Journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias Faces Record-Breaking U.S. Detention
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After being shot by a federal agent and detained by ICE, the Los Angeles-based reporter is approaching 300 days in custody.
Los Angeles journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias is set to cross 300 days in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention on Monday, as The Intercept first reported. This duration surpasses previous records for journalists held in U.S. custody, including freelancer Josh Wolf, who spent 226 days in jail ending in 2007.
Parias, who operated independently as Richard Noticias LA and built a TikTok following of over 100,000, was presented with a proclamation honoring his reporting on overlooked California neighborhoods by the Los Angeles City Council last year. His current ordeal follows two violent encounters with federal agents. In June 2025, witnesses say an agent struck Parias with a vehicle during a South LA immigration raid. In October 2025, masked federal agents boxed in Parias's car near downtown LA and smashed his window. Bodycam footage shows an agent shooting Parias in the elbow, an incident that also injured a U.S. marshal.
The Intercept reports that federal agents deleted surveillance footage from a nearby strip mall's system after downloading it to a thumb drive. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli later posted a single screenshot from that footage on social media, claiming Parias rammed his car into agents to avoid deportation.
Currently held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, Parias reports receiving inadequate medical care for his gunshot wound and has documented worms in his drinking water. While prosecutors charged Parias with assault on a federal officer, a judge during his initial hearing discovered he was not receiving prescribed medication for his injury.