ACLU-MN will represent Sosa-Celis through the Federal Tort Claims Act process after he was shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Christian Castro.
MINNEAPOLIS — The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota announced today that it will represent Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis as he continues to seek accountability from the federal government for the January 14, 2026 shooting that left him wounded.
Sosa-Celis will seek damages from the federal government through the Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA, process. An administrative FTCA claim is generally required as a first step toward suing the United States for wrongful acts committed by federal employees within the scope of their duties.
On January 14, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro shot Sosa-Celis in the leg at his North Minneapolis home. According to criminal charges later filed against Castro by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, Castro fired through the closed front door while standing in the front yard and under no physical threat. The bullet struck Sosa-Celis before entering the wall of a child’s bedroom. This shocking attack occurred at the height of Operation Metro Surge, during which federal agents committed some of the most flagrant constitutional violations we have witnessed in the United States since the civil rights era.
Federal officials initially claimed that agents had been attacked with a shovel and broomstick and that an officer fired defensively. Investigators later concluded that Castro had not been struck with either object. ICE Director Todd Lyons subsequently acknowledged that agents had provided false information about the incident.
In May, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. Those criminal charges are separate from Sosa-Celis’s effort to seek civil accountability from the federal government.
Minnesota authorities requested that Texas Governor Greg Abbott sign an extradition warrant to return Castro to Minnesota to face trial, but Abbott declined to extradite Castro before the state-mandated 90-day detention limit expired. Castro was released from custody in Texas earlier this week. He was indicted today on charges that he made false statements about the January 14 shooting, but he has yet to face accountability for shooting Sosa-Celis.
“Today’s indictment is not enough,” said ACLU-MN Deputy Legal Director Catherine Ahlin-Halverson. “Julio was shot by Christian Castro, arrested, and falsely prosecuted. The enormity of what happened to him is so great, and such an egregious violation of his fundamental rights, that he can never be made whole. We must demand that our system do better to hold these federal agents accountable to him, and to all of us, and that is why we are bringing this administrative claim on his behalf.”
Under the FTCA, people harmed by federal employees may seek compensation from the United States. Before bringing an FTCA lawsuit in federal court, a claimant generally must first file an administrative claim with the responsible federal agency and allow the government an opportunity to respond.
Sosa-Celis’s representation is part of ACLU-MN’s broader effort to pursue accountability for people harmed by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge. ACLU-MN is already representing more than 15 Minnesotans through the FTCA process who say federal agents subjected them to unlawful detention, false arrest, assault, excessive force and other abuses during the operation.
“Federal immigration agents shot three Minnesotans in less than three weeks, killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Julio is the one ICE shooting victim who survived,” said ACLU-MN Senior Staff Attorney Ben Casper. “In response to the gravest civil rights violations committed by its own agents, the federal government has compounded those violations by spreading lies about the victims and by obstructing efforts to seek genuine legal accountability for the abuse, injury, and killing of our neighbors in Minnesota.”
ACLU-MN intends to file an administrative claim on Sosa-Celis’s behalf and pursue all available avenues to hold the federal government accountable for its violations of his civil rights.
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