ICE officer lied about shovel and broom attack before Minnesota shooting, Justice Department alleges

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Richer, A. D., & Gonzalez, V. (2026, September 4). ICE officer lied about shovel and broom attack before Minnesota shooting, Justice Department alleges. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/united-states/ice-officer-lied-about-shovel-and-broom-attack-before-minnesota-shooting-justice-department-alleges/article_8bca6aa1-7e43-5707-8666-c37fa1d55b96.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-04 · by Alanna Durkin Richer, Valerie Gonzalez

Quick Summary

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Christian Castro, has been accused of lying about a violent attack before shooting and wounding a Venezuelan man during an immigration crackdown in Minnesota last winter. According to a federal indictment, Castro falsely claimed he was attacked with a broom and shovel, but investigators found no evidence to support his story. The incident occurred outside a Minneapolis home where Castro had a brief physical interaction with two men, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, before shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg through the front door. Castro has pleaded not guilty to six counts of making false statements to investigators.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-04, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Christian Castro, a 52-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, was accused of shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, in the leg during an incident in Minneapolis on January 14. Castro initially claimed that he was being attacked with a broom and shovel by three individuals when he fired his weapon, but an indictment revealed that this account was false. Castro pleaded not guilty to six counts of making false statements to investigators, which carries a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years per count. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law for the shooting, but their efforts were thwarted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C., which ultimately decided not to bring civil rights charges against him despite strong objections from a federal prosecutor handling the case.

Written for “ICE Officer Lied About Shooting” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 ICE Officer Lied About Shooting
Crime & Law · 4 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 19% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News · 0.85 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 29% hedged 5 of 17 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles report on Christian Castro's not guilty plea to lying about a January shooting in Minneapolis involving a Venezuelan man, with identical details and dates.”
ProPublica
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 22% hedged 8 of 37 📰 publisher trust 96
“Both articles describe the same incident of Christian Castro shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and making false statements to investigators about it, at the same time and place.”
Reason
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 17% hedged 12 of 72 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles report on the same incident of Christian Castro shooting Julio C. Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis, with identical details about the date and circumstances.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
19%
4 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
63/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-04 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 8824 article(s) · 23 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 23 correction(s)
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Alanna Durkin Richer
17 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or by someone else with the parent’s consent.
🔮 Both officials said the death toll was preliminary and could change.
2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Several people killed in shooting at US school
🔮 Rodríguez deported Saab to the U.S. in May.
🔮 Emily Covington, a spokesperson for the department, said group boycotts among business competitors might violate U.S. law.
🔮 One judge at the center of the report, Patrick Schiltz, accused the government in January of ignoring roughly 100 court orders, stating in a ruling that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within DHS, "is not a law unto itself." Schiltz, nominated by Republican President George W. Bush and a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, told the newspaper that the situation in Minnesota's federal court last winter "created a grave threat to the rule of law." In a Wednesday statement, Schiltz insisted he was "acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to The New York Times." He noted a February advisory opinion from the Committee on Codes of Conduct reaffirming that federal judges may speak or write "on core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence,'" stating: "That is exactly what I did." The complaint was delivered to the chief judge of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which supervises Minnesota federal courts. The Republican administration frequently attacks what it calls "activist judges" supposedly intent on thwarting Trump’s agenda. Yet some of the most critical and unfavorable court rulings have originated from jurists nominated by Trump and other Republican presidents.
🔮 WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal indictments against President Donald Trump, will tell lawmakers on Tuesday that he “will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the Trump administration and that he believes the rule of law is being threatened like never before.
🔮 Justice Department officials are pressing forward despite diGenova’s departure, with a flurry of subpoenas to former law enforcement and intelligence officials expected to yield grand jury testimony in the weeks ahead at the Fort Pierce, Florida, home court of a favored Trump-appointed federal judge.
🔮 The opinion indicates the Trump administration will not defend or prosecute cases under the law that has been the subject of competing court rulings in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court decision that transformed the legal landscape around firearms.
🔮 "I will always say yes to speak when the president of the United States asks me to," Blanche told the AP last month.
🔮 “I will always say yes to speak when the president of the United States asks me to,” Blanche told the AP last month.
Also by Alanna Durkin Richer
Several people killed in shooting at US school
2026-10-15 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 17 articles by Alanna Durkin Richer →
Valerie Gonzalez
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Now, many like Martinez are souring on the president and his party, which could upend the balance of power in Washington in the Nov. 3 elections.
🔮 Meatpacking industry groups raised concerns Friday that recent heightened immigration operations in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma have caused employees to miss work, leading to problems at meat-related businesses that could ultimately raise prices for consumers.
🔮 MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Meatpacking industry groups raised concerns Friday that recent heightened immigration operations in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma have caused employees to miss work, leading to problems at meat-related businesses that could ultimately raise prices for consumers.
🔮 Federal prosecutors had initially charged Sosa-Celis and the other man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, with assault but dropped the charges after video evidence showed the officer may have lied about the encounter.
Also by Valerie Gonzalez
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

