An influencer's many stunts

Biker documents homeless life, toeing a line between advocacy and exploitation

- CHRISTOPHER BUCHANAN

Photographs by ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times DERREK MIRANDA, who lives in a camper van, produces short-form videos that show, he says, "what real life in L.A. is like."

Traveling near the Warehouse District with Derrek Miranda is akin to riding in a motorcade with an elected official.

Under the moniker Whitewallstuntz, Miranda has carved out a name for himself in downtown Los Angeles. On social media, he can be seen cutting through the most downtrodden parts of Skid Row on his white and neon green Honda Grom minibike, almost always in search of a subject to document.

He has amassed nearly 300,000 followers across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. He can be seen letting sparks fly from his tail scraper on the 10 Freeway with a “Los Angeles” tattoo emblazoned across his back, chopping it up with LAPD officers or, most commonly, touring homeless encampments to show, as he puts it, “what real life in L.A. is like.”

"A lot of people are scared of these human beings because they look at them like they're zombies or something," Miranda said. "A lot of these people just have a story they want to tell, or they want to talk about, and not a lot of people want to hear them out."

MIRANDA'S videos of stunt maneuvers also attract a healthy viewership.

Miranda fashions himself equal parts good Samaritan, stuntman and documentary filmmaker. He produces his own short-form videos, feeding an internet audience hungry for unfiltered views of L.A.'s underbelly.

He is among a growing wave of influencers who create content that toes a fine line between advocacy and exploitation.