An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he lied to the FBI about being attacked before he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year.
ICE officer Christian Castro appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge after prosecutors indicted him this month on six federal counts of making false statements about the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Castro, who was suspended without pay by ICE earlier this year, was seen with an electronic monitor on his ankle during the hearing.
The federal proceedings followed months of legal disputes over Castro's extradition from Texas, his home state, to face charges in Minnesota. He returned to Minnesota voluntarily after being released from a Texas jail last month.
The case became entangled in national politics, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, at times tying his refusal to sign Castro's extradition warrant to ongoing investigations of fraud in Minnesota's government social service programs. Former President Donald Trump used these fraud investigations to justify the crackdown.
Prosecutors allege that Castro shot 24-year-old Sosa-Celis in the leg while firing through the front door of a Minneapolis home. They further allege that Castro later lied to investigators, claiming he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before discharging his firearm.
Minnesota prosecutors initially charged Castro in May but faced obstacles in extraditing him from Texas, where he had been arrested. He surrendered to federal authorities after concerns were raised that he might flee across the U.S.-Mexico border following his release from a Texas jail. He was subsequently indicted in U.S. District Court.
This marks the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during Operation Metro Surge, an operation that brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and resulted in protests, arrests, and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.
During an earlier hearing in Texas, Castro was released on a $75,000 bond and ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor, surrender his passport, and relinquish any personal firearms. Minnesota authorities and the Department of Homeland Security had clashed over jurisdiction, with DHS calling Minnesota's prosecution of Castro "unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt."
Castro was arrested in Texas on May 29 by Minnesota authorities, including the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, after a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant. Abbott ultimately refused to sign an extradition warrant for Castro.