A federal grand jury indicted a 20-year-old U.S. citizen who was arrested by federal immigration agents in June after standing up for a janitor who was being detained at a Pico Rivera shopping center last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Federal prosecutors said agents arrested a man believed to be an undocumented immigrant at the Pico Rivera Towne Center on June 17, when Adrian Andrew Martinez got out of his car and confronted agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The DOJ claimed Martinez and a crowd of others parked their vehicles to block the agents from leaving and that Martinez put a trash can in front of the agents’ vehicle.
“Make no mistake: There are serious, life-altering consequences for impeding law enforcement,” Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayl said in a written statement.
Martinez is charged with conspiracy to impede federal agents. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 21, in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. In a news release, Essayli said he could face up to six years in prison if convicted.
Martinez’s detainment in June prompted more than 150 community members to protest outside Pico Rivera City Hall and the Towne Center.
At the time, federal officials, including Essayli, claimed Martinez had assaulted a federal officer, but a criminal complaint dated June 19 with sworn testimony from a Homeland Security Investigations agent didn’t mention claims that Martinez punched or hit an agent. Security footage from a nearby juice bar also didn’t show the alleged assault, though at some points Martinez wasn’t visible in the video.
“This is clearly a trumped-up charge filed to justify the federal agents’ violent treatment of Adrian,” Martinez’s attorneys with the Miller Law Group said after he was initially charged in June.
In June, Martinez said he had clocked out for his lunch break from Walmart when he saw a federal agent grab and “man handle” a janitor who ran when authorities approached.
Martinez turned around, parked and joined a growing crowd of people telling agents they were being too violent, leaving his car running with the door open, he said. He told agents they intimidated the man and scared him into running, rather than identifying themselves and explaining what was happening.
As the crowd yelled, Martinez said federal agents cursed at them, cocked their guns and repeatedly knocked him to the ground, not allowing him to get back up. Security footage from the Aguas Tijuana’s Juice Bar showed that after Martinez placed a trash can in front of agents’ pick-up truck, an agent knocked it over and shoved Martinez to the ground. More agents approach and push Martinez down again before other agents wrestle him to the ground and take him away, the security footage shows.
“I was just confused because all I remember is speaking up for that man and them attacking me,” Martinez said of federal immigration authorities claiming he assaulted one of their agents.
The altercation left Martinez with bruising on his shoulders and neck, a scratch across his chest and a contusion to his right leg that left him in a brace, Martinez said. Martinez remained in detention until he was released on $5,000 bail on June 20.