Mexican tiktoker Carlitos Ricardo Parias was the target of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in an incident in which, in addition to himself, a U.S. Marshals agent was wounded by friendly fire; the immigration agents fired up to 11 shots at the car in which he was traveling.
Parias, 44, known on TikTok as Richard LA and popular for his daily reporting of happenings in the South Central Los Angeles community, was injured Tuesday, Oct. 21, in confusing events when ICE agents attempted to detain him while he was traveling in his vehicle.
Carlitos Ricardo Parias was ICE’s target in raid
An illegal immigrant recently honored by the Los Angeles City Council for filming and posting ICE raids on social media has been charged with assaulting federal officers.
Carlitos Ricardo Parias, 44, known on TikTok as “Richard LA,” was arrested on Tuesday in South Los Angeles…. pic.twitter.com/yqTc0G9BHY
– True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) October 22, 2025
The Mexican-born immigrant remains hospitalized and in federal custody after being indicted on several charges, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed to EFE.
The arrest of the tiktoker has caused repudiation in the community for the escalation of the use of force.
In a video captured by a witness and cited by the Los Angeles Times, 11 shots are heard in rapid succession at the time of the incident.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged the Mexican national with “ramming police vehicles” during an immigration arrest and assaulting a federal agent.
According to court documents, federal agents located Parias, who is accused of evading an earlier arrest, Tuesday morning in South Central Los Angeles, where he was intercepted in his car by several ICE vehicles.
Once surrounded by at least three federal vehicles, the agents approached and ordered Parias out of the car to be arrested.
But the Mexican ignored orders and drove forward and backward, hitting two of the three immigration vehicles, creating a cloud of smoke.
One agent tried to break the driver’s window, but was unsuccessful, and the scene became chaotic to the point that one of them shot at the Mexican, wounding him in the elbow and a U.S. Marshals Service agent who was supporting the operation.
Outrage over violence in operations
Carlitos Parias, known on TikTok for his daily reports on the happenings in the South Central Los Angeles community, was injured when ICE agents attempted to detain him. https://t.co/gldp9FLJDR
– NMás (@nmas) October 23, 2025
Members of the Union del Barrio collective protested the escalation of violence by ICE agents in the raids and warned that the tiktoker was a target of ICE because he reported the raids.
In this regard, attorney Carlos Jurado, who represents Parias, said that he has not been able to have a private conversation with his client to hear his version of events.
“This is a violation of the due process to which all persons residing in the United States are entitled, regardless of their immigration status, the Constitution says so,” the lawyer complained in an interview with EFE.
The jurist also refuted accusations that the Mexican national is in the U.S. “illegally”.
This administration calls all immigrants illegal, even though many of them have an ongoing immigration process or work permits
Abogado Carlos Jurado
He stressed that immigration agents are targeting people who report and inform on ICE activities and have escalated violence in detentions.
“Informing the community is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution,” he stressed.
Who is Richard LA?
@richardla18 #richardnews #richardnews #fpyシ #fyp #123crichard ♬ original sound – Richard LA
Parias has several accounts on social networks where he accumulates hundreds of thousands of followers.
Its reports not only focus on immigration activity, but also report in Spanish on security incidents and community issues in a predominantly Latino area.
In addition to Tuesday’s incident, last week’s incident occurred when immigration agents “intentionally” rammed the vehicle of activist and U.S. citizen Leonardo Martinez, a member of the VC Defensa organization, while he was monitoring an operation in Oxnard, where a large community of farmworkers resides, according to local police.
Leonardo Martinez had to be taken to the hospital and then taken into federal custody.
The activist was released but is expected to face federal charges.
With information from EFE
