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  "path": "/post/210583/ice-agent-charged-four-counts-assault-minneapolis",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-18T19:32:51.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Minnesota",
    "Minneapolis",
    "Immigration",
    "Immigration and Customs Enforcement",
    "Department of Homeland Security",
    "Homeland Security",
    "ICE",
    "Mass Deportations",
    "charged",
    "accused",
    "Video evidence",
    "Donnell Morgan Jr.",
    "sued the federal government"
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  "textContent": "On Monday, Hennepin County District Court charged ICE agent Christian J. Castro over the shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis on January 14—in the middle of “Operation Metro Surge”—with four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime.\n\nCastro had not been previously identified. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told the _Minnesota Star Tribune_ they found out who he was thanks to medical records from Castro, who visited a hospital right after the shooting, and an interview by state law enforcement where the shooting took place.\n\nAt the time, the federal government charged Sosa-Celis and his roommate Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna with assaulting a federal officer and posted their mug shots online. Then–Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused them of “attempted murder,” and DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the pair “began to resist and violently assault the officer.” McLaughlin claimed that an unnamed ICE agent, fearing for his life, had fired a defensive shot while on the ground because he was being beaten with a shovel.\n\nVideo evidence showed that in fact, Castro was standing up and shot Sosa-Celis through the closed door of his apartment, and no shovel assault took place. After an FBI special agent testified that Castro and DHS’s account was wrong, Castro and other ICE agents were placed on administrative leave and the charges against Sosa-Chelis and Aljorna were dropped.\n\nThis is the second time an ICE agent has been charged in Hennepin County for their actions during the Trump administration’s immigration offensive in Minnesota. Last month, agent Donnell Morgan Jr. was charged with two counts of second-degree assault for allegedly pointing a weapon at drivers. But there still haven’t been charges filed over the two highest-profile ICE-related deaths from the operation, those of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.\n\n“It’s just a very unique scenario,” Moriarty told the _Star Tribune_. “We obviously are trying to be very thoughtful and intentional. While I understand people really want accountability and they saw what they saw in the [Good and Pretti] videos, this is incredibly complex. The last thing we want to do is make a mistake if we feel something is appropriately charged and get dismissed out of federal court.”\n\nMoriarty added that the federal government’s refusal to share even basic information with local and state agencies about Good and Pretti’s deaths hasn’t helped investigators. In March, Minnesota state prosecutors sued the federal government to force their hand.\n\n“Think about how unprecedented that is,” Moriarty said. “The federal government won’t even give us the identification of the shooters.”",
  "title": "ICE Agent Charged With Four Counts of Assault in Minneapolis"
}