ICE Agent Christian Castro Finally Turns Himself In To Authorities [Op-Ed]

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Christian Castro has turned himself in to the authorities after a federal grand jury indicted him on six charges of making false statements. 

According to AP, Castro turned himself in to authorities in Texas on Thursday evening. Castro’s journey to this point has been long and winding. His situation started during ICE’s much-maligned Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota earlier this year, when Castro shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg during a traffic stop. 

Castro spun quite a yarn about the circumstances leading up to the shooting. He said that Sosa-Celis fled in his vehicle before crashing into a parked car. Somehow, despite the crash, Sosa-Celis and his roommate had the energy to attack Castro with shovels, so he had no choice but to shoot him, right?

Well, not really.

See, video evidence was released showing that Castro’s account of the events leading up to the shooting was a complete fabrication. As a result of the video footage, charges were dropped against Sosa-Celis and his roommate. This led to a federal investigation being opened against Castro, which led to the grand jury indictment. Castro was in Texas when the charges were filed against him, but Texas’ so-called law-and-order Gov. Greg Abbott refused to extradite him to Minnesota, where the charges were filed. 

On Friday, Castro appeared before a judge and pleaded not guilty to the six counts of making false statements. 

It’s wild that Castro is the first ICE agent facing federal charges for their actions. I guess killing people in cold blood is fine, but lying to the government is where the Justice Department draws the line. To be fair, it’s not like it wasn’t a fight to even get these charges filed against Castro.

From AP:

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.

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.

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.

This might come as a shock to you, but ICE and Border Patrol keep lying to cover up their acts of violence. An ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good while she was driving away, and then ICE lied and said she ran over the agent. ICE was quick to label Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist after fatally shooting him with no evidence. 

This isn’t even the first time a federal agent has lied about the circumstances leading up to a shooting where the victim survived. A Chicago judge dropped charges against Marimar Martinez, who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent. The case was remarkably similar to Castro’s, as the official account of events didn’t align with video footage of the incident. 

They’ve lied so much that this is my default response whenever I read their official account of incidents involving ICE agents:

SEE ALSO:

ICE Agent Charged In Minneapolis Shooting Walks Free In Texas [Op-Ed]

Trump Administration Lies In Defense Of ICE Killing Renee Nicole Good