ImmigrationSep 3, 2026·3 min read·🔥 High relevance

Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections

ProPublica – Immigration

12h ago

Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections

Summary

Over the “strongest possible” objections from the federal prosecutor handling the case, leaders at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., quashed plans to bring civil rights charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and then lying about it. The incident was one of three shootings by immigration agents in the city, the other two of which were fatal. Earlier this year, a ProPublica analysis found that in almost every instance of immigration agents shooting people, Trump’s administration blamed the injured and dead within hours of the incident. Sosa-Celis was shot on Jan. 14, as Castro and another ICE (immigration enforcement agency) agent chased Alfredo Aljorna, an immigrant from Venezuela, after a traffic stop. ICE agents then deployed tear gas into the home and took the men and their partners into custody, according to the documents and other court records. DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) originally said Castro and the other agent were ambushed by the men and beaten with a shovel or broomstick, making Castro fear for his life and fire in self-defense. DHS called Sosa-Celis and Aljorna “violent criminal illegal aliens,” and federal prosecutors charged them with assault. The next month, however, they dropped the charges against both men, and the DHS backed off its narrative in a rare admission of possible wrongdoing of its officers. “Video evidence has revealed the sworn testimony of the two agents appeared to be false,” then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said in a statement. Reached for comment Wednesday, Moriarty compared the Justice Department’s decision to overrule Evans to its actions after ICE agents killed Renee Good. A week before shooting Sosa-Celis, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good in her car.

From the source

Federal agents face off with protesters in a Minneapolis neighborhood after a federal agent shot a man from Venezuela while attempting to detain him in January. Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images Over the “strongest possible” objections from the federal prosecutor handling the case, leaders at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., quashed plans to bring civil rights charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and then lying about it. The agent, 52-year-old Christian Castro, allegedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg in Minneapolis this January during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration blitz that sent thousands of federal agents into the state. The incident was one of three shootings by immigration agents in the city, the other two of which were fatal. Federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law for the shooti

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14, as Castro and another ICE (immigration enforcement agency) agent chased Alfredo Aljorna, an immigrant from Venezuela, after a traffic stop.[1]

The scene where a Venezuelan immigrant was shot by an ICE (immigration enforcement agency) agent in Minneapolis in January.[2]

The incident was one of three shootings by immigration agents in the city, the other two of which were fatal.[3]

ICE agents then deployed tear gas into the home and took the men and their partners into custody, according to the documents and other court records.[4]

ProPublica – Immigration(this article)12h ago

Reached for comment Wednesday, Moriarty compared the Justice Department’s decision to overrule Evans to its actions after ICE agents killed Renee Good.

New York Times – U.S. News4d ago

The scene where a Venezuelan immigrant was shot by an ICE (immigration enforcement agency) agent in Minneapolis in January.

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