Minnesota Shooting Case Intensifies as ICE Officer Faces Felony Assault Counts

A Minnesota Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, Christian Castro, faces four assault charges and a false reporting count related to the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis in January 2025. 

On Monday, May 18, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said that on January 14, ICE agent Christian Castro allegedly shot into a home, hitting Julio Sosa-Celis’s leg, contradicting the federal agency’s initial claim of self-defense during a violent attempt to evade arrest.

The Minnesota incident happened just a week after the fatal shooting of another Minneapolis citizen by ICE, Renee Good. 

ICE’s initial statement about Sosa-Celis’s shooting incident counters the prosecutors’ recent statements. On January 15, an ICE press release claimed in a statement that the agent shot the immigrant after he and two other “criminal illegal aliens…violently assaulted law enforcement with a shovel and broom handle in an attempt to evade arrest and obstruct law enforcement” when Sosa-Celis was at 24th Avenue North in Minneapolis. 

However, video footage from the incident reportedly contradicted ICE’s claim, leading prosecutors to drop the charges against Sosa-Celis and Alfredi Aljorna, another man involved in the incident, who was accused of assaulting a federal officer. 

On Monday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said that Castro had fired his gun “through the front door of a home knowing there were people who had just run inside.”

The office stated that the fired bullet went through the door of the house and struck Sosa-Celis’ leg before it finally hit the wall of a child’s room. 

According to the statement made by the Attorney’s office, the 51-year-old ICE agent Castro was outside the residence and alone when he discharged the bullet through the front door. ICE had earlier claimed that Castro shot Sosa-Celis after he “got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick.”

On February 12, the then-acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, said in a statement that the video evidence from the incident showed that the sworn testimony of two separate ICE agents appeared to be “untruthful statements.”

Lyons shared that both officers were “immediately placed on administrative leave” amid the internal investigation. 

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that being an ICE agent with a federal badge would not make Castro immune to the criminal charges against him. 

“Mr. Castro fired his weapon through the front door of the home while standing alone in the front yard, under no physical threat or duress, and knowing there were people who had just run inside,” Moriarty said.

ICE reportedly condemned the prosecution of Castro. 

A spokesperson for the agency slammed Minnesota politicians and told CNBC that their actions were “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt.”

The spokesperson told the news outlet that the U.S. Attorney’s office is looking into the statements and that upon the completion of their investigation, the officers might face disciplinary action such as employment termination and criminal prosecution.

They added that ICE agents are responsible for upholding the rule of law and that violations of the sworn oath would “not be tolerated.”