Adrian Martinez, a 20-year-old US citizen who was heavily detained by an ice agent in Pico Rivera, has been released from federal custody on a $5,000 bond, his lawyer announced Friday.
“We are extremely grateful that our client is being released today,” said a lawyer for Miller Law Group. “Adrian did nothing wrong, and he was standing up for the elderly cleaners when he was violently assaulted and accused by a masked federal agent.”
The incident occurred Tuesday in the parking lot of a large retail center, including a Row home improvement store in the 8600 block of Washington Boulevard.
Video footage shows at least six federal law enforcement officials in a physical struggle with Martinez, who works at nearby Walmart. In the midst of the chaos, you can hear someone screaming, “He’s a US citizen!”
Martinez appears to be in resistance, but is soon transported to the ground, overwhelmed by additional agents before being placed behind a US customs and border guard vehicle. According to his family, Martinez stepped in after witnessing ice agents questioning the man, which escalated into a physical conflict.
Under the control of federal law enforcement agencies who claimed to punch an agent at Pico Rivera on June 17, 2025, Adrian Andrew Martinez (USDOJ) Federal immigration agent seen in the violent struggle with Pico Rivera man on June 17, 2025, Instagram/@cameramanoscar agen fish fid in a man a nealent struggle. (Instagram/@cameramanoscar) Federal immigration agent seen in the violent struggle with Pico Rivera man on June 17, 2025, Instagram/@cameramanoscar
The video does not show what happened just before the struggle, and it remains unknown what led to the incident. The footage went viral and sparked protests outside Pico Rivera City Hall, causing federal officials to push back public criticism.
“Once again, the arrest of a US citizen in Pico Rivera, California pushed out a false story,” U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino said in a post to X. [U.S. Attorney Eassayli’s] I’ll take that into consideration. The subject just captured a federal lawsuit for an attack on federal agents. Please don’t assault. ”
Bovino shared a video of the incident on his official government X account, referring to an earlier post from US lawyer Bill Essayli who allegedly punched “facial Border Patrol Agents after attempting to thwart immigration operations.”
La Dodgers pledges $1 million to support immigrant communities after the backlash of ice attacks
However, lawyers for Miller Law Group say no assault charges were filed against Martinez.
“U.S. Lawyer Essays and Chief Gregory Bovino of the U.S. Border Patrol Division have prohibitively alleged that Adrian attacked a federal agent, but he has not been charged with assault because he did not assault anyone,” the law group said in a statement. “Instead, he is being charged with a conspiracy to obstruct or injure a felony, an apparently won charge filed to justify the violent treatment of federal agent Adrian.”
Miller Law Group said it plans to release details in the next few days, but for now they added, “We are delighted that Adrian will be able to rest with his family and spend the weekend at home.”
Source link