DOJ Blocked ICE Agent Shooting Charge over Federal Prosecutor's Objections

Recorded: Sept. 8, 2026, 6 p.m.

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DOJ Blocked Charges Against ICE Agent Accused of Shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Prosecutor Says — ProPublica

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Federal agents face off with protesters in a Minneapolis neighborhood after a federal agent shot a man from Venezuela while attempting to detain him in January.

Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections

A prosecutor planned to file civil rights charges — similar to those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd — against an ICE agent. In an email we exclusively obtained, he reveals that Trump officials quashed those plans.

by Megan Rose and Andy Mannix

September 2, 2026, 9:14 pm

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Over the “strongest possible” objections from the federal prosecutor handling the case, leaders at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., quashed plans to bring civil rights charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and then lying about it.
The agent, 52-year-old Christian Castro, allegedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg in Minneapolis this January during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration blitz that sent thousands of federal agents into the state. The incident was one of three shootings by immigration agents in the city, the other two of which were fatal.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law for the shooting of Sosa-Celis, according to several people familiar with the case. Those charges are similar to the ones leveled against Minneapolis police officers accused in George Floyd’s killing and can carry hefty prison sentences.
Late on Tuesday, Matthew Evans, the assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota in charge of the case, told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and other victims to prepare for Castro to be charged “only with False Statements,” according to an email that was reviewed by ProPublica.
That charge would likely carry a far less severe punishment if he were convicted.
“This is being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney,” Evans wrote in a remarkably candid account of internal deliberations. “I objected in the strongest possible terms and fought it as hard as I could. It wasn’t enough.”

He wrote that the false statement charges could come soon and would likely be filed under seal.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to try to get justice for your clients,” Evans concluded the email.
A DOJ official said civil rights charges require consultation with the civil rights division in Washington, and “any charging decisions that come out of such investigations are collaborative and deliberative and adhere to the facts and law of that specific case and controversy.”
The agency “has not yet reached a conclusion on this matter and will never rush an investigative process and the thorough review of all evidence,” the official said.
Evans and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota declined to comment. An attorney for Sosa-Celis did not return phone calls from a reporter. Castro, who has an outstanding warrant in Minnesota for this case, could not be reached for comment.
Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department’s civil rights division has been thinned and has dropped some Biden-era oversight of law enforcement agencies. This move by the DOJ is likely to fuel further concerns that the department is operating more in support of President Donald Trump’s political agenda than to preserve the rule of law. Earlier this year, a ProPublica analysis found that in almost every instance of immigration agents shooting people, Trump’s administration blamed the injured and dead within hours of the incident. In many of those cases, federal or local police declined to investigate the agents.
Castro, who was put on leave by the Department of Homeland Security, is also facing multiple state felony charges in Minnesota, including assault with a dangerous weapon. After he left Minneapolis and returned to Texas, Minnesota officials had requested state officials there extradite Castro to face the charges, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to cooperate. Castro had been held for 90 days in jail while the two states fought over the extradition. He was released last week.
Sosa-Celis was shot on Jan. 14, as Castro and another ICE agent chased Alfredo Aljorna, an immigrant from Venezuela, after a traffic stop. Aljorna ran to his home, which he shared with Sosa-Celis. The two men made it inside after a brief scramble, and Castro fired through the closed door, “knowing [the home] was occupied by several people,” according to state charging documents. One witness said there were two children in the house when Castro shot into it. Sosa-Celis was hit in the leg.
ICE agents then deployed tear gas into the home and took the men and their partners into custody, according to the documents and other court records.
DHS originally said Castro and the other agent were ambushed by the men and beaten with a shovel or broomstick, making Castro fear for his life and fire in self-defense. DHS called Sosa-Celis and Aljorna “violent criminal illegal aliens,” and federal prosecutors charged them with assault.

The next month, however, they dropped the charges against both men, and the DHS backed off its narrative in a rare admission of possible wrongdoing of its officers. “Video evidence has revealed the sworn testimony of the two agents appeared to be false,” then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said in a statement.
After Castro’s release from jail, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who is leading the state’s prosecution against him, said she worried that Castro will flee to Mexico.
Reached for comment Wednesday, Moriarty compared the Justice Department’s decision to overrule Evans to its actions after ICE agents killed Renee Good. A week before shooting Sosa-Celis, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good in her car. Agents alleged she drove toward them, but video of the incident showed Good’s wheels turned away from them when they shot her. Federal authorities first agreed to a joint investigation, but Justice Department officials later refused to cooperate with state police, deeming any review of the fatal shooting unnecessary.

Corrections

Aaron Davis contributed reporting.

