Last week, the 20-year-old Walmart worker who was charged with conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation in Pico Rivera gave his account of the violent altercation with immigration officials that was captured on camera and provoked demonstrations.
Adrian Andrew Martinez, who is currently wearing a brace on his leg, reported that nine days after being thrown to the ground and arrested by federal officials, he is still in pain and has bruises.
“They didn’t read me my Miranda rights,” Martinez claimed. “They took no action. It appeared that they had just abducted me.
Martinez, wearing a blue Walmart vest, seems to speak to the Customs and Border Patrol officers before being dragged to the ground by the police, according to cell phone footage of the interaction. Martinez claimed that he confronted the agents after witnessing them arrest an elderly Latino janitor in the Walmart parking lot using what he described as needless force.
“I was just speaking, like telling them that’s wrong, what you’re doing is not right,” Martinez replied. “They took it the wrong way and threw me to the floor, and from then a man grabs me by my neck and throws me into a trash can thing.”
After being taken into custody, Martinez spent three days in downtown Los Angeles.Martinez claimed that authorities attempted to persuade him to confess to assaulting an agent prior to his release last Friday.
“They were just trying to get me to admit the whole time,” Martinez stated. “No, I didn’t in actuality. I was merely defending a man. They are the ones that attacked me violently.
Martinez is receiving free legal assistance from Miller Law Group in Pasadena to fight the federal accusation. According to lawyer Chris Miller, his client was expressing his freedom of speech under the First Amendment.
“He saw someone being manhandled, an older man who was scared,” said Miller. “All he did was ask them what they were doing, why they were doing it, and why they were doing it that way because he could see that person was afraid. They took it upon themselves to react violently by challenging their authority, which is unacceptable. That is something we will be dealing with.”
The first post on X was made by U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who stated that Martinez “was arrested for an allegation of punching a border patrol agent in the face after he attempted to impede their immigration enforcement operation.”
The Department of Justice said federal prosecutors charged Martinez with conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation rather than assault.
Miller stated that since the video demonstrates that his client has never harmed anyone, he thinks he was not charged with assault.
“In the end, charges were brought against him, we believe, to cover the agents’ bad behavior,” Miller stated.
According to a DOJ representative, federal prosecutors had no further comments and Martinez will be arraigned on July 17.
