Hell Yes: Neighbors sacrificing for neighbors
A heartbreaking edition
In lots of ways, I’m reluctant to celebrate the human beings and fellow citizens putting their bodies in harm’s way to protect our immigrant neighbors and friends. Not because what they’re doing isn’t radical and impossibly brave, but because it devastates me that these heroic acts have become so necessary. I do not feel celebratory; but I do feel grateful, inspired, and furious.
And so we meet Adrian Martinez, a 20-year-old Walmart employee, who was coming back from his break on Tuesday when he saw Border Patrol agents arresting a man who was cleaning the shopping center parking lot in Pico Rivera, California.
Martinez jumped out of his car and wheeled the man's trash can in front of the Border Patrol vehicle as other passersby gathered around, honking their horns and yelling. "What is he doing? He's a fucking hard worker," Martinez shouted as masked agents with rifles swarmed him.
The surveillance footage shows an agent rushing Martinez and shoving him to the ground. When he gets back up, more agents swarm him, drag him down again, and haul him to their truck. You can hear someone yelling "He's a U.S. citizen, bro" as they shove him into the car. In the videos, an agent can be seen and heard cocking a gun.
Martinez is now facing federal charges for allegedly punching an agent—though that “punch” isn't visible in any of the footage. The man he tried to defend, Vivaldo Montes Herrera, who has lived in the U.S. for 27 years, is also in custody; his wife still doesn't know where he's being held.
As many of you know, this isn't an isolated incident. Over the past two weeks, multiple U.S. citizens have been arrested or detained for trying to protect their neighbors during immigration raids, including a New York City mayoral candidate. A pregnant woman in Torrance was held for standing between agents and her husband's car. In Montebello, agents arrested U.S. citizen Javier Ramirez while he was working at a tow yard and detained another citizen, Brian Gavidia, pushing him against a fence. They demanded to know what hospital he was born in.
"It just seems like there's no due process," Montebello Mayor Salvador Melendez told the L.A. Times. "They're going for a specific look, which is a look of our Latino community, our immigrant community. They're asking questions after. This is not the country that we all know it to be, where folks have individual rights and protections."
Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino doubled down on social media, warning: "DON'T ASSAULT." But Oscar Preciado, who filmed the incident, pushed back: "They're trying to spin this and make it seem like [Martinez] was the aggressor when they were the aggressors the whole time."
Martinez's mother, Myra Villareal, said her son's actions didn't surprise her. She said he is known to bring in stray animals that need a home.
"If someone gets hurt, he wants to be the first one there," his sister added.
"I want justice for him," his mother said. "What happened to him is wrong. He didn't do anything wrong. I believed he was speaking up. Everybody has a right to speak. You know, freedom of speech."
Rep. Linda Sánchez, who represents the area, fired off a letter on Wednesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and acting ICE director Todd Lyons, demanding answers about Martinez's arrest. She called the incident a likely violation of civil rights laws and expressed outrage that "a U.S. citizen, who supports his family by working at Walmart, and is, by all accounts, an upstanding member of his community, continues to be detained by the federal government."
As of yesterday, the 20-year-old remained in federal custody.
I’m Brianna, producer of What Rough Beast and longtime friend of the Sub.
In this column, we’re featuring ongoing movements and campaigns fighting for human rights and protesting this administration’s policies and budget cuts. We’ll be bringing you updates on protests, campaigns, community organizing, and other forms of resistance that you may or may not have heard about.
If you know of resistance efforts that inspire you and deserve attention, please share them in the comments or email me directly.
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ACLU, are you reading?
I’m so ashamed and disgusted.