Authorities arrested a man who allegedly handed out riot gear to people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids in Los Angeles. Alejandro Theodoro Orellana was charged with suspicion of conspiracy to commit civil disorders.
In a social media post on Thursday, June 12, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayi said law enforcement detained Orellana “for distributing face shields to suspected rioters on Tuesday” near federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles. Essayi also indicated that prosecutors may soon charge additional individuals.
“We are moving quickly to identify and arrest those involved in civil disorder in Los Angeles,” he said.
Before the arrest
Essayi’s post displayed a photo of Orellana as well as a clip from Fox News showing a man appearing to hand out masks from the bed of a pickup truck.
Fox 11 Los Angeles reported on Monday, June 9, that people were distributing face shields to protesters.
“We just saw people arrive in downtown L.A. with truck loads of Bionic Face Shields that demonstrators quickly grabbed,” Fox 11 Anchor Elex Michaelson wrote on X. “It certainly seems like gear you’d wear if you’re preparing for conflict with police. Who is funding this?”
Protesters sometimes wear protective face gear in case the police release tear gas or fire non-lethal bullets.
The suspect
Little was immediately known about Orellana.
Television station KTLA quoted an unidentified Los Angeles resident who said he knew Orellana vaguely but was not aware of his involvement in any criminal activity.
“No, nothing of the sort,” the man said. “Nothing at all. No one on this block have I heard, you know, bad news from or any gossip.”
The man said he didn’t understand why law enforcement had arrested Orellana. However, he said he was awoken Thursday by flash bangs and warnings from police to stay inside.
Citizen.com posted footage of a small group of people yelling at law enforcement in the man’s neighborhood near East Los Angeles. The video showed one person using a bullhorn as another cursed at authorities.
Background
Orellana’s arrest comes as thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Los Angeles and other cities to protest ICE raids that began on June 6. The raids have targeted elementary schools, courthouses, workplaces and retail stores, including Home Depot. Most protesters have been peaceful, but some have clashed with authorities.
In response to the protests, President Donald Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guard Troops and 700 Marines.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, accused Trump of manufacturing a crisis and of deploying troops to sow “chaos.”
Newsom sued the Trump administration over the nationalization of state troops, calling it “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Thursday that Trump violated the law in taking over the National Guard. However, an appeals court stayed the judge’s ruling while the case proceeded in court.
Trump’s response
At Fort Bragg on Tuesday, June 10, Trump claimed, without citing evidence, that someone was paying demonstrators, and he defended his administration’s actions.
“These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries, but they don’t carry the American flag — they only burn it,” Trump said. “We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. And that’s what they are. A lot of those people were let in here by the Biden administration.”
