Career
Castle previously worked as an associate producer for Vice News Tonight.[3] In 2020 she was hired as a producer at KCRW. While reporting a Los Angeles George Floyd protest in May 2020, Castle was shot with a rubber bullet by LAPD.[3] During her rehabilitation, she spent six months investigating the history of deputy gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LACSD).[4]
Castle accepted a buyout to leave her position at KCRW in February 2021.[5] In a statement posted to Twitter and an interview on LA Podcast, she stated she had experienced racist microaggressions during her time as an employee.[6]
In March 2021, she published her LACSD gangs series, "A Tradition of Violence: The History of Deputy Gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department" in Knock LA.[4][2] Her reporting stated that multiple gangs are active in the department and alleged that gang members have killed 19 men of color around Los Angeles.[7] One month after the series was published, Castle was detained at an LACSD press conference while reporting the event.[8] A year after publication, the city's civilian oversight board launched an investigation into the deputy gangs.[7] She was targeted for surveillance by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.[9][10] She stated that she also received death threats for her reporting.[11]
In 2022 she received the American Journalism Online Award for Best Use of Public Records and the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award for the series.[1][2][12] In 2023 she received the American Mosaic Journalism Prize for her reporting, an award for freelance journalists.[1][2][13]
Castle has freelanced for the Daily Beast, the Los Angeles Times, LA Magazine, and multiple podcasts.[2][14] Her freelance reporting broke the story of the Citizen app's misidentification of an arson suspect.[15] Her reporting has been cited by Newsweek, LA Weekly, and The Ringer.[16][17][18] In late February, 2023, it was announced Castle had signed with CAA.[2] In March 2024 she was hired as a staff writer for California-based nonprofit publication Capital & Main.[19]