{"id":1580,"date":"2026-05-18T19:39:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1580"},"modified":"2026-05-18T19:39:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:39:48","slug":"ice-officer-charged-over-shooting-of-venezuelan-man-in-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1580","title":{"rendered":"ICE officer charged over shooting of Venezuelan man in Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"3ee877b4-3890-42aa-b28b-b2df7a9a2b5d\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Police in riot gear with batons face protesters holding red flares on a nighttime street\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5e6593b4c336ecc6bb6cee1a04babbea00bf8ac3\/0_0_3000_2000\/master\/3000.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">US agents confront protesters in Minneapolis in January.<\/span> Photograph: Octavio Jones\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"3ee877b4-3890-42aa-b28b-b2df7a9a2b5d\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">US agents confront protesters in Minneapolis in January.<\/span> Photograph: Octavio Jones\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">ICE officer charged over shooting of Venezuelan man in Minnesota<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Christian Castro charged with five counts over shooting of Julio C\u00e9sar Sosa-Celis in Trump immigration crackdown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A Minnesota prosecutor on Monday announced charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/11\/ice-shooting-dhs-accountability-minneapolis\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the shooting of a Venezuelan man<\/a> during the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The officer, Christian Castro, is charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the 14 January shooting of Julio C\u00e9sar Sosa-Celis, Hennepin county attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference. A warrant was issued for his arrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThere\u2019s no modern precedent for what happened to the people here in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/minnesota\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Minnesota<\/a>,\u201d Moriarty said of what transpired during the Minnesota immigration crackdown. \u201cSo it requires a lot of us to dig in and look at ways to hold people accountable that we probably never thought we would be looking at in our careers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A federal officer shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh after he and another officer chased a different man to the apartment duplex where the man and Sosa-Celis lived. Moriarty said Sosa-Celis and the other man were legally in the US.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"6093d192-5065-4dad-a8ba-f840484bb973\" data-spacefinder-role=\"thumbnail\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-13rnsx0\">\n<div id=\"\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man in front of a white background \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a26655ac79eef12c086f76befd49806ba96d8f6b\/0_0_176_176\/master\/176.jpg?width=120&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Julio C\u00e9sar Sosa-Celis.<\/span> Photograph: DHS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Federal authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel during the incident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But a federal judge later dismissed the charges, and federal officials opened an investigation into whether two immigration officers lied under oath about what happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The city of Minneapolis in April <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/07\/minneapolis-video-ice-shooting-venezuelan-men\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">released<\/a> video of the incident captured from a distance by a city-owned security camera. It undermined ICE\u2019s initial account of the confrontation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and justice department officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The DHS previously said that lying under oath was a \u201cserious federal offense\u201d and that making false statements could result in an officer being fired or prosecuted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Donald Trump\u2019s administration sent thousands of officers to the Minneapolis and St Paul area as part of the president\u2019s national deportation campaign. The homeland security department, which oversees ICE, called Operation Metro Surge its largest immigration enforcement operation ever and deemed it a success.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But tensions mounted during the weeks-long campaign and the killings of US citizens <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/feb\/27\/renee-good-death-trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Renee Good<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/29\/who-is-alex-pretti-ice-minneapolis-shooting\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Alex Pretti<\/a> by federal officers provoked mass unrest as well as questions about officers\u2019 conduct.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Hennepin county, which includes Minneapolis, has been conducting investigations into multiple incidents and filed charges in April against an ICE agent for alleged actions while on duty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Minnesota leaders and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Trump administration<\/a> have since clashed over which has the authority to investigate and prosecute officers for conduct while on duty. The Trump administration has suggested that Minnesota officials do not have jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">State officials have said they do not trust the federal government to investigate itself or hold officers accountable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Hennepin county continues to investigate Good\u2019s and Pretti\u2019s killings and sued the administration in March over access to evidence in the two cases, as well as in the case involving Sosa-Celis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Although Moriarty has not charged anyone in either killing, she has said she is confident her office\u2019s investigations will bring transparency, even if not criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/minnesota\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Minnesota<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/ice-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=ICE%20officer%20charged%20over%20shooting%20of%20Venezuelan%20man%20in%20Minnesota&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/ice-officer-charged-minnesota-shooting?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F18%2Fice-officer-charged-minnesota-shooting&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/ice-officer-charged-minnesota-shooting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US agents confront protesters in Minneapolis in January. Photograph: Octavio Jones\/AFP\/Getty Images View image in fullscreen US agents<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1583,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1580\/revisions\/1583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}