Ellison sues Texas governor to force extradition of ICE agent charged in Minneapolis shooting
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to force the state to turn over an ICE agent charged with shooting and injuring a man in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge.
Ellison announced that lawsuit Tuesday, standing alongside Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.
It stems from the case of ICE agent Christian Castro, who is charged in the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis in January. Hennepin County prosecutors filed the charges in May, and Castro was arrested in Texas shortly after. In early June, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz requested that Castro be extradited to Minnesota to appear in court on those charges.
But Texas officials have not complied with that order. Ellison said that refusal is uncommon — and illegal.
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“Governor Abbott has a mandatory obligation to issue the governor’s rendition warrant for Castro. He has no discretion to decline to do so. None. Yet Castro is still not here to face justice,” Ellison said Tuesday.
Charges against Castro allege he fired his weapon through the front door of a home in north Minneapolis, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg and injuring him. Other people, including children, were home at the time. Castro allegedly told law enforcement that Sosa-Celis attacked him with a snow shovel, but surveillance video of the incident contradicts that claim.
Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
Ellison said Abbott and Walz regularly grant each others’ extradition requests, and called this a unique case. Abbott typically grants Walz’s requests within about 30 days, Ellison said.
Moriarty said Abbott’s office has declined to respond to several questions from her office and other Minnesota officials.
“We have never heard of anything taking this long because it is an administrative process. It is not supposed to be controversial,” Moriarty said. “We should not have to file a lawsuit.”
Without intervention from a court, Castro could be released from jail as soon as next week. Texas law allows detainees awaiting extradition to be released from custody after 90 days; Castro will reach that deadline on Aug. 26.
In his lawsuit, Ellison is asking a federal judge to bar law enforcement in Texas from releasing Castro without turning him over to Minnesota authorities.
“I presume he’s a flight risk,” Ellison said.
Abbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
If Texas officials comply with the extradition order, Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will take him into custody and bring him back to Minnesota.
