29-year-old Alejandro Theodoro Orellana has been charged with conspiracy to commit civil disorder and aiding and abetting civil disorder.
A federal grand jury has indicted the man who went viral for distributing face shields to activists during the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots last month.
29-year-old Alejandro Theodoro Orellana was arrested by the FBI’s Los Angeles division on June 12 and has been charged with conspiracy to commit civil disorder and aiding and abetting civil disorder, per Fox News. The indictment stems from video footage that showed a man driving a truck into an intersection while another person in the back distributed Bionic Shield face masks to demonstrators. The shields are designed to protect against flying debris and chemical exposure.
The footage was widely circulated online at the time of the protests, which took place during widespread demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles. Orellana was accused of driving the truck delivering the face shield.
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View on XOrellana is reportedly a member of the Los Angeles-based social justice organization Centro CSO. According to its Facebook page, Centro CSO “organizes for the rights of the undocumented, quality public education, against police abuse and fight for social justice for Chicano people."
Since his arrest, immigration advocacy groups in multiple cities have rallied in Orellana’s defense, calling for the charges to be dropped. Last Friday, demonstrators in Chicago held a press conference and rally in downtown to show support for Orellana and demand that the federal government abandon its case against him, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
Orellana’s conspiracy charge carries a punishment of up to five years in prison.
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