Featured Image Credit: Instagram / Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez
A TikTok influencer was livestreaming when she and bystanders managed to capture her arrest at the hands of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While streaming to her thousands of followers, the 24-year-old was filmed pleading and then being arrested on August 15 while in downtown Los Angeles.
There has been a recent run of shocking incidents captured live on stream, like Valeria Márquez capturing her murder, YouTuber Finny Da Legend being gunned down, and Raphaël "Jean Pormanove" Graven being 'tortured' on Kick.
There have even been run-ins with ICE, as Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker was caught in the crossfire of a flashbang during the Los Angeles riots. Now, Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez has been arrested when a group of ICE agents dragged her out of her Tesla.
NBC News has shared footage filmed from across the street, as at least three officers pulled Martinez from her car. Before putting her face down on the ground, a translation films her screaming, "Wait, wait, I'll get out."
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Another video sees someone shouting for people to call 911 as the influencer lies on the ground. Martinez also apparently complained about shortness of breath and was given medical treatment before being transferred to a detention facility.
Homeland Security officials confirmed she's being held at a facility in Calexico, California, with DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin saying the TikTok star was detained over a previous conviction for driving under the influence. McLaughlin maintains that she came to the USA 'illegally' in 2022 and "was released by the Biden administration."
Speaking to The Independent, attorney Carlos Jurado claims that Martinez "legally presented herself at the border" and was given a work permit after she was processed and granted parole to enter the USA.
Jurado continued: "When the DHS comes out and says that she's an illegal immigrant — she's just not. That's just factually incorrect."
He claims that she was targeted because she had spoken out about ICE activity to her 40,000+ followers. Jurado alleges that officers commented about her social media presence when she'd been released from the hospital.
He concludes: "One of the biggest points that was being made to her aggressively by officers was, 'Did you think that you were going to get away with recording our activities and there wouldn't be a consequence?' That was said to her many times by many different people while she was being held in Los Angeles."
Jurado suggests his client still has bruises on her arms from the arrest, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 4.
