Minnesota AG suing Texas governor to extradite ICE agent charged in shooting
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing Texas Governor Greg Abbott to force the extradition of the ICE officer who shot a man in north Minneapolis last January and then allegedly made false statements about the circumstances that led up to the shooting.
New litigation in Operation Metro Surge
What we know:
Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced at a news conference on Tuesday a new lawsuit to bring about the extradition of ICE officer Christian Castro.
Dig deeper:
FOX 9 is told the lawsuit will deal specifically with the extradition of 52-year-old Christian Castro. Castro was charged in Hennepin County in May with four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis. He was arrested in Cameron County, Texas on May 29 on a nationwide warrant issued in Hennepin County.
Moriarty wrote a letter in July asking Texas Governor Greg Abbott to immediately review and sign Castro's extradition paperwork. As of Tuesday, Castro remains in the Cameron County, Texas jail.
Minnesota seeking ICE agent extradition
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is urging Texas Governor Greg Abbott to sign extradition papers to transfer an ICE agent to Minnesota to faces charges tied to a shooting in Minneapolis earlier this year. FOX 9’s Paul Blume has the details.
ICE shooting in Minneapolis
The backstory:
In January, Castro was involved in a shooting in Minneapolis where he injured Sosa-Celis, striking him in the leg. Castro falsely claimed that he had been attacked with a broom and shovel before firing his service weapon. However, surveillance video proved those statements were false, prosecutors said, along with witness statements and evidence.
The shooting came a week after the deadly shooting of Renee Good and days before the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The shooting of Sosa-Celis also resulted in a night of unrest in the neighborhood in north Minneapolis.
The Source: Information in this story comes from a press release from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office, court documents and previous FOX 9 reporting.