Amnesty condemns the shooting

Where this statement fits

Was ICE Officer Christian Castro Justified in Shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis?

On January 14, 2026, ICE officer Christian Castro fired his service weapon through the closed front door of a north Minneapolis home during a foot pursuit that followed a traffic stop, wounding 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg. The Department of Homeland Security said the following day that Castro had been ambushed and beaten with a snow shovel and broom handle by Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Aljorna and a third man, Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, and fired a defensive shot fearing for his life; federal prosecutors initially charged Sosa-Celis and Aljorna with assaulting Castro. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna told investigators they had not attacked Castro, and habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of their partners disputed DHS's account. On February 12, 2026, federal prosecutors dismissed the charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna with prejudice, citing newly discovered evidence materially inconsistent with the allegations; the next day, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said a joint ICE-DOJ review of video evidence indicated two officers' sworn testimony appeared untruthful, and placed them on administrative leave. In May 2026, Hennepin County prosecutors charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, alleging he was not attacked and fired at Sosa-Celis and Aljorna after they had already gone inside the home, where children were present. In September 2026, following a monthslong dispute over his extradition from Texas, federal prosecutors separately indicted Castro on six counts of making materially false statements to the FBI about the shooting. Castro has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges; the state charges and the underlying dispute over whether his use of force was justified remain unresolved.