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Wednesday June 03, 2026
(MINNEAPOLIS) -- Minnesota prosecutors on Monday announced charges against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year.
The federal agent, Christian Castro, was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, according to the Hennepin County attorney.
"Mr. Castro fired his service weapon at the front door of the home, knowing there were people who had just run inside that presented absolutely no threat to him or anyone else," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a news conference Monday.
According to Moriarty, the bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg, passed through a closet and lodged in the wall of a child's bedroom. She added that Castro was not under any physical threat when he opened fire and that claims from government officials that he had been struck with a shovel or broom were false.
"There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal officers who commit crimes in this state or any other," Moriarty said. "A violent crime did occur that night, but it was Mr. Castro who committed it."
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
According to the criminal complaint, the confrontation began when Castro and other ICE agents chased a man who was delivering food for DoorDash back to his house.
The complaint states that security footage shows that Castro tackled the driver after he jumped out of his car and was running toward his home, which he shared with Sosa-Celis. Another resident then separated the two men and was able to get inside the house with the driver.
According to the complaint, video evidence shows Castro then fired a single gunshot through the closed front door and hit Sosa-Celis in the right leg.
Four adults and two children were inside the home at the time of the gunfire, the complaint states. Following the shooting, ICE agents deployed tear gas, breached the residence, and took the occupants into custody.
Bail for Castro was set at $200,000.
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(NEW YORK) -- Members of the House Oversight Committee on Monday are set to interview a former prison guard who was on duty at the Metropolitan Corrections Center in New York when convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019.
The interview of Tova Noel -- believed to be the last person to have seen Epstein before his death -- comes amid renewed scrutiny of Epstein's death.
Epstein died by suicide according to an autopsy conducted by the New York medical examiner, though a series of missteps by prison officials have long fueled conspiracy theories about his death.
Noel is alleged to have spent the hours ahead of Epstein's death scrolling the internet, rather than performing the required headcounts of the prisoners in the unit where the disgraced sex offender was housed. Prosecutors in 2019 charged Noel and another prison guard with falsifying records to make it seem as if they did the required checks, and both ended up reaching a deal with prosecutors to have the charges dropped.
The recent release of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice has brought renewed attention to Noel's actions, and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said she was called to testify because some lawmakers "aren't confident 100% that Epstein's death was by suicide."
"No one's accusing her of any wrongdoing, but we have a lot of questions about Epstein," Comer told Fox News in March.
Lawmakers have highlighted that Noel received a series of cash deposits between April 2018 and July 2019 totaling $12,000 -- with most taking place before Epstein was arrested -- and that the last deposit was made prior to Epstein's death. Documents released by the DOJ also show that Noel made a series of internet searches about Epstein the night he died, including "latest on Epstein in jail."
While those documents have attracted public attention, investigators appear to have already probed those matters. Grand jury transcripts released from the case against Noel released by the DOJ earlier this year showed that the FBI examined her bank records and found no evidence of a bribe.
She also told the DOJ inspector general that she did not remember searching the internet for Epstein, but may have read an article about Epstein.
Surveillance video from the jail also showed a flash of orange appearing near Epstein's cell the night he died, and a report by the Justice Department's inspector general concluded the video showed a corrections officer "believed to be Noel" carrying linen to the area near Epstein's cell.
In a sworn interview in 2021, Noel claimed she "never gave out linen," and denied providing Epstein with excess linen that may have been used to form a noose.
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(NEW YORK) -- The Department of Justice is finalizing a deal to launch a so-called "Truth and Justice Commission" and establish a compensation fund of $1,776,000,000 to pay claims made by alleged victims of government "weaponization" in exchange for President Donald Trump dropping his ongoing lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, sources told ABC News.
Sources told ABC News that the proposed deal -- which is likely to face legal hurdles and has already been criticized by Democrats as a "slush fund" for Trump's allies -- arose after months of deliberations between the White House and DOJ officials who originally attempted to craft a legal justification for the settlement to compensate Trump directly.
Internally, DOJ lawers believed they could ignore the conflict of interest outright, privately arguing that Trump has both the right to sue as a private citizen and the power to command the executive branch as president, according to sources familiar with their discussions.
Advocating a centuries-old legal principle known as the "rule of necessity," DOJ lawyers have argued that no alternative existed other than letting the lawsuit proceed with Trump acting as the plaintiff while being directly in charge of the defendants -- the IRS and Treasury -- according to sources.
Sources said that plan was ultimately scuttled in favor of the $1.776 billion compensation fund -- with the figure being a nod to the nation's founding -- as the judge overseeing Trump's IRS lawsuit began to raise issues with Trump suing the very government he leads. In an order last month, U.S. District Judge Katheen Williams ordered Trump's lawyers in the case and the Department of Justice to submit court filings by next week to justify whether both sides of the case were sufficiently adverse for the matter to proceed.
