Christian Castro, an ICE agent, was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the January 14 shooting of Julio César Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis, Minnesota [1, 2, 3]. Castro, aged 52 or 53, fired through the front door of a home, knowing occupants had fled inside, injuring Sosa-Celis in the leg [1, 3, 2].
Sosa-Celis and another man, Alfredo Aljorna, were legally in the U.S. and initially accused of assaulting officers during the raid. Those charges were later dropped [1, 3]. Video footage released by Minneapolis authorities contradicted ICE’s initial account of the incident, revealing discrepancies [1, 3]. Todd Lyons, acting ICE director, said, "Video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements." Both officers involved were placed on administrative leave pending investigations [3].
The U.S. Attorney's Office said that federal investigations were launched after two federal officers appeared to have lied under oath about the shooting [1, 2, 3]. Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County attorney, said, "There’s no modern precedent for what happened to the people here in Minnesota. So it requires a lot of us to dig in and look at ways to hold people accountable that we probably never thought we would be looking at in our careers" [1].
Castro is the second federal agent charged in connection with Operation Metro Surge, a large immigration enforcement effort under former President Trump’s administration described as the largest ever [1, 2, 3]. In April, another ICE agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., was charged with assault for a separate incident during the same operation [3].
An ICE spokesperson called the charges against Castro "unlawful and a political stunt" and emphasized that "lying under oath is a serious federal offence and federal prosecutors are actively investigating these statements" [2]. The Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment [1].
The charges against Christian Castro were formally announced on May 18, 2026, marking a significant legal step two months after the shooting incident [1, 2, 3].
