Hennepin County Charges ICE Agent Christian Castro With Four Counts of Second-Degree Assault and False Reporting for the Sosa-Celis Shooting

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s office announced state charges against ICE agent Christian Castro on 5/18/2026 (release date) over the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis: four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, case number 27-CR-26-12537. This is the state charge, a different occurrence from the federal false-statement indictment unsealed in September.

The county’s allegation, in its own words: Castro “discharged his weapon through the front door of a home knowing there were people who had just run inside.” It also says he “was not hit with any shovels, brooms, or weapons of any kind at any time during this incident,” contrary to the January 15 DHS press release, which, the county says, “remains on the DHS website.” Prosecutors allege Castro fired “knowing it was occupied by multiple individuals,” and Fox Twin Cities reports the complaint alleges he “provided false accounts of the confrontation to fellow ICE agents, medical staff and the FBI.” These are allegations; Castro has not been convicted.

The county frames this as the “second federal agent to be criminally charged” for Operation Metro Surge conduct, after 2026-04-16–moriarty-charges-ice-agent-morgan-assault-minnesota. On removal, the county says “should a judge grant removal, it will still be prosecuted by HCAO attorneys, under Minnesota Statute,” and that a conviction would be “ineligible for presidential pardon.”

Context: the shooting (2026-01-14–ice-agent-shoots-julio-sosa-celis-north-minneapolis-dhs-says-three-attackers-partner-says-nothing-grabbed), the dismissal of the federal charges against Sosa-Celis (2026-02-13–prosecutors-drop-charges-against-sosa-celis-and-aljorna-materially-inconsistent-dhs-says-two-agents-untruthful), the arrest (2026-05-29–ice-agent-castro-arrested-by-texas-rangers-harlingen-hennepin-warrant), and the later extradition stall (2026-08-27–ice-agent-castro-released-texas-abbott-refuses-minnesota-extradition) and federal indictment (2026-09-04–ice-officer-castro-pleads-not-guilty-six-false-statement-counts-minneapolis-shooting).

Sourcing note. Charges, case number and quotes are from the county release (fetched). Complaint contents appear only as relayed by Fox Twin Cities. Sosa-Celis is a named harm-subject approved under Mark’s Amnesty ruling.