Man who was arrested during anti-ICE protest in Austin speaks out

AUSTIN, Texas - Court documents revealed what led to the arrests of more than a dozen people during the protests in Austin earlier this month. 

One of the men who was arrested is speaking out.

Austin protester speaks out 

Local perspective:

The moments before Hiram Garcia was arrested during the protest in Austin about two weeks ago, were caught on camera.

"As I was stepping back, I was arrested by law enforcement," Garcia said.

Garcia is a live streamer.

"I'm going to risk it for the biscuit, and I'm going to go into the fire and I want to get the footage right then and there," Garcia said.

Garcia was there when about 800 people started near the Texas Capitol and then moved through downtown Austin.

"You are allowed constitutionally to respond to breaking news in a protest, in a march, in a rally, even if that is happening on sidewalks or even on the streets, as long as you are not obstructing the functioning of society," ACLU of Texas Engagement Coordinator Caro Achar said.

"I'm not like the other protesters, you know, I'm not a protester. I was not arrested for protesting, I wasn't arrested for rioting. I'm really upset that I was like grouped in with the rest of the protesters," Garcia said.

Three people are completely off the hook after no probable cause was found. Garcia is one of them. He has been arrested before though.

"I was arrested before under extremely similar circumstances, not the same circumstances, at a protest in 2020," Garcia said.

Both times, his charges were dropped.

"These instances are definitely not provoked by me. I actually just always try to comply, you know what I mean, and in those instances, there’s just like miscommunication," Garcia said.

"Sometimes people have this default assault of, well, if you were arrested, it’s because you did something wrong, but we’ve seen time and time again that people get arrested for doing exactly what is within their right to do," Achar said.

Dozens arrested during protest

Dig deeper:

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the dynamic changed when people started rushing toward the JJ Pickle Federal Building. 

Court documents said people threw rocks, bricks, and gas at officers, knocked over barricades and construction signs and threw scooters into the road to try to block them off.

"Officers held the line at that point to prevent further property damage and to protect both the protesters and themselves, deploying pepperball towards the ground to saturate the area, so the protesters could not move back toward the federal building. DPS then deployed CS gas to disperse the crowd," Chief Davis said.

The more than a dozen people who were arrested are accused of using spray paint and big markers to write on the Omni Hotel, a parking garage, and the federal building. Damage is estimated at more than $3,000. 

One man was arrested for doing burnouts and driving against traffic near protesters. Others tried to run from officers, some were found with gas masks, and one man had a rioting manual in his backpack.

‘No Kings' protest

Protesters started back up on Saturday, June 14, on the capitol grounds.

"Were you back at the protests on Saturday?" FOX 7 Crime Watch reporter Meredith Aldis asked Garcia.

"Absolutely, we were back out on Saturday. I think it would be unfortunate to allow myself to be intimidated by police to be intimidated by protesters, to be intimidated by anti-protesters," Garcia said.

Chief Davis said it remained mostly peaceful. Three people were arrested by APD and nine were arrested by Texas DPS that night.

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