On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted a local activist who distributed protective face shields to demonstrators during protests against the Trump administration’s chaotic immigration raids last month.
According to court documents, Alejandro Orellana, 29, a member of Centro CSO, a community group based in Boyle Heights, is accused of conspiring and aiding and abetting civil unrest.
The indictment claims that on June 9, Orellana and at least two other people used a pickup truck to drive around downtown Los Angeles, giving out Uvex Bionic face shields and other products to a group of protesters gathered near the federal building on Los Angeles Street.
According to the prosecution, Orellana was assisting demonstrators in resisting the use of less-lethal weapons by Los Angeles police officers and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies following the declaration of an unlawful assembly.
On Thursday morning, Orellana is scheduled to appear in court. His federal public defender did not immediately respond to an email asking for comment.
President Trump chose former California Assemblyman U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who has vowed to vigorously prosecute anyone who tampers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations or injures officers during demonstrations.
According to a U.S. attorney’s office spokesperson, Essayli pledged that more persons would face charges in the at least 23 cases that federal prosecutors had filed in connection with the protests last month. Records indicate that some of those cases have been refiled as misdemeanors, and at least one has been dismissed.
During a press conference last month, Essayli was asked how it was illegal to distribute defensive gear, and he maintained that Orellana was distributing supplies to violent protesters in particular.
He wasn’t at the beach giving out masks. They have their faces covered. They have backpacks on. He claimed that these demonstrators were not nonviolent. They weren’t displaying signs with political messages on them. They came to commit acts of violence.
Essayli claimed that peaceful protestors do not require a face shield and characterized anyone who stayed at a demonstration site after an illegal gathering was deemed to be a rioter.
Carlos Montes, another Centro CSO member, said Orellana, who works for United Parcel Service, had no criminal history and was a member of the U.S. Marines.
Given that FBI officials confiscated another member’s smartphone last week as part of their investigation into Orellana, Montes stated that he thinks Essayli is intentionally targeting Centro CSO for its pro-immigrant stance.
The charges are absurd. We are requesting that the charges be dropped immediately. “They’re ridiculous and inconsequential,” Montes stated. At most, he was distributing personal protective equipment, which includes snacks, water, and hand sanitizer boxes.
A request for Orellana’s military record was not immediately answered by a U.S. Marine Corps official.
Montes also refuted Essayli’s claim that nonviolent demonstrators don’t require safety gear, citing numerous incidents in which county sheriff’s deputies and Los Angeles police have gravely hurt people in recent years.
According to a Times investigation last month, protesters claim that in recent weeks, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department have fired rubber rounds and other crowd control munitions without warning, causing demonstrators and media members to sustain broken bones, concussions, and other serious injuries.
This report was written by Brittny Mejia, a staff writer for the Times.
