Anti-ICE rioter learns fate for attacking police during violent LA protests
A Los Angeles man was sentenced to three years in federal prison for tossing rocks and flaming debris at California Highway Patrol officers underneath a freeway overpass during violent anti-ICE riots in downtown LA last summer. Ismael Vega, 42, from Westlake, was hit with the sentence Monday in addition to being ordered to pay $253,415 in restitution.Vega was part of a large group of protesters on the Main Street overpass above Highway 101 in on June 8, 2025, when one of CHP’s vehicles was set on fire, according to the Department of Justice. The protesters picked up cardboard, vegetation and fireworks before lighting the items on fire and dropping them off the overpass while aiming for a CHP vehicle, which sat very close to officers underneath the overpass.In his plea agreement, Vega admitted that he knew the officers were below the overpass and that throwing burning debris onto a vehicle created a serious risk of death or injury to the officers.On April 29, Vega pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing, impeding and interfering with law enforcement during the protest.Vega also admitted that he repeatedly helped other people who were trying to set debris on fire on the overpass.He lit a large piece of cardboard on fire, held it over the railing, and lined it up so it would land on the hood of a CHP vehicle.
The burning cardboard then landed on the vehicle. Meanwhile, another agitator, Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, from Lincoln Heights, poured an unknown liquid on the fire to further ignite the flames.Vega stood next to him and used his hands to point toward and gesture at the flames, authorities said.Vega also admitted that he picked up and threw several rocks at law enforcement officers as they tried to clear the overpass. He acknowledged that he intentionally acted to interfere with the officers while they were carrying out their duties.“This civil disorder stood apart in its magnitude,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum.
“A sergeant in the...