Alleged LA riot leader's father slams him for handing out supplies to anti-ICE protesters

Sky News AU

a day ago

The dad of a young union worker and socialist activist arrested by the FBI for handing out face shields to dozens of LA rioters said his son isn't a criminal — but slammed him for supplying the anti-ICE riots, and leading the feds to bust down the door of their family home.
Francisco Orellana's reaction to seeing his son Alejandro 'Alex' Orellana driving a truck loaded with supplies for protesters was: 'What the f*** are you doing?'
The elder Orellana, a US citizen who moved to the US in the 1970s, told The Post the feds handcuffed the whole family in pursuit of his son on Thursday morning, smashing in the front door of their Los Angeles house and breaking a window on his truck.
The younger Orellana was busted on charges of conspiracy to commit civil disorders, US Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said.
Images taken at the riot show dozens of protesters running up to a truck Alex was allegedly driving to grab 'Bionic Shield' transparent masks, which are normally used at jobsites to protect workers' faces from flying debris or chemical splashes.
Francisco Orellana, a construction technician, told The Post he didn't know how his son got involved in the protests, and said he may have been in the truck because someone asked him for a favor.
'My son is a good boy … he's not a criminal. He doesn't have a bad record, he's clear,' he said.
'I saw the picture [of Alejandro in the truck], which my sister-in-law sent to my wife. I said, 'what the f*** are you doing? Why are you doing that?''
He said his son told him, 'Papa, I don't think this is illegal,' but the concerned dad had his doubts.
'I said, 'it ends up being a big problem when you're giving stuff to people [who do violence]. They burned police cars, they broke windows, this is not right.' I said, 'It's illegal to [help] people fighting with the police, people fighting with immigration.'
Alex Orellana, a US Marine veteran, is a UPS worker and a shop steward for the Teamster's union who has been active for years with fighting for social justice causes — including with Centro CSO, which famously trained Cesar Chavez, according to social media posts.
One video shows him giving a May Day speech last year in black combat boots and camouflage pants.
On June 6, he wrote gleefully for the socialist news site Fight Back! about protesters chasing down federal agents in Los Angeles and forcing them to leave the neighborhood of Boyle Heights.
The elder Orellana said he disagrees with the protesters' tactics, even though some cheered his son's alleged actions in helping them.
'Some people are thinking, 'he's helping people. He's doing a good job.' I don't think that. I tell a lot of people, 'don't go to the protests,'' he said.
He detailed the federal agents' raid on the family home, where Francisco lives with his wife and two adult sons, including Alex.
'They broke down my door, broke the window of my truck, they broke my wall. … I woke up, and I heared boom boom boom on the door. I said, 'wait, wait, wait! Let me put on my clothes, let me put on my shoes …The FBI, they arrested me, they arrested my wife, my other son,' he said.
'They go through my house. Who's going to pay for my house? Who's going to fix these things?'
Francisco said the FBI took the phones and laptops for everyone in the home and held them in custody for an hour.
As for his take on immigration, Francisco said law-abiding people coming into the country to work is a good thing, but condemned the many he sees as taking advantage of the system.
'It's too many people not working. Who's paying for them? You and me, and everybody working. We're paying to keep those people here,' he said, sharing a story about one of his neighbors.
'She has seven kids. They said the government pays rent, gives them money for food, everything. I told her one day, 'I am the government. They're taking that money from my check. You eat because we're working. We don't work, you don't eat,' he said.
He also spared no praise for the lefty policies of Golden State politicians, whom he blames for the current state of affairs.
'California is no good. Democratic people left the state really, really bad.'
Originally published as Alleged LA riot leader's father slams him for handing out supplies to anti-ICE protesters