US citizen arrested by Border Patrol in Pico Rivera speaks out after violent arrest
US citizen released after violent arrest
Adrian Martinez was released from federal custody after immigration agents violently arrested him in Pico Rivera for allegedly punching officers. But, video of the arrest didn't seem to show him hitting anyone.
PICO RIVERA, Calif. - Following a federal hearing, Adrian Martinez was released from federal custody on a $5,000 bond this week. The 20-year-old was arrested by immigration officers at the Pico Rivera Walmart parking lot last week. The arrest was caught on camera.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Feds say man punched agents at Pico Rivera Walmart - security footage shows no punches
What we know:
Federal immigration agents arrested Martinez on June 18 in the Walmart parking lot, when he tried to intervene while agents were conducting one of their operations, detaining undocumented immigrants.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol told FOX 11 after the incident that they arrested Martinez for allegedly punching two officers.
Martinez has since been released by a federal judge on a $5,000 bond.
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"I was scared," Martinez said, adding that he kept trying to get up when the officers subdued him, because he was afraid to get hit.
Attorneys from the Miller Law Group, who are representing Martinez, say he is being charged — not with assault, or attempted assault — but conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, a felony.
"It is clearly a trumped-up charge field to justify the federal agents' treatment" attorneys wrote in their release.
What they're saying:
Martinez said he was held downtown, along with shackled, undocumented immigrants, and feared he'd be deported, even as he tried to tell officers he was born in the US.
"They wouldn't talk to me, even let me use a phone to call my family and let them know were I was," Martinez said.
Feds say man punched agents at Pico Rivera Walmart - security footage shows no punches
Federal agents arrested Adrian Martinez outside a Pico Rivera Walmart after they said he punched two agents. Security footage from the store doesn't appear to show Martinez throwing punches.
Martinez's mother said she tried to show Adrian's birth certificate to agents at the Federal building, but they told her that Adrian wasn't there, even as he was watching his own mom from a van. He could not let her know where he was.
"These are the people we are supposed to trust," Adrian's mother said.
Martinez's arrest and the accusation that he hit officers resulted in loud protests in Pico Rivera, where ICE raids have prompted complaints from the public and politicians. Martinez is due back in court next month.
Kyle Perez of the United States Army Combined Arms Center issued the following statement via email:
"Mr. Martinez was arrested for assault on an officer and for impeding. At the complaint stage we only select one charge to present.
The complaint does not reflect the full scope of the charges or the conduct, nor what evidence will be presented at trial."
The Source: Information in this story is from interviews with the Martinez family and the Miller Law Group, and previous FOX 11 reports.