A Paramount man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge alleging he threw pieces of cinderblock and injured a Border Patrol officer during a protest against immigration enforcement in June, according to court papers.
Jacob Terrazas, 30, will enter his plea on a date to be determined to simple assault on a federal officer, a Class-A misdemeanor carrying a possible sentence of up to a year behind bars, his plea agreement states.
Terrazas was initially charged in Los Angeles federal court with a felony count of assault on a federal officer making physical contact, but that charge was dropped to a misdemeanor count in his plea agreement, which was signed by all parties Saturday.
As part of his plea deal, Terrazas agreed to submit a handwritten note of apology to the federal officer who was struck by a piece of cinderblock.
According to the indictment and other court documents, Terrazas was one of several individuals who threw hard objects — including cinderblocks and rocks — at federal agents when a large protest turned violent on June 7. The demonstration in Paramount was one of the earliest in the region against President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration agents in the region. Throughout the day, protesters clashed with Border Patrol agents near a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations facility. In response, Trump deployed the National Guard.
Court papers allege Terrazas used both a makeshift shield and nearby trees for cover and repeatedly rushed toward the agents to throw remnants of cinderblocks at them. One of the pieces of cinderblock allegedly thrown by Terrazas hit a Border Patrol agent — identified by the initials L.C. — in his left shin, injuring the agent and causing him to bleed, the U.S. Justice Department said.
The agent removed himself from the front lines to mend his injury, but — after realizing he could still walk and stand — returned to the front lines. Another Border Patrol agent was struck by rocks but was uninjured, federal prosecutors said.
Terrazas — who prosecutors say wore a dark beanie and black maskcovering the lower half of his face — and others threw rocks at Border Patrol agents for nearly three hours, authorities allege.
Law enforcement used pepper bells against Terrazas and other rock throwers. Eventually, Terrazas was detained, identified and arrested.