Feds Charge ICE Agent For Lying To Investigators In Minneapolis Shooting: Report

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Federal prosecutors have charged Christian Castro, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown in January, with lying to investigators about the incident, according to a person familiar with the case who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The person said Castro faces a federal charge of making false statements to investigators in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was hit in the leg when Castro fired through the closed front door of a Minneapolis home during Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement push in the Twin Cities.

The federal charge comes days after Castro walked free from a Texas jail, where he had been held on a Minnesota extradition request.

Gov. Greg Abbott declined to sign the paperwork before a legal deadline forced Castro's release Aug. 27.

Minnesota had charged Castro in Hennepin County District Court with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

Authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and another Venezuelan immigrant of attacking Castro with a broom handle and a snow shovel before he opened fire.

Federal prosecutors dropped those charges after surveillance video appeared to contradict the officers' account, prompting the investigation that led to this week's charge.

The new charge also follows a ProPublica report that Justice Department officials blocked a federal prosecutor's effort to bring a more serious civil rights charge against Castro over the shooting.

The shooting has fueled monthslong tension between Minnesota officials and Texas over Castro's custody.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison pressed Abbott for weeks to sign the extradition papers before Castro's release, and Ellison has said Minnesota will keep pursuing the case.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.