Officials at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., overturned plans to file legal rights charges against an immigration and customs police agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan refugee and then lying about it, despite the” strongest possible” objections from the case’s counsel.
During Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration campaign that brought hundreds of national agencies into the state, the agent, 52-year-old Christian Castro, reportedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg in Minneapolis in January. One of three murders by immigration providers in the area, the other two of which were dangerous, occurred during this instance.
According to several people with knowledge of the case, federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under the shade of laws for the killing of Sosa-Celis. Similar charges to those brought against Minneapolis police officers who are accused of killing George Floyd are possible and carry severe prison sentences.
Late on Tuesday, Matthew Evans, the assistant U.S. attorney in charge of the case, instructed Sosa-Celis and other victims to “only prepare for Castro to be charged with False Statements,” according to an email that ProPublica reviewed.
If he were found guilty, that charge would likely result in a much less severe punishment.
In a remarkably honest account of internal discussions, Evans wrote that” This is being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney.” I “opposed it with all of my might and worked as hard as I could.” It wasn’t sufficient.
He claimed that the false statement charges could soon be filed and that they were likely to be sealed.
Evans ended the email by saying,” It has been an honor and a privilege to try to get justice for your clients.”
According to a DOJ official, civil rights cases require consultation with the civil rights division in Washington, and “any charging decisions that come out of such investigations are collaborative and deliberative, and adhere to the facts and laws of that particular case and controversy.”
The official stated that the organization “has not yet reached a conclusion on this matter” and that it will never rush an investigation and a thorough examination of all evidence.
Evans and a U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota spokeswoman declined to comment. A Sosa-Celis attorney did not respond to calls from a reporter. Castro, who has an outstanding warrant for this case in Minnesota, was unavailable for comment.
The Justice Department’s civil rights division has been thinned under the Trump administration, and some of the law enforcement agencies ‘ oversight has been eliminated. This action by the DOJ is likely to stoke further concerns that the agency is working more in favor of President Donald Trump’s political agenda than to uphold the rule of law. In almost every instance of immigration agents shooting people, according to a ProPublica analysis conducted earlier this year, Trump’s administration placed the blame on the injured and dead within hours of the incident. Federal or local police, in many of those cases, declined to conduct an investigation into the agents.
Castro, who was given a leave of absence by the Department of Homeland Security, is also facing a number of state felony counts in Minnesota, including assault with a dangerous weapon. Texas Gov. Castro fled Minneapolis and was later requested by state officials to extradite him to face the charges, but Texas governor refused. Greg Abbott resisted to cooperate. Castro was imprisoned for 90 days while the two states fought over the extradition. He was let go last week.
Sosa-Celis was shot on January 14 as a result of a traffic stop where Castro and another ICE agent chased Venezuelan immigrant Alfredo Aljorna. Aljorna rushed to his house, which he shared with Sosa-Celis. After a brief scramble, the two men managed to get inside and Castro “wrote” a statement stating that the couple knew the house was being occupied by several people. When Castro shot into the home, one witness claimed there were two children inside. Sosa-Celis was struck in the leg.
According to the documents and other court records, ICE agents then entered the home and arrested the men and their partners.
DHS initially claimed that Castro and the other agent had been attacked by the men and punched with a shovel or broomstick, causing Castro to flee in self-defense. Federal prosecutors charged Sosa-Celis and Aljorna with assault after the DHS labeled them as “violent criminal illegal aliens.”
However, the charges against both men were dropped the following month, and the DHS reversed its course in a rare admission of wrongdoing against its officers. According to a statement from then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons,” Video evidence has revealed the sworn testimony of the two agents appeared to be false.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who is prosecuting Castro for the state against him, expressed concern that Castro will flee to Mexico after his release from jail.
When asked for comment on Wednesday, Moriarty compared the Justice Department’s decision to override Evans to its actions following the killing of Renee Good by ICE agents. ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good in her car a week before Sosa-Celis was killed. Agents claimed she had driven toward them, but video footage showed Good’s wheels turning away from them when they shot her. Federal authorities initially agreed to a joint investigation, but state police and the Justice Department later resisted any further investigation because they deemed a review of the fatal shooting unneeded.
The first article on ProPublica about Trump’s DOJ blocking Serious ICE Shooting Charge came from ProPublica.
