By Jonathan Allen and Steve Gorman
Sept 16 (Reuters) – A federal immigration officer wanted on assault charges for shooting and wounding a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis was arrested there on Wednesday, eight months after a confrontation that became a flashpoint over U.S. President Donald Trump’s deportation sweeps.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro turned himself in to agents of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in downtown Minneapolis and was booked into the Hennepin County jail on his outstanding arrest warrant, the agency said.
But a lawyer for the ICE agent, Rolando Cantu, said in an interview that his client always intended to answer to the charges in Minneapolis. He disputed Hennepin County prosecutors’ assertions that Castro might flee to Mexico, saying, “He wants his day in court.”
Castro had been released on bond from federal custody earlier this month, wearing a GPS ankle monitor, after an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in McAllen, Texas, on charges of lying to investigators about the circumstances of the January 14 shooting.
The federal indictment charging him with making false statements marked the first U.S. Justice Department prosecution of a federal law enforcement officer accused of wrongdoing arising from the massive Minneapolis ICE deployment dubbed Operation Metro Surge.
CASE STEMS FROM OPERATION METRO SURGE
That operation, part of President Donald Trump’s wider immigration crackdown, drew weeks of protests and clashes between ICE and demonstrators, leading to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.
Castro already faced state assault charges in Minnesota stemming from the confrontation in which he shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national, in the leg through the door of the man’s apartment while children were present inside the home.
The state charges also include false reporting of a crime after Castro allegedly told superiors at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that Sosa-Celis and others attacked him with a snow shovel and broom, which was disproved by video evidence.
Initial efforts to arrest Castro were thwarted when the ICE agent returned to his home state of Texas, leading Minnesota officials to issue a warrant for his arrest.
Castro was apprehended by Texas Rangers, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican and supporter of Trump’s mass deportation sweeps, refused to sign extradition papers sent by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat.
Abbott questioned whether Castro could be considered a fugitive from justice, and thus subject to extradition, because DHS had reassigned him to his home state of Texas after the Minneapolis shooting.
The ICE agent ultimately spent 90 days in a Texas county jail and was released on August 27 after a federal judge in Texas denied a request from Minnesota to immediately order his extradition. Castro, who Minnesota officials branded a flight risk. He was re-arrested in Texas following his federal grand jury indictment in early September.
DHS has suspended Castro from ICE, and a person familiar with the case has said a civil rights investigation into the Sosa-Celis shooting had been opened.
Castro was expected to make his first state court appearance in Minneapolis on Thursday. He will then make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in neighboring St. Paul, the state capital, on Friday morning to face charges in the federal indictment.
“Governor Abbott’s attempt to shield Mr. Castro from accountability has failed. We look forward to commencing our prosecution,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who brought the state case, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Michael Perry)
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