An ICE agent was arrested Friday in Texas after he was charged in Minnesota, accused of shooting through the door of a Minneapolis residence and injuring a man during Operation Metro Surge.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators located Christian J. Castro, 52, and traveled to Texas this week, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General and Texas Rangers arrested Castro, while BCA investigators were present. An attorney for Castro wasn’t listed in the court file as of Friday.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Castro May 18 with four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
“The bullet punched through the front door and struck Mr. (Julio) Sosa-Celis’ leg before traveling through a closet and lodging in the wall of a child’s bedroom,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at the time her office charged Castro. “Mr. Castro was not under any physical threat when he fired his weapon, or even beforehand. He was not hit by a shovel or a broom. In fact, he was not hit at all.”
When Castro was charged, an ICE spokesperson said: “These actions by Minnesota sanctuary politicians are unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt.”
Castro reported that two men, including the one who was shot, attacked him with a shovel and broom, but “his account is contradicted by the video of the incident” from a city-owned camera at a nearby intersection in North Minneapolis, according to the criminal complaint.
Of Friday’s arrest, Moriarty said it’s “a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr. Castro. The BCA’s investigative work was instrumental in this process and we’re grateful for their collaboration as we pursue accountability for this incident on behalf of Mr. Sosa-Celis, his family, and our community.”
From DoorDash delivery to pursuit and shooting
On Jan. 14, just before 6:45 p.m., Minneapolis police received a report that ICE agents were pursuing a vehicle as a man was trying to reach his residence.
ICE agents pursued Alejandro Aljorna while he was delivering for DoorDash. It was a case of mistaken identity and “he was not the person that they thought he was,” Moriarty said when her office charged Castro.
Aljorna, who later reported he drove away from a vehicle following him because he feared for his life, exited his vehicle and ran to the home and an agent, identified as Castro, ran after him.
The video from the area, obtained by the BCA, showed Sosa-Celis had stepped onto the home’s front lawn holding a snow shovel. Two vehicles arrived in the area and suddenly stopped near the home. Sosa-Celis “tossed the shovel onto the ground, where it remained throughout the incident,” the complaint said.
Both Aljorna and Sosa-Celis were in the U.S. lawfully, having been granted temporary protected status by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the complaint said.
Aljorna slipped on ice in front of the home, Castro jumped on top of Aljorna “and engaged in a brief struggle” with him on the ground, the complaint continued.
Castro rolled off and onto the ground while continuing to try to grasp Aljorna. Sosa-Celis “reached down, appearing to separate” Aljorna from Castro and help Aljorna off the ground, the complaint said.
Aljorna and Sosa-Celis ran to the home’s front door and out of camera view. Three seconds later, Castro “raised both of his arms straight out in front of him, pointing toward the front door,” consistent with “firing a gun at the front door of the home,” according to the complaint.
Castro told FBI agents that after he was assaulted with a broom and shovel, he struggled with three men “for about three minutes, was exhausted, alone, on the ground, and in fear of his safety,” the complaint said of an FBI affidavit. He said he fired one shot before they ran into the home.