A federal prosecutor in Minnesota, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans, has been dismissed while investigating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, Christian Castro, for potential civil rights violations related to the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, earlier this year. Sources informed CBS News that the Justice Department charged Castro this week with making false statements regarding the incident, although the indictment remains sealed.
ProPublica reported that Evans had communicated to attorneys representing Sosa-Celis and other victims that Castro would likely face only lesser charges of making false statements, rather than more serious constitutional violations. In an email cited by ProPublica, Evans expressed his objections to this direction, stating, "This is being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney. I objected in the strongest possible terms and fought it as hard as I could. It wasn't enough." CBS News has not independently verified the email.
Additionally, multiple sources indicated that Evans is currently under investigation by the Justice Department, with some suggesting it pertains to allegations of leaking information.
A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Castro on Wednesday, and he was apprehended in Texas on Thursday, with an initial court appearance scheduled for Friday. The case involves a shooting incident from January during the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts in the Minneapolis area.
Following the shooting, Sosa-Celis was charged alongside another individual, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, with assaulting federal officers. However, the narrative surrounding the incident has evolved, with ICE later accusing its agents of providing false accounts. Initially, the Department of Homeland Security claimed Sosa-Celis fled a traffic stop and attacked an ICE agent, prompting the agent to fire a shot in self-defense. Contrarily, an FBI affidavit suggested that Aljorna was the one who fled, and that Sosa-Celis had initially struck the agent during an attempt to arrest Aljorna.
Cellphone footage shared by a Democratic state senator depicted a woman reporting that her husband was pursued by ICE agents before being shot in front of his family. Further video evidence released by The New York Times contradicted the timeline of events, indicating that the altercation was much shorter than initially described.
Subsequently, the Justice Department dropped the charges against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis, citing "newly discovered evidence" that was inconsistent with the original allegations. Todd Lyons, who was leading ICE at the time, noted that a review of video evidence revealed that two ICE officers had made false statements under oath, leading to their administrative leave and potential prosecution.
Castro, the ICE agent involved in the shooting, faced state charges of assault and false reporting in May and was arrested in Texas. However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declined to extradite him to Minnesota, resulting in a legal dispute that concluded with Castro's release from a Texas jail last week.