ICE agent charged in Minnesota for shooting of immigrant

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was charged with four counts of assault in the January shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis, prosecutors said Monday.

The ICE agent, Christian Castro, was also charged with falsely reporting a crime in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said.

That shooting occurred a week after another ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis.

Castro, who is not in custody, is the second federal agent to be criminally charged in connection with their conduct during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s controversial immigration-enforcement mission in Minneapolis and elsewhere in Minnesota.

In April, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged ICE agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. with assault for pointing his gun at the heads of two people in another car on Feb. 5 as he tried to pass them while illegally driving in his unmarked SUV on the shoulder of a highway in Minneapolis.

ICE, in a Jan. 15 statement that remains up on the Department of Homeland Security‘s website, said Sosa-Celis was shot 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” during a targeted traffic stop of Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis.

But video of the incident contradicted that claim. And prosecutors later dropped charges against Sosa-Celis and another man in the incident, Alfredo Aljorna, who had each been accused of assault on a federal officer.

Todd Lyons, the then-acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in a statement on Feb. 12 said, “Video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements.”

“Both officers have been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a thorough internal investigation,” Lyons said.

On Monday, in announcing the charges against Castro, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said the 52-year-old ICE agent fired his gun “through the front door of a home knowing there were people who had just run inside.”

“The bullet traveled through the door and struck Mr. Sosa-Celis’s leg, before making its final impact in the wall of a child’s room,” the office said.

“He was outside the house and alone in the front yard when he fired his weapon through the front door of the home,” the office said, contrasting that allegation with the claim by ICE that the agent shot Sosa-Celis after he “got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick.”

“Mr. Castro is an ICE agent. But his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement.

“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.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, in a statement, said, “Nobody is above the law, including ICE agents.”

“The State of Minnesota must hold people accountable for violating the law and for harming Minnesotans,” Ellison said.

“These actions by Minnesota sanctuary politicians are unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” an ICE spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. “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 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.”