Minnesota charges – Christian J. Castro, an ICE officer accused of firing on Julio César Sosa-Celis during a January 14, 2026 incident in North Minneapolis, was charged Monday with second-degree assault and falsely reporting a crime. The case follows shifting federal accounts, a
When Christian J. Castro allegedly shot Julio César Sosa-Celis in the thigh on January 14, 2026, the federal narrative arrived quickly. It said the two men assaulted a federal officer. The story then changed after a widely circulated video showed a different sequence.
On Monday. the state moved again. charging Castro in a case that has become a flashpoint for how little accountability can reach the people affected by federal force.. Castro is charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime tied to the shooting of Sosa-Celis. a Venezuelan immigrant. on January 14. 2026.
The charges come just one week after the killing of Renée Good.
Sosa-Celis and his roommate. Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna. were pursued after federal officers and Castro chased events tied to the aftermath of a crash.. A federal agent shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh after Sosa-Celis and another officer pursued Aljorna.. Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty said both Sosa-Celis and Aljorna reside in the US legally.. The two men’s attorneys said neither had violent criminal records.
Federal authorities initially claimed Sosa-Celis and Aljorna assaulted a federal officer.. The next day, former Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem called the incident an act of “attempted murder” without evidence.. She said the men beat the officer “with snow shovels and the handles of brooms.” Then the video began circulating widely. contradicting the federal government’s statements. and the federal government changed their story.
The video shows Aljorna going to his home after crashing his car while Castro chases him. Sosa-Celis was outside, and he, Aljorna, and Castro tussled. No weapons were used during the tussle. The two men then run into their home after the officer shoots at them.
A week after the shooting, the FBI said it was a case of mistaken identity.
Moriarty did not just outline what the county alleges.. Before she announced the charges, she described what her office found.. In an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune before the announcement. Moriarty said their investigation revealed “no demonstrable trauma to [Castro’s] body. except for an abrasion to his left hand.”
Her office has also taken steps beyond this one case to pursue Castro. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, which covers all of Minneapolis, issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Castro.
The county’s filings and investigations have unfolded as Minnesota has repeatedly challenged the federal approach to accountability when ICE officers are involved.. In April. the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged another ICE agent for pointing his weapon at two people while driving illegally on the highway.
Minnesota’s broader legal pressure has been aimed directly at how evidence is handled.. The state sued the Trump administration in March. alleging it withheld evidence in the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti and in the shooting of Sosa-Celis in order to prevent possible charges against their agents.
Moriarty tried to hold two truths at once during Monday’s press conference.. She said. “There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal officers who commit crimes in this state or any other.” But she also acknowledged the stakes of getting it wrong.. “While I understand people really want accountability and they saw what they saw in the [Good and Pretti] videos. this is incredibly complex.. The last thing we want to do is make a mistake.”
The system that put residents in this position has been drawing criticism for months.. Under Operation Metro Surge, the federal government’s violence was described as intentional.. During that period. ICE faced pressure to meet the administration’s goal of 3. 000 daily arrests. and the response included a hiring spree.. The result. critics said. was less than optimal: recruits reportedly failed fitness tests and did not undergo proper vetting. with experts raising concerns about lowering standards and reducing training times for new hires.
After a congressional hearing, lawmakers were shown evasions from the heads of ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and Citizenship and Immigration Services when asked about killings by ICE officers.
On Monday. Minnesota’s case against Castro put the focus back on local and state power to pursue charges when federal accountability stalls.. The emotional force of the moment is hard to miss: videos that contradicted official accounts. weeks of shifting claims. and now formal charges laid out by a state prosecutor.
For people in North Minneapolis and beyond. the question that has hung over every turn in this story is whether accountability will finally catch up with the consequences.. Moriarty’s office is drawing that line in court. even as the broader complaint persists that the cruelty can still be happening while the process moves slowly.
ICE Minnesota Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty Christian J. Castro Julio César Sosa-Celis Renée Good Alex Pretti Kristi Noem Operation Metro Surge
So ICE officer shoots somebody in MN and they’re just now charging him? Cool cool.
I heard the feds said it was attempted murder, then a video pops up and suddenly it’s a different story. These people always change the narrative after the internet sees it. Also the Renée Good thing one week later?? just sad and messed up.
Wait the article says he shot him in the thigh but they’re charging second-degree assault AND falsely reporting a crime, that seems like 2 different things. If the guy is “legally in the US” then why are they calling it all ICE stuff like he was a criminal.
Kristi Noem saying attempted murder without evidence is insane. But I’m confused because didn’t they already say the men attacked a federal officer? Like how many times can the story switch before anyone just admits what happened. Video or not, the whole “snow shovels and broom handles” part sounds like a movie.