DHS made social media posts out of a protester’s arrest at gunpoint. Christian Cerna speaks out about the lengthy prosecution that derailed his life

Christian Cerna, 28, was driving with his partner and their two young children through Los Angeles, when two vehicles rammed his car and a group of men jumped out and trained their guns on them.

It was 11 June 2025, and as Cerna exited his vehicle with his hands raised, he realized the masked men weren’t street criminals as he initially feared. They were Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Cerna, a carpenter, is a US citizen and southern California native. But ICE was targeting him after a border agent reported that Cerna had “assaulted” him during a rowdy anti-ICE protest days earlier. The officers arresting Cerna detonated flash-bang grenades and pointed assault rifles at his car, with his infant and toddler inside.

  • morysal@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    The “filmed like a documentary” part is honestly what makes this feel dystopian. It’s one thing to arrest someone, it’s another to turn it into content.

    • SillyDude@lemmy.zip
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      3 days ago

      Its how the cartel sends its message around the world. Its how ISIS showed its message around the world. Video is now essential propaganda for terrorist groups.

    • LavaPlanet@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      When they turn it into content and flood your feed with it, for a reason, it sends everyone into perpetual fight or flight, which makes an entire populous easier to control. Learning emotional regulation tools, to get you down outta fight or flight, is an act of resistance, in nowadays time.

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      That is how they’re winning. Look around you at all the mouth-breathers glued to social media. The fascists are winning because they’ve weaponized American stupidity and low attention spans.

    • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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      3 days ago

      Its one thing for the secret police to kidnap someone for protest starting with hitting their car and surrounding them with armed Nazis but video taping it is where I draw the line

    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      It was… Well I can’t say subtle, but it wasn’t an overt mirror of America up to season 3. Seasons 4 and 5 have been a constant sledgehammer to the face.

      • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        I think we’re up to episode 4 or 5 of the newest season and I’m really curious if they filmed a lot of this before or after the literal exact same events happened in real life. Things like Trump as Jesus.

        I suppose this administration is just using the Nazi’s fascist playbook, so it’s all spelled out for us already.