ICE agent charged with assault, lying about shooting, arrested in Minnesota

A federal immigration officer wanted on assault charges for shooting and wounding a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis was arrested there on Wednesday, eight months after a confrontation that became a flashpoint over U.S. President Donald Trump's deportation sweeps.



Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro turned himself in to agents of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in downtown Minneapolis and was booked into the Hennepin County jail on his outstanding arrest warrant, the agency said.



But a lawyer for the ICE agent, Rolando Cantu, said in an interview that his client always intended to answer to the charges in Minneapolis. He disputed Hennepin County prosecutors' assertions that Castro might flee to Mexico, saying, "He wants his day in court."



Castro had been released on bond from federal custody earlier this month, wearing a GPS ankle monitor, after an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in McAllen, Texas, on charges of lying to investigators about the circumstances of the January 14 shooting.



The federal indictment charging him with making false statements marked the first U.S. Justice Department prosecution of a federal law enforcement officer accused of wrongdoing arising from the massive Minneapolis ICE deployment dubbed Operation Metro Surge.