ICE Agent Arrested in Texas Over Minneapolis Shooting; Rare State Charges Raise Federal Oversight Questions

By Jonathan Allen

May 29 (Reuters) — A U.S. immigration agent was arrested in Texas on Friday, nearly two weeks after a Minnesota prosecutor took the unusual step of charging him with assaulting a Venezuelan man in a non-fatal shooting in Minneapolis earlier this year, a case that has revived debate over federal agents’ immunity from state prosecution.

Christian Castro, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime for shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg on Jan. 14, during the height of President Donald Trump’s aggressive and widely protested deportation surge in Minnesota. Prosecutors say Castro fired through the front door of a house, striking Sosa-Celis, after chasing him outside.

State prosecutors rarely charge federal law enforcement officials, but Castro, 52, is the second federal officer to be charged this year by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the top state prosecutor in Minneapolis. The move signals a growing willingness among state officials to hold the federal government accountable for what they describe as constitutional overreach.

The White House has repeatedly defended ICE agents’ conduct and has incorrectly claimed they are immune from prosecution for breaking state laws. Legal experts say that while federal officers can claim immunity when acting within the scope of their duties, the doctrine is not absolute and does not shield them from state charges for actions that violate criminal statutes.

Investigators from Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tracked Castro to Texas and traveled there to make the arrest, Moriarty’s office said in a statement. He was taken into custody Friday morning by BCA agents and Texas Rangers at a home in Harlingen, Texas, and was booked into a local jail ahead of a transfer to Minnesota, the BCA said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, called Castro’s prosecution “nothing more than a political stunt,” and said any misconduct by Castro “must be handled at the federal level.” The spokesperson declined to say whether the Trump administration would intervene to move the case to federal court.

Moriarty’s office initially said that agents from the DHS inspector general’s office — which investigates ICE — had helped capture Castro alongside the Texas Rangers. But a spokesperson for the inspector general’s office said in a statement that the account was incorrect and that the office was “not involved in the planning, execution, or conduct of Mr. Castro’s arrest.” Moriarty’s office later revised its statement, saying inspector general staff were “present at the scene.”

It remains unclear whether the Trump administration will help defend Castro from state prosecution by asserting he acted within the limits of his official duties. If so, federal lawyers could seek to have the state trial proceed in a federal courtroom. It was not immediately clear whether Castro had retained a private attorney.

TWO FEDERAL OFFICIALS CHARGED THIS YEAR

Sosa-Celis was shot during the chaotic weeks of Operation Metro Surge, which saw hundreds of masked, armed agents roaming the streets of Minnesota’s biggest cities looking for undocumented immigrants. In January alone, immigration agents also fatally shot two U.S. citizens on Minneapolis streets on separate days: Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In each instance, Trump and other administration officials sided with the federal agents, saying they acted in self-defense, and blamed the victims, outraging many Minnesotans. Moriarty is suing the Trump administration for access to evidence in the killings of Good and Pretti and is weighing whether to prosecute the agents responsible.

In the Sosa-Celis case, DHS later retracted its initial account after it emerged that ICE agents involved had falsely claimed that Sosa-Celis and two other men attacked Castro with a shovel. The Justice Department dropped its prosecution of Sosa-Celis and the other men. Prosecutors now say Castro was alone outside the house and fired his gun through the front door, hitting Sosa-Celis.

Two ICE officers, not named at the time, were placed on administrative leave and may face federal prosecution for making false statements. “Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” the DHS spokesperson said Friday.

Moriarty’s office has also charged another ICE agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., with two counts of second-degree assault, alleging he pointed a gun at a vehicle on Feb. 5 while driving on a Minneapolis highway. He remains on active duty with ICE, his attorney said, after an initial court appearance last week where he posted a $100,000 bond.

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(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Additional reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Rod Nickel)