Terms of the proposed compensation arrangement could change before the deal is finalized, sources said.
Judge Williams also appointed a group of prominent attorneys -- including a former solicitor general as well as a federal judge -- to weigh in on the case.
In a court filing this week, the attorneys identified serious issues with the lawsuit, arguing that Trump has "extraordinary" control over the defendants in the case and that the "circumstances raise the specter that Defendants and their attorneys may instead be operating at the President's direction."
"Additionally, since taking office, President Trump has significantly expanded the President's oversight and control over the Attorney General and DOJ, including in ways that blur the line between fidelity to the President's policy priorities and fidelity to the President himself," the filing said.
Trump sued the IRS after a government contractor pleaded guilty in 2023 to stealing the tax information of Trump and other wealthy Americans and leaking it to media outlets in 2019 and 2020.
With Judge Williams scrutinizing the case, sources said that DOJ officials formulated the proposal to create a compensation fund on the condition that Trump drops the lawsuit as well as two civil claims for $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump himself would not be eligible for payment from the fund for those three dropped claims, though entities associated with the president are not barred from filing claims, the sources said.
Sources said the "President Donald J. Trump Truth and Justice Commission" would include five commissioners -- four of whom are appointed by the attorney general -- that Trump would have the right to remove without cause. The commission would also be under no obligation to disclose the process for awarding the nearly $2 billion.
It is unclear how Judge Williams might respond to the proposed settlement -- which has yet been disclosed to the court -- though DOJ lawyers believe the settlement would not require any approval from the court.
Democratic lawmakers have already raised concerns about the reported settlement and called on Congress to pass legislation to restrict the use of taxpayer dollars for the proposed compensation fund.
"It's outright corruption. What we're seeing here is outright corruption," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Friday. "We're looking at a billion dollars for a ballroom; $1.7 billion for a slush fund for the president's friends."
Across the aisle, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick suggested the matter could end up before the Supreme Court.
"I don't even know how that's allowable to happen," Fitzpatrick told ABC News regarding the compensation fund. "It sounds like a question our colleagues across the street are going to have to resolve pretty quickly."
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(HARRISON COUNTY, Ind.) -- Three people were found dead in a murder-suicide after the shooter expressed suicidal thoughts to a family member, according to authorities.
Harrison County deputies responded to a welfare check on Wednesday at a residence in southern Indiana after a Mississippi man reported that his brother expressed suicidal thoughts to him in a phone call earlier in the day, according to the Harrison County Sheriff's Department.
Deputies found a dead man on the front porch, identified as 36-year-old Brett Dixon, the sheriff's department said.
Inside the residence, two additional people were found dead, Melissa Cochran Dixon, 54, and Paul Dixon, 61, according to the sheriff's office.
Brett Dixon was shot twice -- in the chest and head -- Melissa Cochran Dixon suffered a single gunshot wound to the head and Paul Dixon sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office said it believes Paul Dixon is responsible for the shootings and said there is no threat to the community and no suspect at large.
"This incident is a tragic loss, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family, extended family, and friends of those involved," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
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(SEATTLE)-- The transgender University of Washington student who was killed in a student housing building suffered over 40 stab wounds to the head, neck, shoulder, arms and hands, according to the probable cause statement.
Juniper Blessing, 19, was found covered in blood in the laundry room of the Nordheim Court building on Sunday night, according to court documents.
The suspect, 31-year-old Christopher Leahy, surrendered to police on Wednesday and was booked for first-degree murder, documents said.
"Our family has been shattered," Blessing's family said in a statement released by the Human Rights Alliance. "Juniper was simply the most amazing human being we have ever known -- highly intelligent, extremely talented, and deeply sensitive to the needs of others. Juniper's loss not only devastates us but diminishes the world."
"A gifted singer with a transcendent voice, Juniper was admitted to New Mexico School for the Arts, where they studied from 2020 until 2024," the family said. "Weather was a love of Juniper's since early childhood, and at the University of Washington they intended to study Atmospheric Science while continuing to study voice and pursuing minors in Music and Philosophy. They loved Seattle and Santa Fe, where they worked as an usher during summers at the Santa Fe Opera."
"Juniper was courageously living their life as who they were until it was cut tragically short," the family said.
According to court documents, another Nordeim Court resident told police that shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday, a man followed her when she used her card to access the building and laundry room.
She said the man told her he was waiting for his laundry. Surveillance video shows them in the laundry room and the suspect "appears to be visually searching the room for cameras," court documents said, before he left the room.
A video from 10 p.m. shows Blessing in the laundry room, and the suspect "comes back into the laundry room and stares directly into the camera," documents said.
