A total of six agitators pleaded guilty in connection with an hours-long attack on California Highway Patrol officers last June, mayhem that was broadcast live nationwide
Prosecutors have gotten guilty pleas from six Los Angeles men this week on federal criminal charges for throwing rocks, fireworks, and ignited debris at California Highway Patrol officers who became trapped underneath a downtown Los Angeles freeway overpass during anti-immigration law enforcement rioting last year.
Six men have pleaded guilty to charges that they attacked cops from an overpass, trapping them on the 101 FreewayCredit: Department of Justice
The violence that occurred at the Main Street overpass on the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles during the evening of June 8, 2025, was part of protests against immigration raids that began earlier that morning. The chaotic scene, cops waiting to be rescued, destroyed taxpayer-funded cruisers, including one set ablaze, was broadcast across the country last summer. The protests and property damage soon prompted President Trump to send in the National Guard to squelch the unrest.
Adam Charles Palermo, 40, of Rampart Village, pleaded guilty on Monday to one felony federal count of assaulting, resisting, and impeding persons assisting federal officers and employees with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Palermo and several other defendants were charged in… pic.twitter.com/aDeC0tuyjH
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) April 29, 2026
The six men who have pleaded guilty this week were identified as:
Ismael Vega, 41, of Westlake, pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder
Balton Montion, 25, who moved to Watsonville but was a Los Angeles County resident during last year’s attack, pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder
Junior Roldan, 27, of Hollywood, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of simple assault on a person assisting a federal officer
Adam Charles Palermo, 40, of Rampart Village, pleaded guilty to one felony count of assaulting, resisting, and impeding persons assisting federal officers and employees with a deadly or dangerous weapon;
Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, of Lincoln Heights, pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder
Ronald Alexis Coreas, 23, of Westlake, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of simple assault on a person assisting a federal officer
“Palermo, Vega, and Flores were part of a group of protestors who knowingly picked up debris – including cardboard and vegetation – and fireworks, lighting them on fire and dropping them over the railing of the freeway overpass aiming for a nearby CHP vehicle – which was within feet of CHP officers trapped under the overpass – and later caught fire,” prosecutors said Wednesday. “Flores poured a liquid increasing the size of the flames. Montion, Coreas, and Roldan threw rocks at law enforcement officers who attempted to clear the freeway overpass.”
They are slated to be sentenced in the coming months, prosecutors say.
Scroll to continue reading