ICE officer pleads not guilty to federal charges that he lied to the FBI about a nonfatal Minneapolis shooting during this year’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.
Christian Castro, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, entered the plea Friday before a U.S. magistrate judge in St. Paul. Prosecutors indicted him this month on six federal counts of making false statements tied to the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan man.
Castro, dressed in a black suit with a visible ankle monitor, spoke little during the hearing. ICE previously suspended him without pay. His appearance in federal court came a day after he was released from custody following a state court appearance on assault charges. Defense attorney Daniel Gerdts declined to comment as he left the courthouse.
The court proceedings capped months of legal wrangling over whether Castro, 52, would be extradited from Texas, where he lives, to face charges in Minnesota. After being released from a Texas jail last month, he returned to Minnesota on his own.
ICE officer pleads not guilty amid political spotlight
The case has drawn national political attention. Minnesota has often been a target of former President Donald Trump, who has criticized Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, at times linked his refusal to sign Castro’s extradition warrant to ongoing investigations into large-scale fraud in Minnesota social service programs, which Trump cited to justify the immigration crackdown.
In both the federal and state cases, prosecutors allege Castro fired through the front door of a Minneapolis home, striking the 24-year-old Sosa-Celis in the leg. Authorities say Castro later falsely told investigators he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before firing his weapon.
Minnesota prosecutors filed state charges in May but were unable to secure Castro’s extradition from Texas after his arrest there. Officials warned he might flee across the U.S.-Mexico border after his release from a Texas jail, and he later surrendered to federal authorities. A separate federal indictment followed in U.S. District Court earlier this month.
This marks the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions during this year’s Operation Metro Surge, which deployed thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and spurred large protests, arrests, and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.
At an earlier federal hearing in Texas, a judge released Castro on a $75,000 bond and ordered him to wear a GPS ankle monitor. He was also required to surrender his passport and any personal firearms.
Minnesota officials have disputed with the Trump administration over which authorities should handle potential charges against Castro. The Department of Homeland Security has called the state’s prosecution “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” asserting that only federal authorities have jurisdiction.
Authorities, including the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, arrested Castro in Texas on May 29 after a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant. While Minnesota sought extradition during his Texas detention, Abbott declined to sign the extradition warrant.
