A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who has been accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant in northern Minneapolis was released from jail in southern Texas, where he had been awaiting extradition to Minnesota.
Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino confirmed that Christian Castro was released from jail shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday morning. Thursday marked the maximum amount of time ICE Agent Christian Castro could be held in jail while waiting for Gov. Greg Abbott to decide whether to sign Minnesota's extradition warrant.
Gov. Tim Walz and attorneys for Minnesota had sought to extend Castro's detention, saying there was a high risk Castro might flee to Mexico. They also sought to compel Abbott to sign the extradition warrant, arguing Abbott's failure to sign the warrant after more than two months amounted to a refusal to do so. On Wednesday, Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. denied both requests, setting the stage for Castro's release.
"The court was right to reject Governor Walz's absurd claim," said Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for Abbott. "The Constitution requires deliberate consideration of extradition requests and tasks Governor Abbott to ‘decide, upon such evidence as he may deem satisfactory' whether ‘the person demanded is a fugitive.' Today's order rebuffs Minnesota's efforts to conscript federal courts into commandeering the authority of Governor Abbott's office."
Castro allegedly shot Julio Sosa-Celis through the door of Sosa-Celis's home in January, while Castro was deployed to north Minneapolis as part of ICE's Operation Metro Surge. Castro initially claimed Sosa-Celis had attacked him, but this was contradicted by surveillance footage.
This led to Hennepin County, Minnesota, charging Castro with four counts of assault and one of falsely reporting a crime. By that time, however, Castro had left Minnesota, prompting a county judge to issue a nationwide warrant for his arrest. Castro was arrested in May in a county along the Texas-Mexico border.
No attorney spoke for Castro in the Texas extradition case, and he has not made any kind of public statement since.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a written statement saying he was disturbed to learn of Castro’s release from jail.
“Christian Castro is a fugitive from justice who still must answer for his crimes in Minnesota,” Ellison said. “He should turn himself today in to face them. In the meantime, we will continue our lawsuit to force Abbott to do his legal and constitutional duty.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty advanced a similar argument during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, following the court's decision.
"I am told that Governor Abbott claims to be tough on crime," Moriarty said. "How exactly is he tough on crime by manipulating an extradition process that is supposed to be administrative, to protect a man who shot into a house with children inside, lied about it and is under investigation by the federal government?"
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