ICE Agent Arrested, Accused of Shooting a Venezuelan Man in Minnesota and Lying About It

Law enforcement officials in Minnesota and Texas worked together to apprehend an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan man and lying about the circumstances of the incident.

Christian J. Castro, 52, was arrested in Texas on Thursday, May 28 after investigators from Minnesota tracked him down and coordinated with law enforcement in the state, according to a press release posted by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on X on Friday, May 29.

According to the release, Castro was wanted by authorities after being charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office stemming from an incident that occurred on January 14, 2026.

During the crackdown and high presence of ICE agents in Minnesota by President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year, Castro was attempting to arrest Alfredo Aljorna, The New York Times reported on May 29. After a brief car chase, Aljorna ran into his home, prompting Castro to fire a bullet from his weapon through the front door. The bullet hit Aljorna’s roommate, Julio C. Sosa-Celis in the leg.

According to the outlet, later that day, amid protests over the incident, Castro claimed he fired his weapon because he feared for his life after three men bludgeoned him for several minutes with a shovel and a broom. Based on his account of the situation, Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer.

However, prosecutors soon dropped the charges against Sosa-Celis after reviewing video footage of the incident that proved Castro faced no such assault.

“Mr. Castro fired his weapon through the front door of the home while standing alone in the front yard, under no physical threat or duress, and knowing there were people who had just run inside,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in her statement announcing the charges. “Mr. Castro is an ICE agent. But his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota.”

Castro is currently in jail in Cameron County, Texas, awaiting extradition, The New York Times reported.

The outlet added that while Castro was placed on leave in February and was under investigation for lying under oath, ICE officials described the charges against Castro as “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt” in a statement given on the day he was charged.