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The 20-year-old US citizen, who was detained after a violent struggle with federal immigration agents in Pico Rivera last week, has spoken out after his recent release.
The June 17th melee was unfolded in the parking lot of the vast retail center that houses the Lowe’s Home Improvement Store and Walmart, in the 8600 block of Washington Boulevard.
In footage of the incident, at least half a dozen federal law enforcement officials were seen in the fight with the young man, and later identified by their family as Adrian Andrew Martinez, who worked at a nearby Walmart.
In the fight, you can hear someone scream, “He is a US citizen!”
Martinez seemed to be fighting back, but was soon taken to the ground and overwhelmed by additional agents before being placed behind a US customs and border guard vehicle and taken away.
Speaking to Carlos Saucedo of KTLA, the 20-year-old suffered a bruise on his back and scratched his entire body.
According to Martinez, he had just left for lunch and saw immigration officials questioning the custodian. He said he decided to step in and speak out after noticing ongoing immigration enforcement efforts in the area.
According to the 20-year-old, things escalated quickly from that point onwards.
Federal immigration agent seen in a violent struggle with a man in Pico Rivera on June 17, 2025 Instagram/@@@@@@camerant agigant age in a man with pico rivar/@@adrian Andrew Martinez, 20, under the control of a federal law enforcement agency who claims to punch an agent in Pico Rivera on June 17, 2025.
“I was just getting up and trying to get them out of me,” he told KTLA. “I didn’t know what was going on. I was very confused and scared because I didn’t explain what they were doing.”
The 20-year-old said he was originally said he was arrested for assaulting a federal officer.
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The day after the ordeal, US lawyer Bill Essayli posted a video of the case on his official government X account, saying the 20-year-old was arrested on allegations that he punched “faced Border Patrol Agents after attempting to impose an immigration operation.”
Hours after that post, US Border Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino reposted the essay charges, claiming that “the false story has been pushed out in the arrest of US citizens.”
Since his release on a $5,000 bond, Martinez’s lawyers said no assault charges have been filed. Instead, he is charged with felony conspiracy to interfere or injure a federal agent.
Myra Villarreal, a 20-year-old mother, said it would be difficult to reach her son while in federal custody.
“When I saw the video, I was angry, I was angry. I was sad, I was scared. A lot of the emotions I was experiencing,” she told KTLA. “No one should be treated that way. We all had the wrong way of speaking, feeling, and what they did, what they did.”
He was later fired from his job at Walmart, but Martinez said he had no regrets about his actions.
“I was just there trying to talk for a man who couldn’t speak for himself,” he said.
Martinez and his lawyers are fighting federal criminal charges
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