Adrian Andrew Martinez of Pico Rivera is the type of person who would help a homeless person or bring home animals he saw on the street, his older sister said.
On Tuesday, federal officers arrested the 20-year-old Martinez on suspicion of punching a Border Patrol agent in the face when he allegedly interfered while they were trying to arrest an undocumented immigrant at the Lowe’s parking lot in the 8600 block of Washington Boulevard in Pico Rivera.
Martinez’s sister, Alyssa Garcia, said he didn’t know the man.
“He was trying to help him,” she said. “All he was doing was speaking up.”‘
She doesn’t understand what federal officers did to her brother, who is a U.S. citizen, she said.
“My brother always had a good heart,” Garcia said.
Federal authorities on Thursday didn’t answer questions on where Martinez is now. It wasn’t clear when he will be charged. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.
But their mother found out he was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, according to Garcia. They haven’t been able to talk to him, she said.
Martinez has been working at the Walmart in Pico Rivera for four months, she said. The Walmart is near the Lowe’s.
On Tuesday, federal agents conducted raids in Pico Rivera.
While Border Patrol agents were arresting an undocumented immigrant at the Lowe’s, they were confronted by a group that tried to interfere, a Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson said in a Wednesday statement.
An agent was punched in the face and another agent was hit in the arm by one person in the group, the statement said, adding the person was taken into custody.
“The videos are missing critical moments and don’t tell the whole story,” the spokesperson said.
One cell phone video shows a man wearing a Walmart vest appear to talk to an officer who pushed him back. Three to four other officers wrestled the man to the ground. He was arrested.
The raids and the video led to residents protesting.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted a picture of the man arrested on X and identified him as Martinez.
“I will repeat, if you impede our agents or strike them, you will end up in handcuffs facing federal criminal charges. Don’t do it,” Essayli wrote in his post.
Martinez’s family and a witness contradicted the federal authorities’ version of events.
They have a lot of videos, Garcia said, adding officers started initiating the pushing and hitting.
Her brother didn’t make a fist, she said. Martinez held one of the officers’ arm in order not to fall down, she said.
“He was surrounded and manhandled simply for speaking up. He did not touch or threaten any officer, they initiated the force. They threw him around like he didn’t matter, and now my family is left to pick up the pieces,” Garcia wrote in the GoFundMe she created to raise money to cover legal expenses for her brother.
Oscar Preciado, who recorded the video, told CBS, that Martinez told the agents they needed a warrant to arrest an older man and that he only saw Martinez talking to the agents.
The third child in a family with five children, Martinez is an alumnus of El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, Garcia said
“This is our hometown. We were raised here,” she said.
In addition to working at Walmart, Martinez is also trying to get a trucking license, Garcia said. Her brother doesn’t have a criminal record, she added.