An aspiring California mayor has sparked outrage after he called on 55 gangs to gather and drive Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) out of the city.
Rogelio Martinez, who is challenging Long Beach's incumbent Mayor Rex Richardson, posted the now-deleted video last week.
'I need to see 55 gang leaders here this coming Monday, we need to take back our city,' he said in the video as he called on gangs from all racial groups to respond to the call.
'Enough is enough, ICE needs to get out of Long Beach and this is the only way that I know how to get them out; peacefully, but with strong force, but peacefully.'
The video went viral and Martinez said he was almost immediately inundated with backlash from conservatives.
'I had so many death threats, predominantly from MAGA white supremacists because I didn't call on the white gangs, so I guess they were kind of hurt by that,' Martinez quipped in an interview with the LA Times.
He said he took the video on January 30, which was designated by anti-ICE activists as a day to not work or contribute to the economy to protest the Trump administration's mass deportation policy.
He said he uploaded the video to social media, seeking to remind people about the ICE raids going on in Long Beach.
Long Beach Mayoral candidate Rogelio Martinez posted a video last week where he encouraged '55 gang leaders' to get involved and push Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of the city. The video prompted backlash from conservatives and a call from the FBI
The video came at a time of an elevated presence of federal agents in Los Angeles and in Long Beach (Pictured: Protestors stand near Department of Homeland Security officers)
He also clarified that he did not advocate for violence against federal agents.
Other posts on his social media show him telling protestors to obey law enforcement.
'There was not going to be any war between gang leaders and ICE,' he told the LA Times.
'I don't know how many gangs there are in Long Beach. I picked 55 purely because I'm 55 years old. No one bothered to just ask me how [I] came up with [that number].'
Martinez said the Long Beach Police spoke with him and he got a call from the FBI after he posted the video.
A female agent asked him if any gang member had reached out to him and if he had reached out to any gang members. He responded no to both questions.
Martinez said he did not remove the video from Instagram and Facebook and claims that Meta took it down.
Versions of the video are still floating around on social media, largely on X, where it has gotten plenty of negative responses.
Martinez's video came after protestors clashed with federal agents during the demonstration on January 30
The LAPD said it arrested 'violent agitators' who were allegedly 'fighting with officers,' one of whom was accused of 'using a sling shot to shoot hard metal objects at officers who were standing on the line'
Many accused Martinez of treason or posted memes about standing with ICE.
The Daily Mail approached Martinez, Meta and Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Martinez's video came after protestors clashed with federal agents during the demonstration on January 30.
Crowds stormed the outside of a federal prison in downtown LA and came face-to-face with police officers, who stood behind shields before unleashing pepper balls and tear gas.
In one dramatic image, a protester struck an officer's shield with a skateboard. Another showed police firing non-lethal rounds at protesters in an effort to disperse the growing crowd.
The Los Angeles Police Department issued a warning just before 9pm, ordering all protesters near Union Station to disperse within 10 minutes.
Officers then infiltrated the scene and said they were met with bottles and rocks hurled at them, according to the LAPD's social media account.
The LAPD told Daily Mail there were eight arrests, six for failure to disperse, one for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and one for violating curfew.