An eruption of protests in response to recent ICE raids in Southern California has roiled communities across greater Los Angeles this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many of the protests have been peaceful, but some altercations between protesters and federal agents and local law enforcement have resulted in dozens of injuries and arrests.<\/p>\n
One protester now facing federal charges is Alejandro Orellana, an East L.A. resident and member of the Boyle Heights-based social justice group Centro CSO.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to a complaint issued June 12 by FBI Special Agent Rene Persaud, Orellana is being charged with \u201cconspiring to commit civil disorders\u201d and \u201caiding and abetting civil disorders\u201d for allegedly passing out face shields and water bottles to demonstrators at a downtown L.A. protest on June 9. The complaint said that Orellana was assisted in distributing the face shields by \u201can unidentified woman.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On June 12<\/a>, the FBI raided Orellana\u2019s family home in East L.A. and took the 29-year-old into custody. Orellana is a longtime supporter of immigrants\u2019 and workers\u2019 rights, according to other Centro CSO members.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then on June 18, a U.S. magistrate judge, for reasons that are as yet unclear, issued a warrant allowing federal officials to search the cell phone of another Centro CSO member, Vera \u201cVerita\u201d Topete.<\/p>\n As immigration raids have expanded in scope and intensity in recent weeks, Homeland Security officials have vowed to arrest anyone allegedly interfering with law enforcement actions. But critics say that some labor, immigrant rights and other activists are being illegally harassed, detained and arrested simply for exercising their 1st Amendment rights to observe, document raids and defend their communities. In one high-profile incident earlier this month, California Service Employees International Union president David Huerta was injured and detained while documenting a June 6 raid in downtown Los Angeles, leading to protests demanding his release.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know so far:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n On the morning of June 12, FBI agents raided the home of Orellana and arrested him on two charges stemming from alleged actions he took at a protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 9, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n The charges, conspiracy to commit civil disorders and aiding and abetting civil disorders, both carry up to a five-year maximum statutory sentence, according to U.S. Attorney Bilal \u201cBill\u201d Essayli. At a press conference<\/a>, Essayli said that Orellana had been taken into custody \u201cfor his role in supporting the violent protests in downtown Los Angeles.\u201d Essayli said that Orellana had passed out face shields \u201cto individuals who appear to be engaged in violence and vandalism.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Orellana was kept at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles until his release the following day, Centro CSO co-founder Carlos Montes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a social media video, Orellana could be heard saying, \u201cProtesting is not a crime\u201d on the steps of the federal courthouse after $5,000 bail was posted by family and friends, according to Montes.<\/p>\n His preliminary hearing and first court appearance was originally scheduled for Friday, June 27 but was later postponed to Thursday, July 3, per the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California\u2019s calendar. <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n On June 26, a warrant was executed to search an electronic device belonging to Vera Topete, another Centro CSO member.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since his release, several activist groups, including the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression and National Students for a Democratic Society, have decried Orellana\u2019s arrest<\/a> and demanded the charges against him be dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n