Christian Castro, the ICE agent who allegedly shot a bystander through a door in Minneapolis, has been indicted in federal court in Minnesota for filing a false statement about the incident.

This is the agent of whom Minnesota sought extradition from Texas. He was released last week. As far as I can tell his whereabouts are unknown.

Apparently under orders from Main Justice, the federal prosecutor wasn't allowed to bring the more serious charge involving the shooting. That federal prosecutor was fired Wednesday.

IF DOJ decides to enforce federal law and Castro is brought back to Minnesota, it will be interesting to see if the Feds block Minnesota from prosecuting him for the alleged shooting.

My guess is that the whole thing is a set up. Castro pleads guilty to the minor charge of false statements. Serves his time in federal prison outside of Minnesota. Minnesota files a detainer. Feds say "hmmmmm...do y'all honor ICE detainers???" Castro walks and stays in red states where Governors follow the Texas slow walk invented by Governor Abbott to evade the spirit of the Constitution.

[ I could be wrong. I didn't practice criminal law. Appreciate correction from anybody with more knowledge. ]

As far as I can tell, the federal grand jury wasn't impaneled until AFTER Castro was released from his 90-day custody. The Feds have had the evidence of the false statement since the ICE Director admitted that in FEBRUARY (as part of DOJ dismissing the charges against the guy Castro was chasing).

This is no doubt the most creative DOJ in history.

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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 shooting of Sosa-Celis, according to several people familiar with the case. Those charges are similar to the ones leveled against Minneapolis police officers accused in George Floyd’s killing and can carry hefty prison sentences.

Late on Tuesday, Matthew Evans, the assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota in charge of the case, told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and other victims to prepare for Castro to be charged “only with False Statements,” according to an email that was reviewed by ProPublica.

That charge would likely carry a far less severe punishment if he were convicted.

“This is being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney,” Evans wrote in a remarkably candid account of internal deliberations. “I objected in the strongest possible terms and fought it as hard as I could. It wasn’t enough.”

Pro Publica Article