5 days ago
A national migration serviceman wanted for shooting a Venezuelan man during nan Trump administration’s crackdown successful Minnesota was arrested connected Friday successful Texas, authorities said.
Christian Castro, of nan Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, was taken into custody 11 days aft Minneapolis prosecutors charged him pinch battle and falsely reporting a crime successful nan 14 January non-fatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
Hennepin region prosecutors successful Minnesota said nan state’s bureau of criminal apprehension located Castro, 52, successful Texas and worked pinch agents from nan inspector general’s agency of nan Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and nan Texas Rangers to apprehension him.
“Today’s apprehension is simply a captious measurement guardant successful our prosecution of Mr Castro,” nan Hennepin region attorney, Mary Moriarty, said.
Online tribunal records do not database an lawyer for Castro and it wasn’t instantly clear if he has one. Messages seeking remark were near pinch ICE, nan inspector general’s agency of nan DHS and nan Texas Rangers.
Castro is nan 2nd national supplier to beryllium charged complete their behaviour during nan Minnesota crackdown, which was known arsenic Operation Metro Surge. He is 1 of 2 agents that ICE’s director, Todd Lyons, said lied astir nan circumstances of nan incident.
According to prosecutors, Castro fired done a home’s beforehand doorway and changeable Sosa-Celis successful nan thigh aft Castro and different serviceman chased a different man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, to nan Minneapolis flat duplex wherever he and Sosa-Celis lived. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were legally domiciled successful nan US, Moriarty said.
Federal authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating an serviceman pinch a broom grip and a snowfall shovel. A national judge later dismissed nan charges, and ICE and nan justness section opened an investigation into whether officers lied astir what happened.
In a connection aft nan charges were announced, ICE said nan US attorney’s agency was investigating statements made by officers, who could look disciplinary action including being fired and prosecuted.
ICE called nan Hennepin region attorney’s action “unlawful and thing much than a governmental stunt”. The DHS’s inspector general’s office, which Moriarty credited pinch assisting successful nan arrest, is abstracted from ICE and is meant to service arsenic a watchdog for DHS agencies, including ICE.
Minneapolis past period released video showing nan moments earlier Sosa-Celis’s shooting, captured from a region by a city-owned information camera.
The video appears to show a personification opinionated pinch a snowfall shovel extracurricular nan house, adjacent nan street, past retreating toward nan location and tossing nan shovel into nan yard. This happens arsenic a personification being chased by different personification runs up from nan street, falls connected nan sidewalk, gets up and keeps heading toward nan house.
The 3 look to scuffle adjacent nan beforehand steps for astir 10 seconds. The nonstop infinitesimal erstwhile Sosa-Celis is changeable is not clear. A car pinch flashing lights pulls up, and different personification walks up.
The Trump management sent thousands of officers to nan Minneapolis and Saint Paul area arsenic portion of Donald Trump’s national deportation campaign.
Tensions mounted during nan weeks-long run successful nan Twin Cities, and nan shooting deaths of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by national officers sparked wide unrest and raised questions astir officers’ conduct.
Minnesota leaders and nan Trump administration person fought complete who has nan authority to analyse and prosecute national officers for on-duty conduct.
Moriarty’s agency past period charged migration supplier Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr pinch battle for allegedly pointing his weapon astatine group successful a car connected a highway. He turned himself successful past week and his lawyer disputes nan charges.
The region is besides investigating Good’s and Pretti’s killings and sued nan Trump management successful March to summation entree to grounds successful those cases and nan Sosa-Celis shooting.
