(AFP) – A federal immigration agent is facing charges of making false statements about the January shooting of a Venezuelan migrant in Minnesota, US media reported Thursday. The indictment of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent is a rare case of the Trump administration pursuing charges against a law enforcement officer.
Christian Castro, 52, was one of two agents placed on leave earlier this year for allegedly lying about the January 14 shooting in Minneapolis of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was wounded in the leg. ProPublica, a nonprofit news outlet, said federal prosecutors in Minnesota had sought to file civil rights charges against Castro over the shooting but were thwarted by leaders of the Department of Justice in Washington. Instead, Castro, who has been suspended by ICE, is facing the lesser federal charge of lying to investigators.
Castro also faces state charges in Minnesota in connection with the shooting of Sosa-Celis — felony assault and falsely reporting a crime. Minnesota has demanded Castro’s extradition from Texas to face the state charges, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has refused so far to hand him over.
The shooting of Sosa-Celis came one week after a federal agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen and mother of three. Good’s death inflamed protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration raids in the Minnesota city, and a second killing there — of US citizen Alex Pretti in late January — fueled a national backlash against the aggressive immigration crackdown.
According to Minnesota prosecutors, Castro fired a shot through the front door of a residence, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg. Federal prosecutors initially filed assault charges against Sosa-Celis and another man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, but dropped them after video evidence and witness statements cast doubt on Castro’s account of what happened.
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