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<h1>Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections</h1>
Over the “strongest possible” objections from the federal prosecutor handling the case, leaders at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., quashed plans to bring civil rights charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and then lying about it. 
The agent, 52-year-old Christian Castro, allegedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg in Minneapolis this January during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration blitz that sent thousands of federal agents into the state. The incident was one of three shootings by immigration agents in the city, the other two of which were fatal. 
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law for the shooting of Sosa-Celis, according to several people familiar with the case. Those charges are <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/former-minneapolis-police-officer-derek-chauvin-sentenced-more-20-years-prison-depriving">similar to the ones leveled against Minneapolis police officers accused in George Floyd’s killing</a> and can carry hefty prison sentences. 
Late on Tuesday, Matthew Evans, the assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota in charge of the case, told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and other victims to prepare for Castro to be charged “only with False Statements,” according to an email that was reviewed by ProPublica. 
That charge would likely carry a far less severe punishment if he were convicted.
“This is being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney,” Evans wrote in a remarkably candid account of internal deliberations. “I objected in the strongest possible terms and fought it as hard as I could. It wasn’t enough.” 
He wrote that the false statement charges could come soon and would likely be filed under seal.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to try to get justice for your clients,” Evans concluded the email.
A DOJ official said civil rights charges require consultation with the civil rights division in Washington, and “any charging decisions that come out of such investigations are collaborative and deliberative and adhere to the facts and law of that specific case and controversy.”
The agency “has not yet reached a conclusion on this matter and will never rush an investigative process and the thorough review of all evidence,” the official said. 
Evans and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota declined to comment. An attorney for Sosa-Celis did not return phone calls from a reporter. Castro, who has an outstanding warrant in Minnesota for this case, could not be reached for comment.
Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department’s civil rights division has been thinned and has dropped some Biden-era oversight of law enforcement agencies. This move by the DOJ is likely to fuel further concerns that the department is operating more in support of President Donald Trump’s political agenda than to preserve the rule of law. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/why-local-state-police-rarely-investigate-ice-cbp-fbi">a ProPublica analysis found that in almost every instance</a> of immigration agents shooting people, Trump’s administration blamed the injured and dead within hours of the incident. In many of those cases, federal or local police declined to investigate the agents.
Castro, who was put on leave by the Department of Homeland Security, is also facing multiple state felony charges in Minnesota, including assault with a dangerous weapon. After he left Minneapolis and returned to Texas, Minnesota officials had requested state officials there extradite Castro to face the charges, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to cooperate. Castro had been held for 90 days in jail while the two states fought over the extradition. He was released last week. 
Sosa-Celis was shot on Jan. 14, as Castro and another ICE agent chased Alfredo Aljorna, an immigrant from Venezuela, after a traffic stop. Aljorna ran to his home, which he shared with Sosa-Celis. The two men made it inside after a brief scramble, and Castro fired through the closed door, “knowing [the home] was occupied by several people,” according to state charging documents. One witness said there were two children in the house when Castro shot into it. Sosa-Celis was hit in the leg. 
ICE agents then deployed tear gas into the home and took the men and their partners into custody, according to the documents and other court records.
DHS originally said Castro and the other agent were ambushed by the men and beaten with a shovel or broomstick, making Castro fear for his life and fire in self-defense. DHS called Sosa-Celis and Aljorna <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/01/15/dhs-releases-more-details-about-three-violent-criminal-illegal-aliens-who-violently">“violent criminal illegal aliens,”</a> and federal prosecutors charged them with assault. 
The next month, however, they dropped the charges against both men, and the DHS backed off its narrative in a rare admission of possible wrongdoing of its officers. “Video evidence has revealed the sworn testimony of the two agents appeared to be false,” then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said in a statement. 
After Castro’s release from jail, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who is leading the state’s prosecution against him, said she worried that Castro will flee to Mexico.
Reached for comment Wednesday, Moriarty compared the Justice Department’s decision to overrule Evans to its actions after ICE agents killed Renee Good. A week before shooting Sosa-Celis, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good in her car. Agents alleged she drove toward them, but video of the incident showed Good’s wheels turned away from them when they shot her. Federal authorities first agreed to a joint investigation, but Justice Department officials later refused to cooperate with state police, deeming any review of the fatal shooting unnecessary.
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Leaders within the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. ultimately blocked plans to file civil rights charges against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro, who was accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in Minneapolis in January during Operation Metro Surge. This decision followed strong objections from federal prosecutors regarding the case. Federal prosecutors in Minnesota were preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law, which carries significant potential prison sentences, similar to those associated with the killing of George Floyd. In a candid internal email reviewed by ProPublica, Matthew Evans, the assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota handling the case, advised victims and their lawyers to prepare for charges limited to false statements, suggesting this path might result in a less severe punishment upon conviction.

The process highlighted a significant divergence between prosecutorial ambition and the executive direction of the Department of Justice. An official within the DOJ stated that civil rights charges require consultation with the civil rights division in Washington and that any charging decisions must be collaborative, deliberative, and strictly adhere to the facts and law of the specific case. Furthermore, this official asserted that the agency has not reached a conclusion on the matter and will not rush an investigative process or the thorough review of evidence. This outcome fueled concerns among observers that the Department of Justice's actions may prioritize the political agenda of the Trump administration over the preservation of the rule of law.

The incident itself involved agent Castro shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg while pursuing another immigrant, Alfredo Aljorna, following a traffic stop; state charging documents indicated the shooting occurred inside a home occupied by several people, including children. While the Department of Homeland Security initially suggested that Castro and his partner were victims of an ambush and fired in self-defense, subsequent video evidence revealed inconsistencies with this narrative when compared to statements made by agents, leading the DHS to eventually back down and acknowledge possible wrongdoing by its officers.

Following Castro’s release from jail, state prosecutors faced scrutiny regarding their decision, with Minnesota's Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty drawing a parallel between the DOJ's maneuvering and prior actions involving federal cooperation, such as the refusal of Justice Department officials to cooperate with state police after the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent. This comparison suggests a pattern where federal authorities may choose not to pursue rigorous investigations into incidents involving immigration agents, particularly when it conflicts with prevailing political narratives. Furthermore, Castro continues to face multiple state felony charges in Minnesota, including assault with a dangerous weapon, and extradition efforts with Texas have been contested, reflecting the complex legal and jurisdictional challenges surrounding the case.