‘Dozens of false statements’: Minnesota prosecutors say DHS lied about a shovel attack to cover for ICE agent who shot immigrant

A Minnesota ICE agent has been criminally charged with second-degree assault and falsely reporting a crime after shooting a man and then lying about what happened, prosecutors say. Christian Castro, 52, faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

According to Law and Crime, the incident happened outside a Minneapolis duplex on January 14, at around 7 p.m. Julio Sosa-Celis, 24, was shot in the leg. The next day, the Trump administration put out a press release claiming that federal law enforcement officers were ambushed and attacked by three Venezuelan immigrants. But county law enforcement says that story was completely made up.

The federal account stated that the three Venezuelan immigrants started the violence. “The law enforcement officer pursued Sosa-Celis also on foot, caught up to him, and attempted to apprehend him when Sosa-Celis began to resist and violently assault the officer,” the federal account reads.

The federal account of the shovel attack has been directly contradicted by county prosecutors

“While Sosa-Celis and law enforcement were in a struggle on the ground, two subjects came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.”

Hennepin County prosecutors say the federal account was fabricated. They say Castro fired through the front door of the home “knowing there were people who had just run inside.” “Mr. Castro was not hit with any shovels, brooms, or weapons of any kind at any time during this incident,” county law enforcement says. “He was outside the house and alone in the front yard when he fired his weapon through the front door of the home.”

Minneapolis-area officials also took issue with the DHS press release still being online, saying the federal government’s messaging contained “dozens of false statements.” The incident happened near the height of “Operation Metro Surge,” when thousands of ICE and other immigration agents were sweeping the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in a large immigration roundup. 

This was part of a broader wave of aggressive ICE activity in the region, including incidents where ICE used force against elderly Minneapolis residents during enforcement operations. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty made clear that state law applies to federal agents who break it. 

“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 when announcing the charges. “Mr. Castro is an ICE agent. But his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota.”

The county says it expects the Trump administration to try to move the case to federal court, and says it is ready for that. If the case is removed, the state will pursue it with help from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. 

As ICE enforcement continues to expand, many people have also been looking into how distance rules affect ICE arrests and what rights individuals may have during encounters with agents.

Attorney General Keith Ellison expressed support for the charges, saying, “Nobody is above the law, including ICE agents. The State of Minnesota must hold people accountable for violating the law and for harming Minnesotans. I support the filing of these charges, and I am working closely with Hennepin County Attorney Moriarty to ensure we reach a just outcome here.”