ICE agent charged over false statements about Venezuelan’s shooting in Minnesota
Federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Cristian Castro has been charged with making false statements regarding the shooting of a Venezuelan migrant in Minnesota in January. As BBC News reports, citing CBS, a federal indictment contains six counts related to the January 14 shooting. According to the BBC, Castro is currently not in custody.
Accounts of the shooting
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security initially said that Castro opened fire in self-defense after three Venezuelan migrants allegedly attacked him with a shovel and a broom handle. Minnesota investigators, however, claim that the agent fired through the closed front door of a house and wounded a man in the leg.
Minnesota officials said Castro used his weapon knowing that people had just run into the house. According to them, the bullet passed through the door, wounded one person in the leg and struck the wall of a child’s bedroom.
Federal and state cases
In Minnesota, Castro has also been separately charged with assault and making a false report of a crime. Federal prosecutors launched an investigation after surveillance camera footage emerged that cast doubt on the agents’ account of the incident.
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In February, ICE said that two immigration agents may have made false statements about the shooting, after which they were placed on administrative leave. Earlier, Alfredo Alejandro Llorni and Julio Cesar Sosi-Celis, who survived the leg wound, were charged with violently assaulting federal officials, resisting them or obstructing their work. Those charges were later dropped; according to CBS, prosecutors cited newly discovered evidence.
Castro was detained in Texas in May, where he spent three months in custody. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sought the agent’s extradition for trial, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott refused, citing serious doubts as to whether Castro could be considered a fugitive. The agent was released from custody in Texas last week.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison welcomed the federal charges but said they do not reflect the full severity of the crimes Castro is accused of in the state. According to Ellison’s office, the Minnesota proceedings will continue regardless of the federal case.