The suspect "appears to follow the path of the cord with his eyes and head from the camera around the wall above the doorway," documents said. "He then turns to exit the laundry room, something clatters to the ground and he pauses. He continues out of the laundry room at 10:00:27 p.m."
"Blessing is seen cleaning the lint tray, appears to add more time to the dryer, then stands up and deposits the lint into the garbage at the end of the bank of dryers. ... The video stops at 10:01:01 p.m.," documents said.
Seattle police released the images of the suspect in the laundry room, documents said. A man named Patrick Leahy contacted police saying the suspect in the image was "without a doubt" his brother, Christopher Leahy, according to the documents, and a friend also reached out to police identifying Christopher Leahy as the man in the photo.
Christopher Leahy's attorney called the Bellevue Police Department on Wednesday night to say he was turning himself in, documents said. Christopher Leahy came to the department with his parents and was taken into custody, the documents said.
Christopher Leahy made his first court appearance on Thursday and is due back in court on Monday, according to ABC Seattle affiliate KOMO. He has not entered a plea.
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(CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.) -- Rage-baiting livestreamer Dalton Eatherly, known online as "Chud the Builder," is being held on $1.25 million bond after being charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse.
Eatherly, 28, and another man sustained gunshot wounds during the shooting incident Wednesday outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
There was a "physical altercation that escalated to gunfire," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
Following an investigation into the shooting, Eatherly was arrested later that day and charged with attempted murder, as well as employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff's office.
During his arraignment on the charges Friday, Judge Reid Poland III noted the need to "protect the public interest and public safety" due to the seriousness of the charges and the public location of the shooting, while setting the bond at $1.25 million.
The prosecutor asked for the bond to be addressed at a later hearing so the court could review all factors, including a pending case Eatherly has in Davidson County, and "make an informed decision."
Eatherly's next bond hearing has been scheduled for May 21, and a preliminary hearing for May 26. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.
Online court records show Eatherly had a civil debt appearance scheduled Wednesday morning at the Montgomery County courthouse, though it's unclear if he attended the hearing.
He was involved in a "confrontation" with another man outside the courthouse, District Attorney General Robert Nash, whose district covers Montgomery County, said in a statement.
"The confrontation resulted in gunfire, and both men were taken for medical treatment," Nash said.
Both men were transported to area hospitals in stable condition, according to the sheriff's office. Authorities have not publicly identified the other man involved in the incident.
Eatherly has made a social media presence by recording and livestreaming his racist confrontations with Black people and others while touting his constitutionally protected right to do so.
The shooting incident came days after he was arrested in a separate incident in Nashville and charged with theft, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to court records.
He was arrested over the weekend for allegedly refusing to pay for $371.55 in food and drink from a restaurant at the Omni Hotel where he had been livestreaming, according to court records.
When restaurant staff asked him to stop livestreaming during the incident on Saturday, "he became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene at the location," an affidavit filed in Davidson County Court stated.
Online court records do not list any attorney for Eatherly in that case.
ABC News' Jack Date contributed to this report.
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(EL PASO, Texas) -- The wife of an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant with 27 years of service was released from immigration custody on Thursday.
Deisy Fidelina Rivera Ortega was taken into custody on April 14 in El Paso, Texas, while attending a routine immigration interview related to a "Parole in Place" application -- a program designed to allow undocumented family members of military personnel to remain in the U.S. legally.
She was released after being in federal custody for one month, her attorney told ABC News.
Rivera Ortega is married to Sgt. 1st Class Jose Serrano, a U.S. Army sergeant stationed at Fort Bliss who has been deployed to Afghanistan three times. He told ABC News last month that he and his wife had been "doing everything by the book."
"She goes to work or to church," Serrano said. "That's the life of my wife, Deisy."
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said she personally called Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to request Rivera Ortega's release.
"I'm thankful to Secretary Mullin for heeding my personal call to release Deisy, but she -- and so many others -- should never have been in this situation to begin with," Duckworth said in a statement to ABC News.
"Deisy was doing everything 'the right way': attending her Military Parole in Place interview, when she was detained by ICE with no warrant and no explanation," said Duckworth, a Army veteran. "There is no higher betrayal to our heroes than having one of their family members deported by the same nation they sacrificed to defend."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, "On April 14, ICE arrested Deisy Fidelina Rivera-Ortega, an illegal alien from El Salvador. Rivera-Ortega entered the U.S. in 2016 near Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and was released on bond. An immigration judge issued her a final order of removal on December 12, 2019. Rivera-Ortega has been released from ICE custody with a GPS tracking device, mandatory home visits, and ICE office check-ins. She will receive full due process."
Rivera Ortega -- who currently works for IHG Army Hotels at Fort Bliss -- has a valid work permit through 2030 and was previously granted withholding of removal from her home country, El Salvador, according to documents reviewed by ABC News.
After being detained in April, she was facing deportation to a third country.
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