According to my research, the U.S. Department of Justice officially announced in a press release updated on October 21 that Carlitos Ricardo Parias has been charged with assaulting a federal officer. Law enforcement officers, who had been deployed to arrest Parias on an administrative immigration warrant, surrounded his vehicle with three law enforcement cars. Federal agents approached the vehicle and ordered Parias to exit and submit to arrest. However, Parias repeatedly ignored these commands and began moving his car, ramming into and accelerating toward the law enforcement vehicles in an aggressive manner.
Believing that Parias posed a risk of injury to them, one of the agents fired his weapon during the arrest attempt, wounding both Parias and a deputy U.S. marshal. Parias was shot in the elbow, and the deputy marshal was injured by a ricochet bullet; both were expected to recover. If convicted, Parias faces a maximum sentence of eight years in federal prison.
In contrast, the Los Angeles Times reported that Carlitos Ricardo Parias had spent several months tracking ICE operations in South Los Angeles and posting videos on TikTok, gaining a significant following. In August, the City of Los Angeles officially recognized him for “keeping the South LA community informed, empowered, and protected.” The Los Angeles Times revealed that he managed two TikTok accounts, @123crichard and @richardla18, and cited interviews with his friends, supporters, and Ron Gochez, a member of Union del Barrio, an organization advocating for immigrant rights and social justice. According to these sources, many residents regarded Parias as a calm and respectful community journalist who reported on breaking news and immigration raids with integrity.
Echoing The Guardian’s earlier description from Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price’s deputy chief of staff , the Los Angeles Times also quoted Jose Ugarte, Price’s deputy chief of staff, who described Parias as a social media influencer who always treated everyone with respect.
Taken together, these accounts suggest that there is indeed a growing tension between immigration enforcement and citizen journalism, highlighting the complex and often adversarial relationship between government authorities and independent community reporters.
