursuing charges against a federal agent, despite fierce opposition from the Department of Homeland Security. The charges triggered a nationwide warrant for Castro's arrest, and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators tracked him down in Texas earlier this week. He was taken into custody by Department of Homeland Security agents and Texas Rangers.

Conflicting Accounts and Video Evidence

The shooting occurred during a federal immigration crackdown that brought thousands of federal agents to Minnesota. According to the charges, the incident in north Minneapolis started when ICE agents in an unmarked car started chasing a man driving for DoorDash who lived in a home with Sosa-Celis. The complaint says the man tried to run inside the home on North Sixth Street and North 24th Avenue.

Charges say that Sosa-Celis and the other man made it inside the home and were trying to shut the door when Castro fired through it. Six people, including two children, were inside at the time. The bullet's path was particularly concerning to investigators. Investigators recovered a 9mm shell casing outside the home and documented a bullet trajectory traveling through the front door and multiple interior walls before lodging in a child's bedroom wall.

Castro's version of events, as detailed in an FBI affidavit, describes three men beating him with a shovel and a broom. Despite claiming to be outnumbered three to one and enduring the assault "for about three minutes … exhausted, alone, on the ground, and in fear of his safety," Castro said he adeptly blocked most of their blows to avoid injury. However, the complaint, citing medical records, states Castro "suffered no demonstrable trauma to his body except for an abrasion to his left hand at the base of his thumb."

Federal-State Legal Battle

The Department of Homeland Security called the arrest "unlawful" and a "political stunt" while saying the agent's actions should be handled by federal authorities. The federal agency has maintained its position that this case belongs in federal court, not state court, creating a jurisdictional dispute that could have broader implications for how federal agents are held accountable.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a news release about the arrest: "That means nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government. Christian Castro's alleged shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis appears unwarranted, as evidenced by the lies Castro told his ICE supervisors to justify his unlawful actions." Federal charges against Sosa-Celis and his roommate, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, were dismissed with prejudice after government prosecutors said "newly discovered evidence" clashed with the accounts of two ICE agents involved.

Broader Implications for Federal Accountability

This case emerges from a period of intense federal immigration enforcement that brought unprecedented scrutiny to agent conduct. The shooting happened a week after Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in south Minneapolis. Thousands of federal law enforcement officers had descended upon Minnesota at the time as part of an immigration crackdown.

The successful pursuit of state charges against a federal agent could set a precedent for how future cases involving federal law enforcement misconduct are handled. As Castro awaits extradition to Minnesota, the case will test whether state prosecutors can effectively hold federal agents accountable when federal authorities are reluctant to act. The outcome may influence how similar incidents are prosecuted nationwide, particularly as immigration enforcement continues to be a contentious issue across the country.