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ICE Agent Charged With Lying About Minnesota Shooting

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Federal prosecutors charged an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis with lying repeatedly about the circumstances of the incident in an indictment made public on Friday. The officer, Christian Castro, faces six counts of making false statements in his account of the Jan. 14 shooting. He surrendered to federal authorities on Thursday and appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Mc Allen, Texas, where he lives, the next morning.

The federal indictment marked a rare instance of the Trump administration seeking to hold an immigration agent accountable for actions taken while on duty. Soon after the shooting, Mr. Castro told an F.B.I. agent that he fired his service weapon while lying on the ground after enduring a brutal, minutes-long assault by three men, according to the indictment. But surveillance video contradicted the officer’s account. Prosecutors said Mr. Castro had been standing up when he shot through the front door and made false claims about self-defense.

Mr. Castro entered a not guilty plea. The magistrate judge, Juan F. Alanis, set bond at $75,000 and ordered an ankle monitor, surrender of passport, and travel to Minnesota for a Sept. 18 hearing. His lawyer, David A. Lindenmuth, said there had been a rush to judgment. Mr. Castro, 52, joined ICE last September and has been suspended without pay. He also faces state charges in Minneapolis for felony assault and making a false police report.

Mary Moriarty, the county prosecutor, said she was hopeful the federal charges would lead to Mr. Castro’s return. Mr. Castro’s account was the basis of charges against the man he shot, Julio Sosa-Celis, and his roommate, which were later dismissed. The indictment does not address the lawfulness of the shooting itself.