ICE agent Christian Castro pleads not guilty to federal charges related to Minneapolis shooting
Minnesota authorities have battled President Donald Trump’s administration over who should handle any charges against officer Christian Castro. Aaron M. Sprecher / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleSept. 18, 2026, 3:44 AM EDT / Updated Sept. 18, 2026, 10:29 AM EDTBy Audrey Russo, Gary Grumbach and The Associated PressST. PAUL, Minn. — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro pleaded not guilty in federal court this morning to charges of making false statements to investigators about a shooting that took place in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge.”
Castro is accused of shooting a man by the name of Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg back in January 2026. Prosecutors say Castro claimed he was being attacked, a claim contradicted by area surveillance video.
In a brief hearing on Friday morning, Castro appeared in person wearing an ankle monitor, and confirmed he has surrendered all of his firearms.
He was released on his own recognizance.
Castro, 52, had spent 90 days in Texas, in part because Texas Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott refused to sign an extradition warrant allowing his removal to Minnesota.
Castro was released this week, and returned to Minnesota where he was booked by officials there.
At a hearing for his state case on Thursday, Judge Paul Scoggin set bail at $400,000, or $200,000 if Castro agreed to a series of conditions, including that he sign a waiver saying he wouldn’t fight extradition back to Minnesota if he leaves the state while out on bail.
Castro, 52, was arrested Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis by officers with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on state charges of assault and false reporting of a crime stemming from shooting of Sosa-Celis.
In both the federal and state cases against Castro, prosecutors say he shot 24-year-old Sosa-Celis in the leg while firing through the front door of a Minneapolis home. They say Castro later falsely reported that he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before firing his gun.
“Castro invented a story to justify shooting through a front door into a house with multiple people in it,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the prosecutor handling the state case, told reporters after Thursday’s hearing. “His appearance in a Hennepin County courtroom today is a critical step in our efforts to hold him accountable for that shooting.”
Friday’s hearing, in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, involves the separate federal case in which he is charged with making false statements to investigators regarding the shooting. Castro’s defense attorneys in that case have said he plans to plead not guilty.
It’s the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year’s massive Operation Metro Surge, which brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.
Minnesota authorities have battled President Donald Trump’s administration over who should handle any charges against Castro. The Department of Homeland Security has called Minnesota’s prosecution of Castro “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” saying only federal authorities have jurisdiction.
