Attorney General Keith Ellison (D-Minn) AP file photo
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO/CBS Minnesota) – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Tuesday announced he is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over the extradition of an immigration agent accused of shooting a man in Minneapolis.
Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty previously sent letters to Abbott asking him to sign extradition paperwork for Christian Castro, the ICE agent accused of shooting a man in the leg in north Minneapolis in January. Castro is charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. According to Moriarty, Texas Rangers arrested him on May 29 and he has been held at the Cameron County Jail ever since.
Ellison and Moriarty plan to speak about the lawsuit at an 11:15 a.m. news conference.
Charges say Castro lied about the shooting, claiming he was attacked by two people with a shovel and a broomstick before he fired. According to a criminal complaint, Castro’s version of the events “is contradicted by the video of the incident,” four other accounts from those involved and physical evidence.
Democratic Texas Reps. Sylvia Garcia and Vicente Gonzalez have also urged Abbott to authorize Castro’s extradition.
Ellison’s letter to Abbott set a deadline of 5 p.m. on Monday, and threatened legal action if he did not comply. The attorney general’s office said “interstate extradition is meant to be a routine procedural process with no room for individual discretion.”
Abbott’s office told WCCO it “will not comment on pending extradition matters.”
The lawsuit also seeks a temporary restraining order to bar the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office from releasing Castro.
Moriarty’s office has charged another ICE agent, Gregory Morgan Jr., with second-degree assault after he allegedly pointed a gun at two people on a Twin Cities highway in February.
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