Carlitos Ricardo Parias had been tracking ICE raids around South L.A. and posting videos on TikTok for months, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers who looked to his social media accounts for vital updates on where federal immigration agents were.
As masked federal agents detained people in Los Angeles streets, Parias was often there streaming and recording. Known by several people as “Richard,” “El Señor Richard,” or the “Tiktokquero,” Parias became such a reliable source for news and information for residents that the city gave him official recognition in August for “keeping the South LA community informed empowered and protected.”
But on Tuesday, Parias found himself on the other side of the lens and the apparent target of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as they tried to take the 44-year-old into custody in an operation that left him and a deputy U.S. marshal wounded.
Parias, who remained hospitalized Wednesday, was charged by federal prosecutors with assault on a federal officer. They allege Parias, described in court records as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, “rammed his car into agents’ vehicles after they boxed him in and ordered him to submit to arrest.”
He also has a history of driving without a license, failing to prove financial responsibility and resisting arrest, according to a statement from Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. Parias also entered the country illegally from Mexico at an unknown time and place, according to the statement.
In video of Tuesday’s incident obtained by The Times, Parias’ vehicle appears to be revving its engine, with a thick cloud of white smoke billowing near its tires.
One person can be heard saying, “shoot him with a pepper ball” before 11 loud bangs that sound like gunshots ring out.
Parias was shot in the elbow and a deputy U.S. marshal was wounded by a ricochet bullet, McLaughlin said.
Officials said Parias “weaponized his vehicle and began ramming the law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee.”
But those who know Parias and watched his videos said the popular TikTok user has a calm, respectful demeanor while covering breaking news and immigration raids in the community, which made him appealing to residents looking for information as immigration agents fanned across the city.
“If you were in South L.A. you would see it in your feed all the time,” said Jose Ugarte, Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price’s deputy chief of staff. “You see some people on social media who are in your face, he’s nothing like that. He’s always respectful of everybody.”
Parias appeared to have two TikTok accounts, @123crichard and @richardla18 that had together amassed more than 340,000 followers since last year. Some of his early posts were of local car crashes, showing the smashed vehicles and footage of firefighters responding to take victims to nearby hospitals.
Frequently, supporters thanked him in the comments.
“Stay safe thanks for sharing,” one commenter wrote in a crash post. “Dios te bendiga,” another wrote in Spanish for “God bless you.”
He also posts about community members and events, such as a recent food giveaway outside of Lupitas Meat Market near Adams Boulevard and South La Salle Avenue.
“We usually follow him because he’s always telling us stories about the ICE raids,” said a woman whose mother sells pupusas out of a cart. Parias had posted video of a car crash nearby but, when the mother and daughter heard Parias was hungry, they invited him over.
ICE raids had cut down on foot traffic to the stand, the daughter said in the video, but Parias encouraged his viewers to go out and try it.
“This man sold out my mom’s pupusa stand,” the daughter said in the video. “Everybody pulled up in minutes.”
But as the Trump administration ramped up immigration raids and operations across the country and in Los Angeles over the summer, Parias’ content began to feature more migrant detentions, federal operations and protests against immigration raids.
He captured cars on fire in downtown Los Angeles during protests, and shared videos of immigration operations as they occurred in the area. He posted video of the arrest of Narciso Barranco in Santa Ana and another arrest in downtown L.A. where a man appeared to begin to seize on the ground. In another video, he showed Border Patrol agents in MacArthur Park over the summer.
After news of his arrest spread online, the comments on his posts were flooded with messages from supporters.
“Justice for Richard,” several read. Others posted, “Praying for you Richard.”
Ugarte said he headed to the hospital when he heard Parias was shot but neither he nor Parias’ son were allowed to see him.
Ron Gochez, a member of Union del Barrio, an independent political organization advocating for immigrant rights and social justice, said Tuesday’s operation was not the first time that immigration officials tried to take Parias into custody.
On June 13, Parias was stopped on 48th Street near Figueroa Street by federal agents. Video of the incident shows Parias wearing a blue T-shirt and a black vest with the words “PRESS” emblazoned on the front. He can be seen holding his right leg, apparently in pain as multiple federal agents stand around and a crowd gathers.
Gochez saw Parias on the ground screaming as immigration agents tried to take him into custody.
According to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday charging Parias, federal authorities say they had previously tried to arrest him on an administrative arrest warrant issued in conjunction with a federal immigration proceeding. DHS did not immediately respond to questions about what his immigration violation was and said only that Parias had “avoided capture.”
DHS officials did not respond to questions on whether their allegation that Parias avoided capture was tied to the June 13 incident, where video shows someone approaching Parias, who is still handcuffed, and walking him to a car to drive away while at least half a dozen federal agents look on and do not intervene.
An LAPD report of the June 13 incident appears to suggest federal agents were not initially looking for Parias when they stopped and handcuffed him.
According to the LAPD report, U.S. marshals and ICE had been conducting surveillance on a different subject when a black pickup truck following them appeared to run a red light. In response, ICE agents stopped the truck, and handcuffed someone who had been sitting in the backseat.
Gochez said Parias’ run-in with immigration authorities this week and in June aren’t a coincidence.
“This is the second time they attack him,” Gochez said. “He’s a well-known TikToker.”
Adam Rose, of Freedom of the Press Foundation, said that the 1st Amendment gives broad protections to film in public and that many court decisions have affirmed the right to film police belongs not just to professional journalists, but to “cop watchers” as well.
Many high-profile encounters between law enforcement and civilians, including the killings of George Floyd and Eric Garner, have underscored the power a bystander with a camera can wield to bring to light abuses and controversial tactics that may otherwise go unseen or be disbelieved.
Jerry “Glizzy” Martinez, 35, who is friends with Parias and also streams on TikTok as “LAgliZzynews,” stood outside the hospital Tuesday night, waiting for word about the condition of his friend.
“Richard is a well-liked person, bro,” he said. “He’s done food giveaways, he’s collaborated with local produce owners to give away food to the less fortunate.”
He said his friend has even bought people food when they didn’t have the money.
“I’ve personally done hot dog giveaways with him for people in Skid Row,” he said.
Parias is also well-known among police officers when covering the local news, Martinez said. In another video from Tuesday’s shooting, Parias is seen speaking to LAPD officers, telling them in Spanish that they know who he is.
“It’s crazy to see what happened to him and to think that someone like this that has been praised by the city to be treated like this by this administration and its agencies that they’re using to enforce their rules and regulations,” Martinez said.
He said Parias is a very friendly person.
“I don’t know him to be a violent person,” Martinez said. “I’ve never seen him to be vulgar. I’ve never seen him be disrespectful or rile people up against the law enforcement or ICE. No, he simply informs. The guy is a good man.”
Also waiting outside of the Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center was Francisco Mora, who does not personally know Parias but said he was there because of his work informing the community. He said in July another TikTok streamer was present when his wife was detained by immigration authorities. Had it not been for the TikTok streamer, he wouldn’t have known what had become of his wife. She was later released and is awaiting a court hearing, he said.
“They’re informing us about these raids that are happening,” he said. “It’s great what they do.”
Times staff writer Libor Jany contributed to this report.
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