The Justice Department stopped its own prosecutors from charging an ICE agent.
An immigration agent fired through the closed front door of a house in Minneapolis. The Justice Department stopped its own prosecutors from charging him with it.
In January 2026, during the operation the government called Metro Surge, agent Christian Castro fired through a closed front door. Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis was hit in the leg.
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE first said the agents had been ambushed and attacked with a shovel and a broomstick. Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, later said video evidence showed the agents' sworn testimony appeared to be false. The assault charges against the two men were dropped.
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That is the incident. Here is what happened to the case.
Prosecutors planned to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law, the same type of federal civil rights charge Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty to over the killing of George Floyd. Justice Department leadership limited it to a false statements count instead.
Matthew Evans, the assistant United States attorney handling it, wrote that he had objected in the strongest possible terms and fought it as hard as he could, and that the direction came from Main Justice and the United States Attorney's office. ProPublica obtained the email.
Minnesota charged Castro separately, with second-degree assault and falsely reporting a crime. Texas Governor Greg Abbott did not sign the extradition warrant. Texas law required Castro's release after ninety days in custody, and he walked out on August 27, 2026.
Read that sequence again. The federal charge that treated a shooting as a shooting was the one that did not get filed.
By the numbers
- 90 days — the period after which Texas law required Castro's release from custody, absent a signed extradition warrant[1]
- August 27, 2026 — the date Castro was released from the Texas jail[2]
The reporting
This story is built on reporting by ProPublica. Read the original →
Sources
- ProPublica, Trump's DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor's Strongest Possible Objections
- CBS News Minnesota, ICE agent Christian Castro released from Texas jail
- NBC News, ICE agent charged over Operation Metro Surge shooting arrested in Texas
- Al Jazeera, Ex-ICE agent charged over shooting is freed by Texas authorities
Image credits
- Hero: source (Bloomberg via Getty Images) — Victor J. Blue
- In story: source (Wikimedia Commons) — Coolcaesar
- In story: source (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0) — World Travel and Tourism Council