LOS ANGELES – Federal charges have been dropped against an East Los Angeles man accused of handing out protective face shields to protesters during an anti-ICE demonstration last month.
What we know:
Alejandro Orellana, 29, a member of the Boyle Heights-based community organization Centro CSO, was indicted in June by a federal grand jury on felony charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting civil disorder, court records show.
However, at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. District Judge Serena Murillo on Wednesday issued a judgment of discharge in the case, dismissing the charges against Orellana without prejudice — meaning it can be refiled — and ordering his bond exonerated.
Prosecutors filed a motion to toss the charges on Tuesday.
No reason was given for the decision to dismiss the case, and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined comment.
“Without CSO and the other organizations that mobilized on my behalf, I’d still be in jail with charges still pending, or worse, disappeared with a trace,” Orellana said during a press conference Wednesday at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights.
Orellana said he did nothing wrong and would still hand out masks at protests.
“There were women, pregnant women, children, elderly people and that’s just like not right to gas people that are just trying to peacefully assemble and peacefully exercise their First Amendment.”
The backstory:
On June 12, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrest of Orellana for allegedly distributing face shields to “suspected rioters.” He was arrested during a raid of his home.
( U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli)
Just days before, FOX 11 cameras captured a masked group handing out riot shields and gas masks just steps from the federal building in downtown LA during an immigration protest.
According to the indictment, Orellana and at least two others drove around downtown in a pickup truck distributing Uvex Bionic face shields and other items to a crowd. The face shields are designed to protect people from chemical splashes and flying debris.
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The other side:
Centro CSO contends his arrest was “political repression” due to Orellana’s activism.
“Alejandro did nothing wrong, we knew it from the beginning but it’s still scary. These were serious, federal conspiracy charges that were dropped, through fighting, it wasn’t given to us, we fought every preliminary hearing, every appearance,” said Gabriel Quiroz Jr. with Centro CSO.
The Source: Information for this story came from a press conference held July 30 by Alejandro Orellana. City News Service and previous FOX 11 reports contributed.