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ICE officer charged in Minnesota with four counts of assault after shooting Venezuelan immigrant in Minnesota
A Minnesota prosecutor accused the ICE officer who shot a Venezuelan man of lying about this incident and was charged on Monday with assault and falsely reporting a crime. Subscribe to read the story ad free
Get unlimited content and ad free articles. Minnesota prosecutors revealed Monday afternoon that Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Christian Castro was charged in January with four counts of assault of the second degree and a false reporting of a crime. This occurred during an attempt to arrest immigrants. The charges accuse Castro shooting through the front of a home “with the intention to cause immediate bodily injury or death to the adults who were inside the door,” Hennepin county attorney Mary Moriarty told a press conference on Monday. She said that there was a warrant out for his arrest.
“Mr. Castro fired his service gun at the front of the house, knowing that people had just entered the home and posed no threat to him. The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to a request for comments on the charges.
According the authorities, ICE officers confronted Sosa Celis, a Venezuelan, and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna during an immigration enforcement action near Sosa Celis’ home on the night Jan. 14. Authorities said Sosa-Celis had been shot in the leg. Moriarty stated that both men were present in Minnesota “lawfully,” and that this was “a case of mistaken identification.” the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis Police officers stand in tear gas on the scene of an alleged shooting in Minneapolis, Jan. 14. Adam Gray / AP FILE
According to the original statement of the police department, the shooting took place after Sosa -Celis & Aljorna allegedly assaulted the officer using a shovel & broom. The charges against them were dismissed with prejudice when Minnesota prosecutors found that new evidence was “materially incongruent” with the accusations made against them.
The video released by the agency in February and March appeared to contradict its account. One man is shown holding a shovel, before dropping it. A second man then runs towards the home with no shovel. The officer tackles the man. In mid-February acting ICE director Todd Lyons stated that a review video evidence revealed two officers “appeared to have made untruthful statement” in sworn testimonies. Lyons stated that both officers were placed on leave administratively pending the conclusion of an investigation. He added that a joint review of video evidence by ICE (ICE) and the Department of Justice(DOJ) revealed that sworn testimonies provided by two officers appeared to have made false statements. He said that if the investigation is successful, the officers could be terminated from their jobs and face criminal prosecution. Moriarty stated at the press conference that Castro was “not under any physical threats when he fired his gun, or even before.”
Moriarty also said that Castro “wasn’t under any threat physically when he shot his weapon or even beforehand.” She stated that Castro was not even hit.
, who was a part of
, was charged with felony assault in the second degree with a dangerous weapons last month. Moriarty reported in April that Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. had been accused of pointing a weapon at the heads of 2 civilians in a vehicle.
