Shooting of suspect and deputy U.S. marshal highlights ICE assault

In a dense neighborhood in South Los Angeles, TikTok streamer Carlitos Ricardo Parias revved his engine but was pinned down by federal agents’ vehicles on all sides.

Video taken of the incident Tuesday morning — in which Parias and a deputy U.S. marshal were shot — shows the moment he tries to escape, spinning his car’s tires and sending smoke into the air, as officers stand just feet away.

“Shoot him with a pepper ball,” an officer shouts.

Then 11 shots ring out.

“I will say a balazo“, Parias can be heard shouting. They shot me.

The shooting is one of several actions taken by the Trump administration against illegal immigrants, during which agents have become increasingly aggressive in conducting operations. In Southern California and Chicago, where the operations were most intense, officers shot at suspects in cars, alleging they had been hit, struck by the vehicle or were in danger. In one case, a man was killed.

Federal authorities accuse Parias, a 44-year-old well-known local news streamer on TikTok, of ramming his car into agents’ vehicles after the officers boxed him in and attempted to arrest him during an immigration enforcement operation. He is accused of assaulting a federal agent. This was not his first encounter with immigration officials.

In June, officers arrested Parias during a traffic stop, according to the LAPD. They stopped the car he was in because it ran a red light and appeared to be following them. That day, the video shows Parias wearing a black press jacket, handcuffed and surrounded by officers as he writhes in pain, holding his leg. Officers later left him hobbling away while the crowd recorded and said, “Let him go.” »

Parias and the deputy marshal remained hospitalized Wednesday. Authorities say the officer was hit by a ricocheting bullet.

In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said both men were in “stable condition and awaiting non-life-threatening surgery.”

“Homeland Security Investigations investigates criminal charges for assaulting, resisting or obstructing federal law enforcement.”

The Trump administration has largely defended the tactics used in the operations, saying officers faced serious threats.

Acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in an article on

“One officer breaking the driver’s side window of the Camry was not enough to subdue Parias,” he said.

Department of Homeland Security policy prohibits officers from shooting at a moving vehicle, when no other weapon is present, unless there is a legitimate threat to their lives or the lives of others.

“Shooting at moving vehicles is not standard law enforcement practice except in very extreme conditions,” said Deborah Fleischaker, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief of staff. “You don’t want to do it unless your life or limb is in danger.”

Recent news of federal agents shooting at cars “makes you wonder what has changed. Has the previous policy been revoked? Has the training changed? Have the supervisors’ instructions changed?”

Use-of-force experts say major police agencies discourage officers from shooting at vehicles driving them because it can actually increase the risk of friendly fire incidents and make it harder for officers to move out of the way if the driver loses control.

The immigration operation took place not far from a high school and in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. Federal agents had set up surveillance on Parias, whom they wanted to arrest on an immigration warrant, according to a criminal complaint filed against the TikTok streamer.

As Parias pulled out of his driveway in a gray Toyota Camry Tuesday morning, an Enforcement and Eviction Operations agent parked his Dodge Durango in front of him to prevent him from driving away and turned on the emergency lights, according to a Homeland Security Investigations special agent affidavit.

An HSI agent then used a Ford Escape to block the car on one side and a Dodge Ram driven by a deputy commissioner parked behind it.

According to the complaint, officers then approached the car and told Parias to get out to be arrested. When he did not do so and allegedly began driving backwards and forwards, hitting vehicles in front and behind him, an officer attempted to break the driver’s side window.

When the rear of the car began to “fishtail,” it “made the officers concerned that PARIAS might lose control of the Camry and strike them,” said an HSI agent, whose name was redacted in the complaint. The officer wrote that Parias’ acceleration of the Camry “caused debris (likely rubber from the tires themselves) to fly into the air, which struck some of the officers.”

“To my knowledge, no department would have sanctioned this action – that’s the bottom line,” said Edward Obayashi, a Northern California sheriff’s deputy and law enforcement legal advisor who has helped develop use-of-force policies regarding shootings at vehicles.

Obayashi said boxing a vehicle “is a dangerous maneuver in itself” and puts officers in exposed positions.

Video from the scene shows Parias spinning the car’s wheels and revving its engine, but there is no clear footage or audio of him attempting to “ram into” federal agents or city police officers, nor of the agents’ cars being moved by the Camry.

In a video reviewed by the Times, the gunfire erupts just after a break or cessation of the diet.

Still images and videos show officers around the vehicle; In one case, an immigration officer holds a gun pointed at Parias while another officer stands in front of him.

A law enforcement source, who was not authorized to discuss the case, said federal agents were so overwhelmed by the chaotic scene that they pointed their guns at arriving LAPD officers.

ICE and Border Patrol agents will likely find themselves in similar situations in the future as the Trump administration ramps up its deportation efforts, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

Although he is not familiar with ICE’s training methods, he said agents should be instructed not to position themselves in a vehicle’s potential path given the high likelihood that deportation targets will flee.

“I think the danger is significant for ICE agents, because if they arrest someone and they’re standing in front of the vehicle and that person is in the country illegally, there are serious consequences for them,” he said.

Last month, an ICE agent fatally shot Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park, a Chicago suburb, after he allegedly tried to flee arrest and dragged the agent a “significant distance,” officials said.

However, video from the scene obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times shows the officer describing his injuries as “nothing serious.” A witness also told the newspaper that he saw officers approach Villegas González’s vehicle after his crash and that there were no incidents of dragging.

In another incident, a Border Patrol agent shot Marimar Martinez five times in Chicago this month after she allegedly crashed into their car. She was charged with assaulting a federal employee and pleaded not guilty. Her lawyers argued that video footage shows she was struck by officers, not the other way around.

In San Bernardino, federal agents shot at a vehicle in August during an immigration stop; they accused the occupants of ramming their vehicle and hitting officers. Charges were filed, but the case was later dismissed.

Then last week, ICE agents told Oxnard police that a local activist crashed into one of their vehicles before his arrest. A video released by the activist group VC Defensa appears to show the opposite: an unmarked Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows crashed into the car of Leo Martinez, who was then arrested.

In video from the aftermath of Parias’ shooting, he is seen falling to his knees, his hands apparently handcuffed behind his back. He screams that he has been shot and is in pain, as the authorities gather around him.

Firefighters finally arrived on scene and began to open his shirt to view the injury.

“Ayudenme” Parias shouted. “Help me. “