After delay, ICE agent charged with shooting immigrant during Operation Metro Surge appears in court

Jeff Day, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 17, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — Standing handcuffed in an orange jumpsuit behind plexiglass, ICE agent Christian Castro appeared in a Minnesota courtroom Thursday after months of resistance and faced charges that he shot a Venezuelan immigrant during Operation Metro Surge and later lied about it to the FBI.

Castro’s alleged shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis created one of the most high-tension moments of Operation Metro Surge, setting off a night of unrest and unleashing statements from Trump administration officials that Sosa-Celis and his roommates had attempted to murder Castro.

As those stories unraveled through video evidence and investigations, Minnesota officials charged Castro in May with four counts of assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. He would be arrested days later in Texas, setting off an unlikely battle between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Minnesota over efforts to extradite him to Minnesota to face charges.

That issue was never resolved, but more than three months later, Castro appeared in court.

The room was filled with media and observers, including residents who bemoaned the fact that Castro didn’t look into the audience so they could glare at him. Castro’s wife travelled with him from Texas and was in the courtroom supporting him. She declined to speak to the media, as did his attorney, Daniel Gerdts.

Hennepin County Judge Paul Scoggin said his chief concern in setting bail was the flight risk that Castro posed.

“Defendant does not have substantial ties to the state of Minnesota,” Scoggin said. “And the defendant has apparently voiced some interest in fleeing the national jurisdiction.”

Hennepin County prosecutor Joshua Larson argued that Castro made 394 phone calls to a person in Mexico while he was being held in a Texas jail while Abbott investigated Minnesota’s extradition request.

Larson said Castro, “discussed his intention to leave the United States, buy a house in Mexico and reside in Mexico.”

Gerdts argued that Castro lives on the border and has family in Mexico. He also said that Castro did not oppose his extradition, but no one offered to have him sign a waiver while he sat in jail. He also said that Castro did not have anything to do with the battle between Abbott and Minnesota officials.

“He could have fled, he choose not to,” Gerdts said of Castro. “He voluntary turned himself into the federal authorities in the southern district of Texas.”

Scoggin set bail at $200,000 with several conditions — state prosecutors had requested $350,000 — and Castro pre-signed a waiver of extradition that would automatically return him to Minnesota if he were arrested.

Castro’s next court date in state court was set for Nov. 3, but his legal proceedings will be bifurcated.

He was federally indicted by a Texas grand jury earlier this month on six counts of making “materially false statements to the FBI” about his role in the shooting of Sosa-Celis. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in st. Paul on Friday morning to face those charges.

Castro’s state charges include falsely reporting a crime, but focus on his alleged assault for shooting Sosa-Celis and firing near three other people who were inside the home where Sosa-Celis lived. The federal charges against Castro do not include any allegations that he broke the law in shooting Sosa-Celis.

The shooting of Sosa-Celis was one of several boiling points between protestors, local law enforcement and federal agents during Operation Metro Surge. The federal government’s decision to not share evidence or conduct a joint investigation of the shooting and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti also became an unprecedented situation that took months to resolve.

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