San Jose tattoo artist at center of ICE battle arrested after alleged carjackings

San Jose tattoo artist at center of ICE battle arrested on criminal charges

The man hailed as a symbol of resistance against federal immigration overreach is behind bars.

BERKELEY, Calif. - A man hailed as a symbol of resistance against federal immigration overreach is now behind bars. Though his arrest has nothing to do with his immigration status.

Witnesses recount erratic behavior

What they're saying:

Surveillance video from Café Leila in Berkeley captured what witnesses described as erratic, possibly drug-induced behavior by a shirtless man later identified as Guillermo Medina Reyes.

"This is one of two times that I've seen anything like this happen," said Maia, a café employee.

Maia said she was working the counter Sunday morning when Reyes walked in, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, wandered around the restaurant and then left carrying a gallon of cooking oil.

"He's like opening the fridge, grabbing water. We weren't sure if we were getting robbed or not," Maia recalled. "Then he starts spitting the water on the ground and throwing his phone on the ground. We didn't know what was going on. Then he started telling us he was drugged."

Berkeley police said Reyes walked two blocks north to San Pablo and Cedar streets, where he allegedly attempted to carjack a woman pumping gas, and later a man with a child in his truck, all while still behaving erratically.

Defendant fighting deportation

Dig deeper:

Earlier this month, community groups protested a federal deportation order against Reyes, a popular tattoo artist from San Jose. A federal court later issued a temporary injunction in his immigration case.

"This kind of roundup of random people, largely based on racial profiling, is just not something that the country ought to be doing,"  said Bill Hing, a University of San Francisco professor and expert in law and migration studies. "I'm just very impressed by people who are not that active before, stepping forward."

KTVU reached out to the organizations that supported Reyes during his immigration fight, but had not received a response at time of publication.

Reyes was arrested, though police have not disclosed what charges he faces.

Experts said that any alleged crimes should not be conflated with his immigration case.

"We ought to let law enforcement or public health officials take care of that, not immigration," said Hing.

No injuries were reported in connection with the alleged incidents involving Reyes.