An ICE agent going through a number of assault expenses in reference to a shooting involving two Venezuelan folks in Minnesota earlier this yr has been arrested in Texas, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office stated.
Christian Castro was charged earlier this month with 4 counts of second-degree assault and one rely of falsely reporting a criminal offense. He was arrested Friday morning in Harlingen, Texas, “without incident,” a spokesperson for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension instructed NCS.
NCS is working to find out whether or not Castro has an legal professional. In a press release to NCS, a DHS spokesperson referred to as Castro’s arrest “unlawful” and a “political stunt,” saying the agent’s actions needs to be dealt with on the federal, not state degree.
“Lying under oath is a serious federal offense. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is actively investigating these statements. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face disciplinary action, including termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution,” the DHS spokesperson stated.
“The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct. Violations of this sacred sworn oath will not be tolerated.”
Castro faces these expenses in reference to the January 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, who was shot in the leg by way of the entrance door of a Minneapolis house. The incident happened during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement blitz in the Twin Cities. It’s one in all a number of circumstances in which the US authorities’s account of a shooting involving a federal immigration agent has fallen aside after later scrutiny.
Originally, Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo A. Aljorna had been going through federal expenses after DHS stated they’d attacked an agent, prompting him to fireside a defensive shot.
But the Justice Department dropped the charges in February, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated two of its brokers, who made false statements in regards to the incident below oath, had been positioned on administrative go away.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated he was “pleased” to listen to Castro has been arrested.
“In Minnesota, we believe in equal justice under the law. That means nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government,” Ellison stated in a news release in regards to the arrest.
“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,” Ellison added.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated in response to inquiries in regards to the arrest that, “Our city was invaded, and people were shot. Now it must be clear – nobody is above the law, including ICE.”
Castro has been booked into Texas’ Cameron County Jail on his Minnesota arrest warrant, in accordance with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
His arrest “represents the next step in a long-established legal process, and we will now begin the work necessary to bring Mr. Castro back to Minnesota to face these charges,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans stated in a press release.
The shooting happened amid a flurry of use of drive incidents during Operation Metro Surge, which noticed thousands of federal agents dispatched to the Twin Cities. The operations sparked weeks of protests and prompted lawsuits from each the state and metropolis governments.
Renée Good, a 33-year-old mom of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on January 7. And Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was fatally shot by two DHS officers on January 24. In each these circumstances, the federal government’s unique accounts of the shootings confronted scrutiny as movies and witness accounts emerged.
When information first emerged that an agent had shot Sosa-Celis during an immigration enforcement operation, federal authorities accused the person of attacking an agent with a snow shovel or broom stick.
That account differed from what the lads and their members of the family shared in interviews and movies livestreamed as they made 911 calls. And video captured by a metropolis digicam did not help Castro’s account, prosecutors stated.
The 9 minute video reveals Sosa-Celis outdoors the house with a snow shovel, which he drops when Aljorna arrives and runs in direction of the door. The ICE agent pursues Aljorna, who seemingly slips and falls earlier than there’s a battle on the bottom between the three males.
The battle between the federal agent and the 2 males lasted about 12 seconds, contradicting the agent’s account that he was engaged in a battle for about three minutes earlier than the shooting. No a part of the video reveals anybody attacking Castro with the shovel.
Video reveals what occurred earlier than agent fired.
Sosa-Celis helped his cousin off the bottom and into the house, in accordance with a grievance filed by the state final week. A number of seconds later, Castro bought off the bottom and fired one shot by way of the entrance door, which hit Sosa-Celis in the leg, the grievance says.
The state alleges there have been 4 adults and two youngsters inside the house on the time of the shooting. Prosecutors additionally stated the bullet that struck Sosa-Celis made its ultimate affect in the wall of a kid’s room.
The day after the shooting, DHS claimed in a news release federal brokers had been focusing on Sosa-Celis in a site visitors cease when he tried to evade arrest, crashed right into a parked automotive and tried to flee on foot.
DHS claimed Sosa-Celis and one of many brokers had been in a “struggle on the ground” earlier than Sosa-Celis “got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick,” at which level the officer fired a “defensive shot.”
Aljorna’s legal professional has stated his shopper, not Sosa-Celis, was driving when he realized he was being adopted by ICE brokers. Aljorna drove house, was tackled by an agent however broke free and bumped into the home, the place Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg as he was attempting to lock the door, the legal professional stated.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem described the lads’s actions as “an attempted murder of federal law enforcement.” The company stood by its preliminary assertion just a few days after the shooting when contacted by NCS.
Sosa-Celis and his cousin Aljorna had been charged with assaulting an ICE officer. However, in a surprising reversal, almost a month after the shooting the Justice Department moved to drop the costs in opposition to each males.
The movement to dismiss legal expenses with prejudice, filed in the US District Court of Minnesota, cited “newly discovered evidence” described as “materially inconsistent with the allegations” in the affidavit. ICE additionally issued a press release admitting its federal brokers made “false statements” below oath.
In the same reversal, prosecutors additionally moved to drop expenses final yr in opposition to Marimar Martinez, an American lady shot by a federal agent in her automobile in Chicago. The authorities claimed Martinez had rammed the agent’s automotive a number of instances and DHS referred to as the agent’s pictures “defensive fire.”
But different proof, together with video and textual content messages of the officer bragging in regards to the shooting, bolstered Martinez’s account and a choose dismissed the federal charges in opposition to her.
This story has been up to date with further data.