A federal immigration agent accused of shooting a man during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis — then falsely claiming he was attacked by men armed with a shovel and broom — was arrested in Texas on Friday.
Christian Castro is accused of firing his service weapon into a Minneapolis home on January 14, striking a man in the leg. Prosecutors say Castro later lied to investigators, claiming he opened fire after being attacked by several men.
Castro was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of filing a false police report last week. He was taken into custody in North Texas on Friday.
According to court records, Castro was attempting to arrest Alfredo Aljorna after a vehicle pursuit ended outside of Aljorna's Minneapolis home. Aljorna's roommate, Julio Sosa-Celis, was standing outside the home holding a snow shovel when the chase came to an end.
After a brief struggle, the two men ran inside the house, where four adults and two children were present, according to court records. Prosecutors allege Castro then raised his gun and fired a shot through the front door.
"Mr. Castro fired his service weapon at the front door of the home knowing there were people who had just run inside that presented absolutely no threat to him or anyone else," said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty last week.
The bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg, according to court records.
Castro later told investigators he was attacked by three men wielding a shovel and a broom for several minutes, according to court records. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Aljorna and Sosa-Celis with assaulting a law enforcement officer based on that account.
But prosecutors say surveillance footage contradicts this claim. According to court records, the video shows Sosa-Celis dropping his shovel before Castro reached the home and that it remained on the ground throughout the incident.
Federal prosecutors later dropped the charges against both men about a month later.
The shooting was one of several controversial encounters involving federal immigration agents during the administration's enforcement surge in Minneapolis. Earlier that month, ICE agents fatally shot two people in separate incidents, triggering widespread protests and calls for investigations into the agency's use of force.
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