In a recent development, six men from California have admitted to launching fireworks, rocks, and other incendiary items at California Highway Patrol officers amid turbulent anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles last summer.
Among the group, Adam Charles Palermo is facing a potential 20-year sentence in federal prison for an attempted attack on a CHP vehicle. He reportedly hurled fiery debris from an overpass onto officers below on the 101 Freeway, where they were trapped.
The 40-year-old resident of Rampart Village has confessed to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, and obstructing individuals aiding federal officers and employees, using a dangerous weapon.
“Following the rock-throwing incident, Palermo ignited an item and dropped it onto a CHP patrol car,” stated the CHP after the intense June 8 protests in downtown Los Angeles. “The object ignited the patrol vehicle, setting it ablaze,” they added.
Alongside Palermo, Ismael Vega, 41, and Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, were implicated in throwing fireworks. They also gathered materials such as cardboard and vegetation, which they set on fire and dropped onto the officers below, according to the Department of Justice. Additionally, Flores poured a liquid on the blaze, intensifying the flames.
Vega, from Westlake, and Flores, from Lincoln Heights, have both pleaded guilty to one felony charge of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disturbance. Each could face up to five years in federal prison.
Also pleading guilty were Balton Montion, 25, who was living in the Los Angeles area at the time; Junior Roldan, 27, from Hollywood; and Ronald Alexis Coreas, 23, from Westlake.
All three hurled rocks at officers attempting to clear the overpass, prosecutors said.
Montion faces up to five years in federal prison, while Roldan and Coreas face a year behind bars.
Palermo has been in federal custody since August 2025. The five others have remained out on bond.
Another man, Jesus Gonzalez Hernandez, Jr., 22, from Las Vegas, is expected to plead guilty on May 4 to a misdemeanor count of simple assault on a person assisting a federal officer.
The June 2025 riots lasted more than a month and President Donald Trump federalized the California National Guard to assist in quelling the unrest.
The guard members weren’t withdrawn until mid-July.
