An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been federally charged with lying about the events leading up to his shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant earlier this year, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Friday.
The officer, Christian Castro, is facing six counts of making false statements, one for each alleged lie he told investigators about the incident. He turned himself in to authorities on Thursday.
On Friday morning, he pleaded not guilty in Texas federal court and was released on a $75,000 unsecured bond with a GPS ankle montior, The Associated Press reported.
This is the first time the Justice Department has charged an officer for conduct that occurred on-duty during its highly publicized immigration operations nationwide. Castro was among the thousands of agents involved in the crackdown, which led to several violent clashes between law enforcement officers and protesters and the death of two US citizens.
Just days after one of those deadly incidents, Castro and his partner attempted to stop a vehicle driven by a man identified by prosecutors only as “A.A.”
