ICE officer pleads not guilty to lying about shooting and is ordered released
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
At a glance
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In the courts
- ICE officer Christian Castro pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of falsely describing an encounter before he shot and injured Venezuelan man Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis in January.
- A judge released Castro on a $75,000 unsecured bond and ordered him to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
- The federal case follows separate Minnesota assault and false-reporting charges, while Castro’s attorney urged the public not to prejudge the case.
Christian Castro, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of lying about the circumstances of a shooting in Minneapolis, pleaded not guilty Friday and was released from federal custody.
Castro turned himself in Thursday evening and appeared briefly in federal court in McAllen, Texas, shackled at his wrists, waist and feet. The judge ordered his release on a $75,000 unsecured bond and required him to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
No person struck Castro with a broom as he described, and no persons wielded the broom and snow shovel as he described.
The federal indictment says Castro falsely told investigators that a man attacked him with a broom and that another struck him with a snow shovel while he tried to detain someone outside a Minneapolis home. Castro said he opened fire while on the ground as the men ran away.
Prosecutors allege instead that Castro had a short physical interaction with Sosa-Celis and another man before they ran into a home where a 1-year-old child was present. Castro then fired through the front door as it was closing, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg. “No person struck” Castro “with a broom as he described, and no persons wielded the broom and snow shovel as he described,” the indictment says.
Have his day in court.
The case marks the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for conduct during Operation Metro Surge, the immigration crackdown that brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and triggered widespread protests and arrests. Minnesota authorities have separately charged Castro with assault and falsely reporting a crime. Federal prosecutors previously dropped assault charges against Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna after video evidence indicated Castro may have lied about the encounter.
Castro’s attorney, David Lindenmuth, urged the public to wait for all the facts. “His life has been that of public service to our country and to our nation, either through its military or protecting its borders and enforcing its laws,” Lindenmuth said. Castro was suspended from ICE in February while the authorities’ investigation continued.
His life has been that of public service to our country and to our nation, either through its military or protecting its borders and enforcing its laws.
About this summary
Originally published by PBS NewsHour in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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