MCALLEN Minnesota Texas U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Venezuelan

Subjects

Castro PERSON · 14× Minnesota ORG · 4× Sosa-Celis PERSON · 4× Texas GPE · 3× Justice Department ORG · 2× MCALLEN GPE · 2× the Justice Department ORG · 2× Christian Castro PERSON · 1× U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ORG · 1× Venezuelan NORP · 1×

Narrative

An automatic email response from Evans’ Justice Department account said he was on leave, and other attempts to reach him were not immediately successful. Sosa-Celis’ lawyer is pressing for Castro to face stiffer charges, saying in a statement on Thursday that Castro’s statements were made to “cover up the fact that he shot my client through the door of an occupied house without a self-defense justification.” “Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes,” said the attorney, Robin Wolpert.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-04
🔮 Federal prosecutors had initially charged Sosa-Celis and the other man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, with assault but dropped the charges after video evidence showed the officer may have lied about the encounter.

Claims (21 extracted, 4 hedged)

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer falsely told investigators he was being attacked with a broom and shovel before he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during the Minnesota immigration crackdown last winter, according to a federal indictment unsealed Friday. uncertain
he → tell → indictment
Christian Castro pleaded not guilty to six counts of making false statements to investigators during an appearance in Texas federal court after turning himself into federal authorities Thursday evening. asserted
Castro → plead → authorities
He was shackled at his wrists, waist and feet during the brief hearing in McAllen. asserted
He → shackle → McAllen
A judge was expected later in the day to consider the government’s recommendation to release him with an ankle monitor. asserted
judge → expect → monitor
It’s the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year’s massive Operation Metro Surge, which brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers. asserted
which → ’ → officers
The allegations in the federal indictment mirror those brought by Minnesota officials, who have separately charged Castro with assault and false reporting of a crime related to the nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January. asserted
who → mirror → January
According to the federal indictment, Castro told an FBI agent that a man grabbed a red broom off a front porch and began hitting him with it while Castro was trying to detain another man outside a Minneapolis home. uncertain
Castro → accord → home
Castro also claimed that another man hit him with a snow shovel and that he opened fire while on the ground as the men ran away. asserted
men → claim → ground
The indictment alleges that Castro had a short “physical interaction” with Sosa-Celis and another man, before the two ran into a home with a 1-year-old child inside. asserted
two → allege → child
Castro then fired a shot through the front door while standing as the men began to close it, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg, the indictment says. asserted
indictment → fire → leg
“No person struck” Castro “with a broom as he described, and no persons wielded the broom and snow shovel as he described,” the indictment says. asserted
indictment → strike → broom
No attorney is listed for Castro in the case brought by Minnesota and it was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer to speak on his behalf. asserted
he → list → behalf
Federal prosecutors had initially charged Sosa-Celis and the other man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, with assault but dropped the charges after video evidence showed the officer may have lied about the encounter. uncertain
officer → charge → encounter
Castro was suspended from ICE in February while authorities pursued an investigation. asserted
authorities → suspend → investigation
The federal charges follow Castro’s release from jail last week after Texas’ governor refused to immediately sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities. asserted
governor → follow → authorities
The federal investigation into Castro created turmoil inside the Justice Department, with a prosecutor on the case accusing higher-ups of blocking efforts to bring more serious civil rights charges. asserted
prosecutor → create → charges
In an email obtained by ProPublica, the prosecutor told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and others that Castro would be charged only with making false statements over his “strongest objections,” adding the decision was “being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney.” A person familiar with the investigation, however, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the civil rights probe is continuing and additional charges could still be brought. uncertain
charges → obtain → Thursday
The prosecutor, Matthew Evans, has since been fired and the Justice Department is now investigating whether he broke any laws during his handling of the case, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss ongoing investigations. asserted
they → fire → investigations
An automatic email response from Evans’ Justice Department account said he was on leave, and other attempts to reach him were not immediately successful. Sosa-Celis’ lawyer is pressing for Castro to face stiffer charges, saying in a statement on Thursday that Castro’s statements were made to “cover up the fact that he shot my client through the door of an occupied house without a self-defense justification.” “Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes,” said the attorney, Robin Wolpert. asserted
attorney → say → crimes
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said Thursday that Sosa-Celis also plans to seek damages from the federal government. asserted
Celis → say → government
——— Richer reported from Washington. asserted
Richer → report → Washington
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