ICE officer accused of lying about Minn. shooting released in Texas after immediate extradition rejected
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis was released from a Texas jail Thursday, after a judge refused to order his return to Minnesota.Christian Castro was released at the break of dawn from a detention center in Brownsville.He motioned his hand toward a few camera operators and a reporter crowding around him and quickly got into an SUV that drove off.A day earlier, U.S.
District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr.wrote in an order that said he couldn’t prevent a county sheriff from releasing Castro or order Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant.Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan.14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.Castro is accused of firing a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg.
Prosecutors say Castro also falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.After a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant for Castro’s arrest in May, authorities, including Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, arrested Castro in Cameron County on May 29.Minnesota authorities have sought his extradition since his arrest, but he remained in custody in Brownsville, a city bordering Mexico.Under Texas law, and barring extradition, Castro had to be released after 90 days of detention, which was Thursday.Minnesota officials believe Castro could flee to Mexico.Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a request for a temporary restraining order last week seeking to block Castro’s release or to order his return to Minnesota.Texas attorneys on Tuesday argued the judge could not rule on a decision that’s still pending.
Abbott has not denied the extradition.Instead he is waiting for the outcome of an internal state investigation considering whether Castro was leg...