Federal prosecutors charged ICE agent Christian J. Castro with making false statements to investigators about the January 2026 shooting of Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis. Castro also faces Minnesota state charges of four felony counts of second-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime, after investigators determined he fired through a closed front door and then gave a false account of being attacked with a shovel and broom. This incident has led to an ICE Officer Charged With Lying About Venezuelan Man Shooting.
What Happened in the Shooting of the Venezuelan Man by ICE Officer Charged With Lying About Venezuelan Man Shooting
ICE agent Christian Castro shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis through a closed front door during an immigration enforcement operation in north Minneapolis on January 14, 2026. The bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg and continued into the wall of a child’s bedroom inside the home.
Investigators later found that Castro was standing alone in the front yard when he fired, and that no one struck him with any object, according to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. That detail matters because it directly contradicts the justification federal officials gave for the shooting in the days that followed.
The incident unfolded during Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration crackdown across Minneapolis and other parts of Minnesota, and Castro is now at least the second federal agent tied to criminal charges stemming from that operation, according to AP News.
Who Was the Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE, and When Did the Shooting Occur
The man shot was Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national living in the Minneapolis area, and the shooting occurred on January 14, 2026. A second Venezuelan man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, was present and was also initially charged in connection with the same incident.
Federal agents were reportedly searching for someone else entirely. An FBI affidavit made public in January 2026 revealed that mistaken identity by ICE agents triggered the chase that ended in the shooting, and that the man agents originally sought was not Sosa-Celis, according to the Star Tribune. That mix-up sits at the heart of why this case has drawn so much scrutiny.
Why Was the ICE Officer Charged With Lying to Investigators in the Shooting of Venezuelan Man
The ICE officer charged with lying to investigators in the shooting of Venezuelan man was charged because federal prosecutors say Castro gave investigators a false account of how and why he fired his weapon. Charging documents describe the false statements themselves, not the gunfire, as the basis for the federal counts.
That distinction is legally significant. Prosecutors did not need to prove the shooting was unjustified to bring this case. They only needed to show Castro knowingly misled investigators during an official inquiry, according to KSTP News.
This kind of accountability gap shows up in other police-involved shooting cases across the country. A similar pattern played out in the Casey Goodson shooting case in Ohio, where officer statements about the circumstances of a shooting became central to the criminal case that followed.
What Are the Charges Against the ICE Officer Charged With Lying to Investigators in the Shooting of Venezuelan Man
The ICE officer charged with lying to investigators in the shooting of Venezuelan man faces a combined set of federal and state charges. The federal charge covers false statements to investigators, while Minnesota’s charges cover the shooting and a false crime report.
| Charge Type | Filed By | Date Filed | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| False statements to investigators | U.S. Department of Justice | Reported September 3, 2026 | Related to Castro’s account of the shooting |
| Second-degree assault (4 counts, felony) | Minnesota Attorney General / Hennepin County | May 18, 2026 | Firing through the front door, striking Sosa-Celis |
| Falsely reporting a crime (misdemeanor) | Minnesota Attorney General / Hennepin County | May 18, 2026 | False claim of being attacked with a shovel and broom |
The Minnesota charges came first, filed on May 18, 2026, and the federal false-statement charge followed months later after the Justice Department confirmed it was weighing additional charges, according to CNBC and CNN.
What Did the ICE Officer Lie About During the Investigation
Castro allegedly lied about being physically attacked before he fired his weapon. In a January 2026 press release, the Department of Homeland Security claimed Sosa-Celis and two others “violently” assaulted an officer using a snow shovel and broom handle.
Investigators found no evidence to support that account. Minnesota’s Attorney General’s Office stated Castro was alone in the front yard and was not struck by any shovels, brooms, or other weapons, a finding that directly contradicts the original federal narrative described by 6ABC and the Fox 9 report on the dismissed charges.
Choose to view this gap seriously if you care about government transparency: the official public story about a federal shooting turned out to be false, and it took months of investigation to correct the record.
What Happened to the Venezuelan Man After Being Shot
Sosa-Celis survived the gunshot wound to his leg, but he and a second man, Aljorna, were initially charged with assaulting a federal immigration agent based on Castro’s account. Those charges did not hold up once investigators dug into what actually happened.
On February 11 and 12, 2026, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the assault charges against both men with prejudice, citing newly discovered evidence that was materially inconsistent with the original complaint affidavit, according to Fox 9. Dismissal “with prejudice” means prosecutors cannot refile those charges later. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna went from being labeled violent attackers to men wrongly accused because of a mistaken-identity operation.
How ICE Use-of-Force Investigations Work, and What the Law Allows
When an ICE officer shoots someone, the incident normally triggers an internal agency review, and it can also draw in state or federal criminal investigators depending on the facts. ICE use-of-force policy generally allows deadly force only when an officer reasonably believes they or someone else faces an imminent threat of death or serious injury.
The review process typically follows this path:
- Incident occurs and the agency’s internal affairs or professional responsibility office opens a review.
- State or local authorities may open a parallel investigation if the shooting happens off federal property or involves potential state crimes.
- Federal prosecutors decide whether the officer’s conduct, or statements about that conduct, warrant criminal charges.
- Charges are filed, declined, or dismissed based on what investigators find.
