Cellphone video from June 17 shows Adrian Martinez getting aggressively detained by federal agents in Pico Rivera.
However, Martinez wasn't their target. He was standing up for another man - a janitor - Martinez claims was being chased by agents.
The 20-year-old said he noticed the incident unfolding during his lunch break at Walmart and yelled at agents to leave the janitor alone. Surveillance video shows agents shift their focus to Martinez and taking him down.
His leg was badly bruised, forcing him to wear a brace.
"This one big guy grabbed me by my neck and then he flipped me by my feet inside the car," Martinez recalled.
Martinez is a U.S. citizen and despite his mother bringing his birth certificate to the federal building, he remained in custody for three days. He described it as sleeping in a jail cell.
"I was worried, I was scared, I was mad, because I wish I would have been there to, you know, do something, protect them," said Martinez's mother, Myra Villareal.
Martinez said the conditions they had other detainees in felt wrong.
"They had them in bad conditions with shackles on their ankles and, like chain, like handcuffs, and they're just people coming out of work, like, they're not criminals," said Martinez. "They're acting like they did something so bad and so wrong when they were just working."
Martinez is now facing one felony charge with conspiracy to interfere or impede a government agent. Despite the injury and the charge, Martinez said he'd do it again.
"Most definitely, in a heartbeat, I would stick up for him again, or anybody else," he said. "It hurts my heart that people get treated like that."
Martinez told Eyewitness News that since the incident, he's been fired from his job. His attorney told ABC7 that they're working on getting the case dismissed. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 11.
In a statement sent to Eyewitness News last month regarding the incident, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said during the encounter, an agent was punched in the face and another agent was struck in the arm.
"DHS and DOJ are taking a Zero Tolerance stance on assaulting or interfering with law enforcement personnel," read the statement. "This interference places those being arrested, the agents, and the community at risk. Interfering with federal law enforcement is a crime and a felony-citizen or not. CBP and ICE will not be intimidated, we will not be deterred, we will enforce the law and hold people accountable."