Feds say man punched agents at Pico Rivera Walmart - security footage shows no punches

US citizen arrested during Pico Rivera ICE raid

Adrian Martinez, a US citizen, was arrested by federal agents during an immigration raid at a Pico Rivera Walmart. Federal officials said Martinez punched two agents. Security footage doesn't seem to show that.

PICO RIVERA, Calif. - Pico Rivera residents are outraged after federal agents arrested a U.S. citizen during an immigration enforcement operation who was reportedly just trying to help a janitor who'd been detained.

Now, security camera footage from nearby calls federal agents' claims about that incident into question.

What we know:

Federal agents arrested Adrian Andrew Martinez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, on Wednesday, June 18, at a Walmart in Pico Rivera. 

That morning, federal agents pulled into the parking lot, seemingly for an immigration enforcement operation. Martinez was seen in now-viral social media videos approaching agents. Soon after, agents were seen throwing Martinez to the ground.

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Border Patrol Assistant Chief David Kim told FOX 11 on Wednesday that agents arrested Martinez because he allegedly punched two officers during that confrontation.

Dig deeper:

FOX 11 obtained security camera footage from the store, which showed the entire confrontation. 

In the video, Martinez can be seen pulling up to the agents' truck with his car. He gets out and moves a janitor's cart. One agent then throws the cart to the ground, before shoving Martinez twice, knocking him to the ground. Martinez gets up, and is shoved to the ground by a second agent. He gets up again and continues arguing, and then agents take him down.

"To say that he is the aggressor is absolutely untrue," said defense attorney Dmitry Gorin after watching the security footage.

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Pico Rivera residents have united following an ICE raid on a Walmart parking lot.

"The first instance of physical force in this video appears to be the larger law enforcement officer shoving [Martinez] to the ground and then being helped by other law enforcement officers to hold this employee down," Gorin said.

Martinez released from custody 

Following a hearing Friday at the Edward R. Roybal Courthouse, a judge ordered to have Martinez released from federal custody on a $5,000 bond.

Martinez' attorney said no assault charges were filed, but Martinez was instead charged with conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, which is considered a felony. 

Attorneys from Miller Law Group released a statement saying, "Adrian did nothing wrong, and was standing up for an elderly janitorial worker when he was violently assaulted and abducted by masked federal agents. U.S. Attorney Essayli and U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino outrageously alleged that Adrian assaulted a federal agent. However he has not been charged with an assault charge because he didn’t assault anyone, and the evidence of that is clear. Instead he has been charged with conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, a felony. This is a clearly trumped up charge filed to justify the federal agents’ violent treatment of Adrian. We will have more to say in the coming days and weeks, but for now, we’re happy that Adrian will be able to get some rest and spend the weekend at home with his family."

Adrian Martinez

Big picture view:

Retired LAPD detective Moses Castillo says he understands the outrage people are feeling after watching Martinez's arrest and other immigration operations in the area. But, he also warns that interfering with a federal investigation can have serious consequences.

"When you interfere with law enforcement in California, you probably get arrested for a misdemeanor and [you're] maybe not facing criminal charges," Castillo said. "But with the federal agents, you're looking at some serious federal time, anywhere between one year in federal prison, up to eight years. If there's any physical contact or if you strike a federal agent, you could go up to eight years. And if there's are any serious injuries [to] the federal agents, you can go up to 20 years."

The other side:

FOX 11 has reached out to ICE for comment on Wednesday's operation in Pico Rivera, but has not heard back.