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ICE Officer Christian Castro Indicted for Lying About Shooting Venezuelan Man Through a Closed Door in Minneapolis

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.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Documented violations of internationally recognized human rights that cause substantial, measurable harm to identifiable populations. Scale and definitions

Status
Ongoing
Incident date
Record updated
Location
North Minneapolis, Minnesota
Category
Civil Rights
Legal posture
Active litigation
ICC relevance
No
Sources
8 cited
Stable ID
ice-officer-castro-indicted-sosa-celis-shooting
Legal basis
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.
Posture note
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.
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.
Alleged responsible parties
ICE officer Christian Castro (shooter; charged); DOJ leadership that, according to reporting cited by NBC News, blocked a civil rights charge.

Key points

  • 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).

What Happened

On January 14, 2026, during Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis–St. Paul, ICE officers chased DoorDash driver Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna to the north Minneapolis duplex where he lived. Security footage shows ICE officer Christian Castro tackling Aljorna as he ran toward the house. Another resident separated them and got inside with Aljorna. Castro then fired a single shot through the closed front door. The bullet hit Aljorna's roommate, 24-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in the right leg, passed through a closet and lodged in the wall of a child's bedroom. Four adults and two children were inside. ICE agents then deployed tear gas and breached the residence (ABC News).

The Account That Fell Apart

Federal authorities said Sosa-Celis and Aljorna had beaten an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel, and both men were federally charged with assault. A federal judge dismissed those charges after surveillance video and other evidence contradicted the officers' account, and federal officials opened an inquiry into whether two immigration officers had given false testimony (PBS NewsHour, NBC News). According to The New Republic's account of video released in April, Sosa-Celis had tossed the shovel aside early in the encounter, before Castro fired into the home.

PBS NewsHour reports that both Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were legally present in the United States.

State Charges (May 2026)

On May 18, 2026, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged Castro 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, PBS NewsHour). Castro was arrested in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29 (CBS Minnesota). He was booked into the Hennepin County jail in September, appeared in state court on September 17, and was released (CBS Minnesota, The New Republic).

Federal Indictment (September 2026)

On September 3, 2026, a federal grand jury indicted Castro on six counts of making false statements to the FBI, one for each alleged lie about the shooting. It is the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for conduct during Operation Metro Surge (NBC News, CBS Minnesota). On September 18 Castro pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Wright in St. Paul. He was released on a $75,000 bond with GPS monitoring and travel restricted to southern Texas and Minnesota, and he was ordered to surrender his gun and passport (CBS Minnesota).

The federal charges cover lying, not the shooting itself. NBC News reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans was fired as news of the indictment broke, and that ProPublica had reported Evans told Sosa-Celis's lawyers that "DOJ officials have blocked efforts to bring the more serious civil rights charge against Castro."

In July 2026, after six months of refusals and a lawsuit by the state, federal authorities turned evidence from this shooting over to Minnesota investigators, together with evidence from the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti (MPR News).

This case shows plainly what happens when an officer's account of a use of force goes unchecked. The officer's version of events was used to file federal assault charges against the people he had shot at. Only independent video evidence led to those charges being dismissed, and a county prosecutor, rather than federal authorities, brought the first charges for the shooting itself.

The federal indictment matters because it is the first time the Justice Department has charged an officer over conduct during the Minneapolis surge. Its scope is also narrow. Section 1001 false-statement counts punish lying to investigators, not firing a weapon into an occupied home. Accountability for the shooting itself now rests with the state's second-degree assault case. Federal officials have suggested that state prosecutors lack jurisdiction over federal officers (PBS NewsHour). Castro is presumed innocent on all charges.

International law engaged

InstrumentProvisionWhat it protects or prohibits
International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsArticle 7 and Article 9Freedom 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
UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement OfficialsPrinciple 9Firearms may be used against persons only in self-defense or defense of others against imminent threat of death or serious injury

Sequence of events

  1. Castro shoots Sosa-Celis through a closed door

    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.

  2. Hennepin County charges Castro with assault and false reporting

    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.

  3. Castro arrested in Texas on state warrant

    Castro is arrested in Cameron County, Texas, and held in custody in Brownsville (CBS Minnesota, NBC News).

  4. Federal grand jury indicts Castro on six false-statement counts

    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.

  5. Castro pleads not guilty in federal court

    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.

Sources

  1. ICE agent charged in nonfatal shooting of Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis — ABC News
  2. Minnesota county charges ICE officer in shooting during immigration crackdown — PBS NewsHour
  3. Feds charge ICE officer with lying to investigators in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant — NBC News
  4. ICE officer Christian Castro pleads not guilty to lying to FBI about Minneapolis shooting of Venezuelan man — CBS Minnesota
  5. Unsealed federal indictment details alleged lies by ICE officer charged in Minneapolis shooting — CBS Minnesota
  6. ICE Officer Accused of Shooting Someone in Minneapolis Is Arrested — The New Republic
  7. Feds have turned over evidence in Good, Pretti, Sosa-Celis shootings — MPR News
  8. Minnesota prosecutors obtain long-withheld evidence in probe into fatal shootings of Good, Pretti — PBS NewsHour

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