The first video “Richard LA” posted to TikTok appeared on Aug. 21, 2024.
“Accident at 27th and San Pedro,” he wrote in Spanish under video clips showing two damaged cars and paramedics pushing a man on a gurney into an ambulance. “2 people were taken to the hospital.”
“Richard LA” was actually Carlitos Ricardo Parias, 44, a father of two living in southern Los Angeles. His TikTok feed soon filled with similar clips. A fire at a home on 36th and Trinity streets. A car crash on 29th Street and Maple Avenue.
His audience grew steadily over the ensuing months. And his clips were consumed even more widely when he began to focus his camera on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids roiling Los Angeles. Multiple videos he posted this month got more than 50,000 views.
“He has risen to become this very credible, respected and admired citizen journalist,” said Angelina Dumarot, a spokesperson for Los Angeles City Council member Curren Price. “He did it with a lot of love and a lot of passion and in a very courageous way.”
But there was something many didn’t know: Parias was an undocumented immigrant himself, according to federal authorities. And on Tuesday, he was targeted by federal agents trying to arrest him in an immigration proceeding, leading to a chaotic confrontation in downtown Los Angeles.
“Parias was the subject of an administrative immigration arrest warrant and had avoided capture before,” prosecutors said.
After having watched Parias walk out of his home and drive off around 8:45 a.m., agents boxed in his Toyota Camry, federal prosecutors say. The agents left their vehicles and ordered Parias out of his car. But he instead drove forward and backward, striking two of the law enforcement vehicles, according to prosecutors.
When an agent tried to break the Camry’s driver’s side window, prosecutors said, Parias drove “more aggressively.” Plumes of smoke began to billow from the vehicles, apparently because of the spinning tires, prosecutors said.
With the agents fearing Parias could hit them with his Camry or dislodge it from between their vehicles, one opened fire, prosecutors said. Parias was struck in the elbow, and a deputy marshal was hit in the hand, according to prosecutors.
A witness who arrived as the agents were wrestling Parias out of his car said it felt like a “little war zone.”
“The man was clearly in a lot of pain,” said the witness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Parias, who is charged with assault on a federal officer, was still in the hospital Wednesday, postponing his first court hearing.
His immigration attorney, Carlos Jurado, told NBC News that he tried to speak to his client Tuesday night but was barred from doing so. Jurado said they had a brief conversation by phone Wednesday morning.
“He was confused as to his medical condition, as to the severity of his injuries, and he was confused as to what was going on,” Jurado said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said she wasn’t privy to Parias’ medical condition and doesn’t know when his first appearance will be.
An ICE spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Parias was an unlikely social media star. A native of Puebla, Mexico, he was working in construction before he embarked on a path as a citizen journalist.
“His car was full of tools,” said Jose Ugarte, a deputy chief of staff to Price, the City Council member. “He said it was kind of tough these days to find work.”
So he turned to recording videos of the goings-on in his neighborhood and posting them to social media. He often went live at crime or accident scenes, calmly narrating the events playing out in front of him.
Unlike some citizen journalists, Parias would steer clear of interfering with law enforcement or engaging in confrontations of any kind, according to Ugarte and others familiar with his work.
Parias started becoming well-known in the tight-knit, heavily Latino district where he lived. But not all of his good deeds were broadcast on social media.
A neighbor said Parias’ once tracked down her husband to alert him that their car window was left down.
“He didn’t have to do that,” said the neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity over fears of being targeted by federal agents.
“He’s just a very good person,” she added.
In August, Price’s office presented Parias with a certificate of recognition in honor of his “unwavering commitment to keeping the South LA community informed, empowered and protected.”
Ugarte said Parias shed tears when he was presented with the certificate at a neighborhood park, with his teenage son looking on.
News of his shooting and arrest shocked and saddened many who had come to rely on his reports, according to the staffers in Price’s office.
“The whole community is shaken up,” Dumarot said. “This feels very targeted, and not for the right reasons.”
Ugarte said it wasn’t uncommon for Parias to reach out about incidents in the neighborhood. Their last exchange, Ugarte said, came Sept. 26, when Parias sent him an urgent message.
“Jose, there is a fire on 55th and Avalon,” it read. “Please send the fire department as soon as possible.”
Ugarte said he called the fire department and was told it was on its way. When he checked TikTok, he saw that Parias had gotten there first and was already recording.
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