A freelance journalist, poet, and cultural promoter, Rodríguez was arrested on June 28, 2020 for “contempt of authority” hours after posting on Facebook about the murder of Hansel Ernesto Hernández, a young Black man killed by the police. The next day, he was transferred to the Vivac Detention center until his release on July 4. He was also briefly detained in June 2021 while covering the trial of child rapists.