ICE officer pleads not guilty to lying to FBI about Minneapolis shooting

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges stemming from allegations that he lied to authorities about what led up to the January shooting of a Venezuelan man during Minneapolis enforcement operations.

A federal grand jury indicted Christian Castro, 52, in early September on six counts of making materially false statements to investigators. He appeared before a magistrate judge in St. Paul on Friday where he was arraigned on the charges.

Castro, who has reportedly been suspended without pay from the agency, is the first federal immigration officer to be prosecuted by the Justice Department for actions that occurred during Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities.

“Mr. Castro voluntarily went to Minneapolis to surrender himself, both in state court and in federal court, and he’s been released on bond, and we look forward to litigating these matters and to presenting our case in court and exonerating him,” Michael Wynn, one of his........

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