Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

“In Minnesota, we believe in equal justice under the law,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “That means nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government.”

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was arrested in Texas on Friday after he was charged by Minnesota officials for allegedly shooting a Venezuelan immigrant during an ICE operation in Minneapolis and lying about what happened.

Christian Castro, 52, was deployed as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push in the Twin Cities, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge,” and was charged by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty earlier this month with four counts of felony assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

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The charges stem from the shooting of Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis at his home on January 14 as ICE agents pursued his roommate, another Venezuelan immigrant named Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna.

According to The New York Times, Castro was arrested Friday after being tracked down by investigators with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). Texas Rangers and agents with the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General carried out the arrest, according to the Minnesota-based Sahan Journal.

“Today’s arrest is a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr. Castro,” Moriarty said. “The BCA’s investigative work was instrumental in this process, and we’re grateful for their collaboration as we pursue accountability for this incident on behalf of Mr. Sosa-Celis, his family, and our community.”

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Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were originally charged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), after Castro claimed that he had shot in self-defense when the men assaulted him with a broom and a shovel, claims that were parroted by then-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

But the charges were later dropped after video of the incident and an examination of X-ray evidence demonstrated that Castro’s claims were false. Castro and another agent were subsequently placed on administrative leave by DHS while they were investigated internally for lying under oath.

“In Minnesota, we believe in equal justice under the law. That means nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison following news of Castro’s arrest on Friday. “I am pleased to hear Christian Castro has been taken into custody and will stand trial for the crimes he allegedly committed in Minnesota. Justice demands no less.”

Castro is the second ICE agent to be charged by Moriarty’s office for their role in Operation Metro Surge, which civil rights groups and Minnesota officials have characterized as a lawless immigration crackdown involving racial profiling, warrantless arrests, violent raids, and multiple shootings by federal agents.

Another agent, Gregory Morgan Jr., was charged last month with two counts of felony second-degree assault after he allegedly pulled a gun on two local residents during a traffic stop. Morgan turned himself in to local authorities last week and was released on bond.

Ellison also sued the Trump administration in March for refusing to cooperate with the state investigation into the shooting of Sosa-Celis, and other probes into the fatal shootings of two US citizens.

Moriarty’s office has not yet brought charges against ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who fatally shot Minneapolis mother Renee Good in January, or Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez in connection with the deadly shooting of Department of Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti later that month.

Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).