ICE Agent Arrested After Shooting Venezuelan Man During Minneapolis Raid
Finn's Take· TL;DR- ICE agent Christian Castro arrested in Texas, charged with shooting Venezuelan man Julio Sosa-Celis in leg during Minneapolis immigration raid in January.
- Video evidence contradicted Castro's account of assault with snow shovel; Justice Department dropped federal charges against two men based on his false claims.
- DHS disputes state prosecution, claiming federal jurisdiction; Minnesota AG asserts nobody is above law, setting precedent for federal agent accountability at state level.
Federal Agent Faces State Charges for January Shooting
Christian Castro, a 52-year-old ICE agent charged with shooting a Venezuelan man during a Minneapolis immigration raid, was arrested Friday morning in Texas after Minnesota investigators tracked him down . Castro faces four felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the January 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis.
The arrest took place shortly before 9:30 a.m. at a home in Harlingen, Texas, with Castro subsequently booked into Cameron County Jail to await extradition to Minnesota . Department of Homeland Security agents, Texas Rangers, and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators collaborated on the arrest .
Video Evidence Contradicts Official Account
The charges stem from Castro shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg through the front door of a Minneapolis home during what federal authorities called Operation Metro Surge. Homeland Security initially claimed three people assaulted the ICE officer with a snow shovel and broom handles for three minutes , but video footage released by the City of Minneapolis contradicts that claim, showing no clear evidence of a shovel attack when Castro fired his weapon .
The video shows Sosa-Celis running toward the house but slipping and falling before the ICE agent catches up with him, while another man is seen dropping a snow shovel and going inside the house . The contradictory evidence forced the Justice Department to drop federal charges against the two men in February, which were initially brought based on Castro's account .
Part of Deadly Immigration Crackdown
The shooting occurred amid Operation Metro Surge, which saw thousands of federal agents dispatched to the Twin Cities and sparked weeks of protests and lawsuits from both state and city governments . Sosa-Celis was one of three people shot by federal agents during the immigration crackdown, with the other two victims, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, being fatally shot by ICE officers .
According to the complaint, four adults and two children were inside the home during the shooting, with ICE agents surrounding the residence afterward, deploying tear gas and taking four adults into custody while paramedics were denied access to Sosa-Celis for nearly an hour .
Federal-State Jurisdiction Battle Emerges
The Department of Homeland Security has called Castro's arrest "unlawful" and a "political stunt," arguing the case should be handled at the federal level rather than by state authorities . Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison countered that "nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government" , emphasizing the state's commitment to equal justice.
The arrest sets up a significant legal precedent for how federal immigration enforcement actions are handled when they result in alleged crimes at the state level. As Castro awaits extradition, this case will likely test the boundaries between federal authority and state prosecution powers, particularly as immigration enforcement continues to be a contentious issue across the country.