ICE officer charged in non-fatal shooting arrested by Minnesota authorities

Federal immigration officer Christian Castro, accused of shooting and wounding Venezuelan man Julio Ceasar Sosa-Celis in January and lying to investigators, appeared in a Minnesota court after being arrested by state authorities. Castro faces charges of assault and false reporting of a crime in Minnesota. He is also due to face a separate federal case in which he is charged with making false statements regarding the shooting.

Castro's defense attorneys have stated they plan to plead not guilty. This marks the first prosecution of a federal officer for actions during the recent Operation Metro Surge, which involved thousands of agents in the Twin Cities and led to several protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers. Minnesota authorities have clashed with the Trump administration over jurisdiction in Castro's case, with the Department of Homeland Security calling Minnesota's prosecution "unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt."