ConflictICE Agent Charged With Lying, Not With the ShootingAired September 6, 2026 at 5:52 PM UTCWritten September 6, 2026 at 5:55 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00An ICE agent was indicted for lying about a shooting he was never charged with.0:03The Justice Department charged him with false statements, and the prosecutor who0:07pushed for a shooting charge was fired.0:09The question now is where federal accountability for the shooting itself lands.0:13The agent is Christian Castro, a 52-year-old deportation officer based in the Rio0:18Grande Valley, deployed to Minneapolis for Operation MetroSurge, the0:21administration's immigration enforcement campaign that began in December 2025 with0:26thousands of agents and roughly 4,000 arrests.0:29The January 14th shooting sat between two fatal incidents in the surge.0:33State charges came in May, but the federal case never advanced the shooting itself.0:37It landed only on the lies.0:39On the evening of January 14th, 2026, after a pursuit of Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna0:44to a North Minneapolis duplex, Castro shot Julio Cesar Sosicellis in the thigh.0:49The bullet passed through his thigh through a closet and lodged in the wall of a0:53child's bedroom.0:54Four adults and two young children were inside.0:57The unsealed federal indictment charges Castro only with making false statements to1:01FBI investigators.1:03The six counts track his account of that night.1:06He said he was ambushed by three men attacking him with a broom and a snow shovel in1:10a struggle lasting about three minutes and that he fired from the ground while1:14tussling.1:15City traffic camera video and physical evidence contradicted all of it.1:18The visible confrontation lasted 11 to 12 seconds.1:21So Secilis dropped a plastic snow shovel before contact, and the shovel was never1:25used as a weapon.1:27No one struck Castro with a broom.1:28He was standing when he fired through the closing door.1:31The indictment states the contradiction in its own words.1:34Before the lies, career prosecutors in the U.S.1:37Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota had prepared to bring civil rights1:40charges against Castro, deprivation of rights under color of law, the same statute1:45used in the prosecutions of the officers who killed George Floyd, but leadership1:49directed that only the false statements charges proceed.1:52A prosecutor handling the matter objected in the strongest possible terms, but it1:55wasn't enough.1:56That objection cost him his job after his email became public.2:06He remains under a Justice Department investigation for alleged leaking and possible2:10grand jury obstruction.2:12No resolution has been reported.2:13Because the federal government declined to charge the shooting, the case for firing2:17the gun runs through the state.2:19State charges were announced on May 18th, 2026, four counts of second-degree assault2:25with a dangerous weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime.2:28The four assault counts correspond to the four adults just inside the door.2:32The state's theory is that Castro, standing alone in the front yard and under no2:36physical threat, fired through the closed front door knowing people had just run2:40inside.2:41Under the state's theory, his federal badge conferred no immunity.2:45The federal government charged the lies.2:47The state charged the shooting.2:49The state case is the one that names the gun, and it's stalled by Texas's refusal to2:53send him across the border.2:54Texas refused to extradite Castro.2:57And a federal judge in Texas declined to compel it.3:00So the strongest case charging him for the shooting is stuck in Texas while he is in3:03Texas.3:04ICE and DHS placed Castro and a second officer on administrative leave.3:08Video showed that sworn testimony by two officers appears to have made untruthful3:12statements.3:12Castro was identified as one of the two.3:14Lying under oath is a serious federal offense.3:17Castro turned himself in, appeared in federal court in McAllen, Texas, on September3:224th, entered a not-guilty plea, and was released on a $75,000 unsecured bond with a3:27GPS monitor and an order to appear in Minneapolis on September 18th.3:32Prosecutors did not seek to hold him.3:33The January 14th shooting is one flashpoint in a surge that produced at least five3:38incidents in which initial official accounts were later contradicted by video,3:41including the fatal shootings of U.S.3:43citizens Renee Goode on January 7th and Alex Predi on January 24th.3:48After the January 14th shooting in North Minneapolis, federal agents used chemical3:52munitions in the neighborhood.3:55Bystanders and a family with small children were affected.3:58And protests at the scene lasted for hours, adding to the unrest that followed4:02Good's killing.4:04Castro is the first federal immigration officer federally prosecuted for conduct4:08during the surge.4:09He is the second federal agent charged overall.4:11Hennepin County earlier charged ICE Agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr.4:15with state assault for pointing a gun at motorists.4:17So the unresolved question stands.4:19The government charged Castro for lying and fired the prosecutor who said the4:22shooting itself was a federal crime.4:24The state case that does charge him for the shooting is stalled because Texas4:28refused to send him to Minnesota.4:29His next federal appearance is September 18th in Minneapolis.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