Choose to pay attention to this process if you want to understand why the Castro case took months to unfold: state and federal investigations run on separate tracks, and false statements can unravel an entire original narrative once outside investigators start checking the facts, as seen in the Tucson police shooting investigation and other cases where initial official accounts did not match later findings.
What Are the Consequences for Lying to Federal Investigators
Lying to federal investigators is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001, and it applies to any government employee, including ICE officers, who knowingly makes false statements during an official investigation. Conviction can carry significant prison time separate from any charges tied to the underlying incident.
Key points on the false-statements law:
- Maximum penalty: Up to five years in federal prison for a standard violation, and up to eight years if the false statement involves terrorism or certain violent crimes.
- What counts: Any knowingly false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement made to a federal agent or investigator, whether verbal or written.
- Why it matters here: Prosecutors do not have to prove the shooting itself was illegal, only that Castro lied about it afterward.
Choose to remember this distinction: an officer can potentially avoid a use-of-force conviction and still go to federal prison for lying about what happened during the investigation that followed.
How Common Is It for ICE Officers to Face Charges
Criminal charges against ICE officers for shootings or false statements remain rare compared to the volume of enforcement operations the agency conducts each year. Castro’s case stands out partly because it involves both a state assault charge and a separate federal false-statement charge tied to the same incident.
Reporting indicates Castro is at least the second federal agent to face criminal charges arising from Operation Metro Surge, the Minneapolis-area immigration crackdown, according to AP News. Public records reviewed in coverage of this case have not surfaced prior disciplinary action against Castro before this shooting, though that does not rule out internal agency records that remain non-public.
National approval numbers reflect growing public unease. An AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released in early August 2026 found only 39% of U.S. adults approve of President Trump’s handling of immigration, down from 49% at the start of his second term, with about 58% disapproving overall, according to AP News. Cases like Castro’s help explain why that number keeps falling.
What Civil Rights Violations Could Be Involved in This Case
Potential civil rights concerns in this case center on the use of deadly force against an unarmed man and the false official narrative that followed. If Sosa-Celis was shot through a closed door while no one posed an imminent threat to Castro, that raises Fourth Amendment questions about excessive force during a federal enforcement action.
The mistaken-identity element adds another layer. Federal agents were reportedly pursuing someone other than Sosa-Celis when the shooting happened, according to KSTP, which raises questions about whether the underlying stop and use of force were even properly justified in the first place. Communities that have watched similar accountability fights play out, including advocates pushing for community policing reforms in Syracuse, often point to cases like this as evidence that oversight and transparency requirements need to extend to federal immigration agents, not just local police departments.
Has This ICE Officer Faced Disciplinary Action Before
There is no confirmed public record showing prior disciplinary action against Christian Castro before the January 2026 shooting. Federal personnel records for individual ICE officers are generally not public, so any earlier internal complaints or reprimands may not be visible outside the agency.
What is publicly documented is the aftermath: Minnesota authorities located Castro in Cameron County, Texas, and arrested him on May 29, 2026, eleven days after the state filed its charges, with help from the Texas Rangers, according to AP News. Texas Governor Greg Abbott then declined to extradite him to Minnesota, and a Texas judge released Castro from jail on August 27, 2026, leaving the state charges pending while he remained outside Minnesota’s reach, according to CNN. That standoff between state accountability efforts and a governor’s refusal to cooperate echoes broader debates seen in cases like the Maine police shooting rulings, where questions about who ultimately holds officers accountable often outlast the initial headlines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the ICE officer charged with lying to investigators in the shooting of Venezuelan man?
Christian J. Castro, a 52-year-old ICE agent, faces federal false-statement charges plus Minnesota state charges of second-degree assault and false reporting.
When did the shooting happen?
The shooting occurred on January 14, 2026, in north Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge.
What did the officer lie about?
Castro allegedly lied about being attacked with a shovel and broom before he fired, when investigators say he was alone and unharmed.
Is Castro currently in custody?
No. A Texas judge released him from jail on August 27, 2026, after Governor Greg Abbott declined to extradite him to Minnesota.
What happened to the man ICE originally accused of assault?
The Justice Department dismissed assault charges against Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna with prejudice in February 2026, meaning they cannot be refiled.
How much prison time does lying to federal investigators carry?
Up to five years under standard federal false-statements law, with longer maximums in cases tied to terrorism or violent crimes.
Was the shooting itself federally charged?
Not as of the federal charges announced in September 2026. The federal count addresses false statements, while the shooting itself is charged separately at the state level in Minnesota.
What was Operation Metro Surge?
It was a Trump administration immigration enforcement initiative covering Minneapolis and other parts of Minnesota, during which this shooting occurred.
Conclusion
The case against Christian Castro shows what happens when the official story about a federal shooting does not survive scrutiny. A man was shot through a closed door, two Venezuelan immigrants were wrongly charged based on a false account, and it took a mistaken-identity investigation and months of digging to sort out what actually happened that night in north Minneapolis.
Readers who care about government transparency and accountability have real options here. Follow the Minnesota Attorney General’s public case filings, contact your congressional representatives about oversight of ICE use-of-force policies, and support local journalism that keeps tracking cases like this one long after the initial headlines fade. Accountability for federal agents does not happen automatically. It happens when communities and reporters keep asking questions until the full record comes out.
