Christian Cerna, a 28-year-old US citizen and carpenter from southern California, was driving with his partner and their two young children through Los Angeles on 11 June 2025, when two vehicles rammed his car and armed men jumped out. Initially fearing street criminals, Cerna soon realised the masked men were Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. They targeted him after a border agent reported that Cerna had assaulted him during an anti-ICE protest days earlier. The officers used flash-bang grenades and pointed assault rifles at his car, with his infant and toddler inside.
ICE's Vindictive Tactics
Court records reveal that ICE agents filmed the arrest operation in high quality and later posted the footage on social media. A federal judge later described the tactics as part of ICE's 'vindictive effort' to impose extrajudicial punishment. Cerna said, 'It was like they were trying to make a movie... to prove a point – to say, if you say anything against what we’re doing, there will be consequences.'
Background of the Protest
Cerna's decision to protest stemmed from his childhood trauma. Born in Long Beach, California, to Mexican immigrants, he experienced his father's deportation by ICE when he was 12. On 7 June 2025, hearing rumours of ICE at a Home Depot near his home in Paramount, he drove there to express his anger. The protest turned chaotic, with Cerna livestreaming and taunting officers. He was hit by pepper balls and a teargas canister.
The Arrest
On 11 June, as Cerna drove with his family, ICE agents used social media to confirm his identity and planned the arrest, arming themselves with assault rifles. They crashed into his car without warning, fired flash-bangs, and pointed guns at him. Cerna shouted, 'I have kids!' while an officer filmed the scene. He was handcuffed without being read his Miranda rights initially. DHS posted the arrest video on X, claiming he was a 'violent rioter'.
Legal Consequences and Judge's Rebuke
Cerna was charged with felony assault but later pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanour. At sentencing in March 2026, Judge Cynthia Valenzuela criticised ICE's 'troubling' arrest tactics, saying they endangered his family and suggested a vindictive effort to impose extrajudicial punishment. She sentenced him to one year of probation and no jail time. Cerna and his partner have experienced PTSD symptoms, and his family suffered greatly during the ordeal.
