A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has been arrested in Texas. He faces multiple felony charges in connection with the shooting of a Venezuelan man during a controversial federal immigration operation in Minneapolis earlier this year.The arrest of ICE officer Christian Castro comes months after prosecutors alleged that federal agents provided inaccurate accounts of the January incident.According to prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Castro has been charged with four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime. Authorities allege Castro shot Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis during an ICE enforcement operation in Minneapolis on January 14. Castro was arrested in Harlingen, Texas, with assistance from state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Rangers. Prosecutors say the arrest followed a nationwide search after charges were formally filed earlier in May. The case centers on an immigration enforcement mission that was part of “Operation Metro Surge,” a large-scale federal crackdown launched in Minnesota under the Trump administration’s expanded immigration enforcement strategy. What investigators say happenedCourt filings and investigative findings indicate that federal agents were attempting to apprehend another Venezuelan man, Alfredo Aljorna, when the confrontation occurred. Authorities said Aljorna fled in a vehicle, crashed into a snowbank and ran toward a residence where Sosa-Celis was present. Federal officers initially claimed that Sosa-Celis attacked agents with a shovel and that officers responded to a dangerous threat. Homeland Security officials at the time described the encounter as a serious assault on law enforcement. Federal prosecutors subsequently filed assault charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna. However, later reviews of surveillance footage and other evidence raised significant questions about those claims. Investigators concluded that video evidence appeared inconsistent with the original allegations. Prosecutors say footage showed Sosa-Celis dropping the shovel and retreating inside as shots were fired. As a result, federal prosecutors eventually dropped the assault charges against both men, stating that evidence obtained after the initial filings was “materially inconsistent” with earlier testimony. Federal and state authorities clash over prosecutionThe case has triggered an unusual dispute between Minnesota officials and federal immigration authorities.Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has argued that federal officers are not immune from state criminal laws and that Minnesota has jurisdiction to prosecute crimes allegedly committed within its borders. During the announcement of charges, Moriarty said a federal badge does not shield an officer from accountability under state law. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have strongly pushed back. Federal officials described the prosecution as politically motivated and questioned whether local prosecutors should be pursuing charges against a federal law enforcement officer. Castro is the second federal immigration officer charged in connection with incidents linked to the Minneapolis enforcement operation. Another ICE agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., previously faced assault-related charges in a separate encounter during the same crackdown. The January operation generated national controversy after several violent confrontations involving federal agents. Besides the shooting of Sosa-Celis, two US citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot during separate incidents connected to federal immigration enforcement activities in Minneapolis. Those cases remain under investigation and have fueled ongoing criticism from civil rights advocates and local officials. Sosa-Celis survived the shooting after being struck in the leg. According to court records and prosecutors, he was legally residing in the United States at the time under Temporary Protected Status.