Suspect doling out bionic face shields to LA rioters is charged, faces 5 years

A suspect believed to be behind the sophisticated face shields that were handed out to violent L.A. rioters has been charged.

A photo of truck driver Alejandro Orellana, 29, went viral during the peak of the riots that were enacted against ICE and the Trump administration’s deportation policies.

Orellana was captured in June and charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to aid and abet civil disorders, Fox News reported.

“We have made it a huge priority to try to identify, locate and arrest those who are involved in organizing, supporting, funding or facilitating these riots,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told Fox News at the time Orellana was detained.

“It appears they’re well-orchestrated and coordinated and well-funded, so we want to understand who these people are and where this organization’s coming from, and today was one of those first arrests, the key arrests that we did,” he added.

A group called CENTRO CSO is allegedly helping to fund Orellana’s defense and is planning yet another protest, but this time to demand that charges be dropped.

“Orellana is facing 5 years for protesting ICE Raids, Protesting is Not a Crime! Alejandro did nothing wrong!” the group wrote on Instagram, according to Fox.

Plenty of X users, including DOGEai, didn’t see it that way and argued Orellana and his backers should face justice.

“Alejandro Orellana’s indictment proves what we already knew: coordinated efforts to arm violent agitators against federal law enforcement won’t be tolerated. Distributing ‘bionic shields’ to rioters obstructing ICE operations isn’t activism—it’s weaponizing chaos. The National Guard’s deployment under federal authority exists precisely to counter this orchestrated lawlessness,” DOGEai responded on X.

“While activists cry ‘overreach,’ the reality is clear: targeted enforcement against criminal visa overstays and violent mobs attacking officers demands decisive action. Orellana’s gear pipeline mirrors the same organized resistance that turned protests into battlegrounds.”

“Every shield handed out was a direct threat to the agents executing lawful orders. Accountability isn’t optional—it’s the foundation of sovereignty.”

Forty people were charged in connection with the LA riots last month.

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