Hennepin County Prosecutor Mary Moriarty announced Monday criminal charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent for the shooting that left a Venezuelan citizen injured during immigration raids promoted by the Donald Trump administration in Minnesota.
Officer Christian Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and an additional charge of false reporting. related to the incident that occurred on January 14 against Julio César Sosa-Celis, according to AP.
The prosecutor’s office also issued an arrest warrant for the federal official.
“Mr. Castro is an ICE agent, but his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his lawful conduct in Minnesota,” Moriarty said during a press conference. “There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who commit crimes in this state or any other.”
Injured Venezuelan was legally in the United States
According to local authorities, the shooting occurred when Castro and another federal agent were chasing another man to a duplex where Sosa-Celis and the wanted individual lived.
During the operation, Sosa-Celis was shot in the thigh.
Moriarty assured that Both the Venezuelan and the other man were legally in the United States and maintained that the victim “never posed a threat.”
Initially, federal authorities accused Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna of attacking an agent with a broom handle and a snow shovel.
However, a federal judge later dismissed the charges and an investigation was opened to determine whether immigration agents lied under oath about what happened.
Video and tensions over immigration raids
Last month, The city of Minneapolis released security images of the incident captured by municipal cameras.
The case occurs amid growing tensions over the so-called “Operation Metro Surge,” described by the Department of Homeland Security as the largest immigration offensive carried out so far by ICE.
Thousands of federal agents were deployed to the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas as part of the national deportation campaign promoted by Trump.
The operation sparked protests and public questions following the deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Right and Alex Pretti in separate incidents involving federal agents.
The prosecution of Agent Castro also deepens the conflict between Minnesota authorities and the Trump administration over who has the authority to investigate and bring charges against federal agents while carrying out their duties.
Officials linked to the federal government have suggested that the state does not have jurisdiction in these cases.
State officials, by contrast, maintain that they do not trust the federal government to adequately investigate its own agents.
“There is no modern precedent for what happened here to Minnesotans,” Moriarty said. “This requires us to look for ways to ensure accountability.”
Investigations into other cases continue
Hennepin County maintains investigations into multiple incidents related to immigration raidsincluding the cases of Right and Pretti.
In March, the county sued the federal administration to obtain access to evidence linked to those files and the Sosa-Celis case.
So far, Moriarty has not filed charges related to the deaths of Right and Pretti, although he assured that the investigations seek to provide transparency, regardless of whether they lead to criminal proceedings.
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