{"slug":"ice-officer-castro-indicted-sosa-celis-shooting","title":"ICE Officer Christian Castro Indicted for Lying About Shooting Venezuelan Man Through a Closed Door in Minneapolis","date":"2026-01-14","lastUpdated":"2026-09-18","description":"On January 14, 2026, during Operation Metro Surge, ICE officer Christian Castro chased a DoorDash driver to his north Minneapolis duplex and fired a shot through the closed front door, hitting the driver's roommate, Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in the leg. Federal prosecutors charged Sosa-Celis and the driver with assaulting Castro with a shovel and broom handle. Those charges were dropped after surveillance video contradicted the officers' account. In May 2026 Hennepin County charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. On September 3, 2026, a federal grand jury indicted him on six counts of making false statements to the FBI, the first Justice Department prosecution of an officer for conduct during the Minneapolis surge. The federal case does not include a civil rights charge; a federal prosecutor who had reportedly told the victim's lawyers that DOJ officials blocked one was fired as the indictment became public.","summary":"An ICE officer shot a Venezuelan man through a closed door during the Minneapolis enforcement surge, then claimed he had been beaten with a shovel. The victims were charged, but those charges were dropped when video contradicted him. The officer now faces state assault charges and a six-count federal indictment for lying to the FBI. A federal prosecutor who reportedly said DOJ blocked a civil rights charge was fired.","category":"civil-rights","severity":"severe","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://abcnews.com/US/ice-agent-charged-nonfatal-shooting-venezuelan-immigrant-minneapolis/story?id=133080644","title":"ICE agent charged in nonfatal shooting of Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis","publisher":"ABC News"},{"url":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/minnesota-county-charges-ice-officer-in-shooting-during-immigration-crackdown","title":"Minnesota county charges ICE officer in shooting during immigration crackdown","publisher":"PBS NewsHour"},{"url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-prosecutors-charge-ice-officer-lying-investigators-shooting-ve-rcna595975","title":"Feds charge ICE officer with lying to investigators in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant","publisher":"NBC News"},{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/ice-officer-christian-castro-pleads-not-guilty-lying-to-fbi-minneapolis-shooting/","title":"ICE officer Christian Castro pleads not guilty to lying to FBI about Minneapolis shooting of Venezuelan man","publisher":"CBS Minnesota"},{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/ice-agent-christian-castro-minneapolis-shooting-unsealed-indictment/","title":"Unsealed federal indictment details alleged lies by ICE officer charged in Minneapolis shooting","publisher":"CBS Minnesota"},{"url":"https://newrepublic.com/post/215545/ice-officer-arrested-assault-shooting-lying-investigators","title":"ICE Officer Accused of Shooting Someone in Minneapolis Is Arrested","publisher":"The New Republic"},{"url":"https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/07/13/feds-have-turned-over-evidence-in-good-pretti-sosacelis-shootings","title":"Feds have turned over evidence in Good, Pretti, Sosa-Celis shootings","publisher":"MPR News"},{"url":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/minnesota-prosecutors-obtain-long-withheld-evidence-in-probe-into-fatal-shootings-of-good-pretti","title":"Minnesota prosecutors obtain long-withheld evidence in probe into fatal shootings of Good, Pretti","publisher":"PBS NewsHour"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["ICE","Operation Metro Surge","Minneapolis","use of force","false statements","police accountability","Christian Castro"],"relatedEntries":["ice-killing-renee-good","ice-killing-alex-pretti","minneapolis-anti-ice-protester-prosecutions"],"timeline":[{"date":"2026-01-14","title":"Castro shoots Sosa-Celis through a closed door","summary":"During Operation Metro Surge, ICE officers chase DoorDash driver Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna to his home. Security footage shows Castro tackling him; after a resident pulls the driver inside, Castro fires one shot through the closed front door, striking Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the right leg. Agents then deploy tear gas and breach the residence."},{"date":"2026-05-18","title":"Hennepin County charges Castro with assault and false reporting","summary":"Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, saying Castro was not under any physical threat when he fired. The federal charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna had already been dismissed after video contradicted the officers' account."},{"date":"2026-05-29","title":"Castro arrested in Texas on state warrant","summary":"Castro is arrested in Cameron County, Texas, and held in custody in Brownsville (CBS Minnesota, NBC News)."},{"date":"2026-09-03","title":"Federal grand jury indicts Castro on six false-statement counts","summary":"Castro is indicted on six counts of making false statements to the FBI about the shooting, the first Justice Department prosecution of an officer for conduct during Operation Metro Surge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans, who had reportedly told the victim's lawyers that DOJ officials blocked a civil rights charge, is fired as news of the indictment breaks."},{"date":"2026-09-18","title":"Castro pleads not guilty in federal court","summary":"After appearing in Hennepin County court on the state charges on September 17, Castro pleads not guilty in federal court in St. Paul and is released on a $75,000 bond with GPS monitoring, surrender of his gun and passport, and travel limited to southern Texas and Minnesota."}],"location":{"name":"North Minneapolis, Minnesota","lat":45.012,"lng":-93.298},"custom":{"posture":"active-litigation","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 7 and Article 9","provision":"Freedom from cruel or degrading treatment and from arbitrary arrest; implicated by the use of a firearm against a person posing no threat and the prosecution of the victims on a false account"},{"statute":"UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials","article":"Principle 9","provision":"Firearms may be used against persons only in self-defense or defense of others against imminent threat of death or serious injury"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, 24, Venezuelan immigrant, shot in the leg; Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, who was chased and tackled. PBS NewsHour reports that both men were legally present in the United States. Both were federally charged on the officer's account, and those charges were dismissed.","perpetrators":"ICE officer Christian Castro (shooter; charged); DOJ leadership that, according to reporting cited by NBC News, blocked a civil rights charge.","keyPoints":["ICE officer Christian Castro fired a single shot through the closed front door of a north Minneapolis duplex on January 14, 2026, hitting 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg; four adults and two children were inside, and the bullet lodged in a child's bedroom wall (ABC News, CBS Minnesota).","Federal authorities first said Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna beat an officer with a broom handle and snow shovel. A federal judge dismissed those charges after video evidence contradicted the officers' account (PBS NewsHour, NBC News).","Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged Castro on May 18, 2026 with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime; she said Castro was not under any physical threat when he fired (ABC News).","A federal grand jury indicted Castro on September 3, 2026, on six counts of making false statements to the FBI, the first DOJ prosecution of an officer for conduct during Operation Metro Surge (NBC News, CBS Minnesota).","Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans was fired as news of the indictment broke. ProPublica had reported that Evans told Sosa-Celis's lawyers that DOJ officials blocked a more serious civil rights charge (NBC News)."],"legalBasis":"Minn. Stat. second-degree assault and false reporting (state case); 18 U.S.C. § 1001 false statements (federal case); Fourth Amendment limits on deadly force; ICCPR Articles 7 and 9.","postureNote":"Castro faces parallel state (Hennepin County) and federal (D. Minn.) prosecutions and has pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set. The federal indictment charges false statements only, not a civil rights violation.","relatedIncidents":["ice-killing-renee-good","ice-killing-alex-pretti","minneapolis-anti-ice-protester-prosecutions"]}}