ICE agent re-arrested in US after false statement charges
In Texas, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Christian Castro was taken into custody again after a federal grand jury charged him with making false statements in a case involving a shooting in Minnesota. As The Jerusalem Post reports, citing a person familiar with the matter, Castro faces six counts of making false statements to investigators.
Federal charges
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who had previously brought charges against Castro at the state level in Minnesota, confirmed his arrest in Texas. According to her, the agent is to appear before a federal court in Texas, after which a date will be set for his appearance before a federal court in Minnesota.
Castro had previously spent 90 days in a county jail in Texas and was released a week ago. An arrest warrant issued by the state of Minnesota remained in effect. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he would not sign extradition documents sent by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. A federal judge in Texas also denied Minnesota's request to compel Castro's extradition.
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Case involving the wounding of a man
In Minnesota, Castro was charged with assault over the January 14 shooting in the leg of Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. The incident occurred during the intensification of US President Donald Trump's administration's deportation campaign in Minnesota, which was accompanied by weeks of protests.
The state charges also include filing a false crime report. According to the prosecution, Castro told supervisors at the US Department of Homeland Security that Sosa-Celis and other people attacked him with a snow shovel and a broom. The report notes that video evidence contradicts this claim.
The Department of Homeland Security has suspended Castro from work. An investigation into a possible civil rights violation is also ongoing, and no decision has yet been made in the case. Sosa-Celis's attorney, Robin Wolpert, said her client seeks the agent's full accountability and more serious civil rights violation charges. The Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said it would represent Sosa-Celis in his lawsuit against the Trump administration.
