By Cesar Reyes
A Minnesota prosecutor filed criminal charges against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Christian Castrowho during an operation shot against the Venezuelan Julio César Sosa-Celis.
Castro is an ICE agent, but his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota,” said Hennepin County Prosecutor Mary Moriarty.
At a press conference, Mary Moriarty pointed out that the Venezuelan Sosa-Celis never represented a threat during the raids carried out in Minneapolis on January 14so the aggressor agent is subject to charges.
“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who commit crimes in this state or any other state.… There is no modern precedent for what happened here to Minnesotans,” the prosecutor said.
Officer Christian Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. During the raid that took place in the first month of the year, Sosa-Celis was shot in the thigh.
Authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis of hitting an officer with a broom handle. and a snow shovel during the incident, but a federal judge later dismissed the charges.
“So it requires a lot of us to dig deep and look for ways to hold accountable people that we probably never thought we would be considering in our careers,” said Mary Moriarty.
Since the incident, Minnesota leaders and the Trump administration have been locked in a dispute over who has the authority to investigate and prosecute agents for his conduct during the raids.
The so-called “Operation Metro Surge” caused massive protests in Minnesota and, in addition to injured residents, citizens Renee Exact and Alex Prett died after being shot by ICE agents. AP and EFE.
Keep reading:
• “Massive deportations of immigrants are coming,” anticipates Tom Homan, border czar
• Deaths and overcrowding hit ICE centers in California during the Trump era
• DHS closes office that monitored abuses and rights of detained migrants
