Verita Topete said she was walking her dog alone one afternoon in late June at Los Angeles' Ernest E. Debs Park. As she was putting her dog in her car to leave, she said multiple FBI agents approached her. They presented her with a search warrant for her phone, yanked it from her hand with such force she said she was left with bruises. Then she was arrested and temporarily detained. She is not facing charges. But Topete says she believes she was targeted because of her role helping organizations protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Topete, a leader of the immigration committee at Centro CSO, which has been advocating for Chicano and immigrant rights for decades, has been mobilizing residents in Los Angeles against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that started on June 6. She has been involved in fighting for immigrant justice since 2020, when her father was arrested and detained in Southern California's Adelanto ICE Processing Center. Topete and other advocates at Centro CSO say she was targeted for her activism and role in the protests against Trump's mass deportation agenda. "This is how we treat Americans who are exercising their First Amendment rights simply for standing up for those who cannot," Topete said in a news conference the day after she was detained. She is not the only one advocates say is facing increased scrutiny following a role in protests in Los Angeles in June. Alejandro Orellana, also a member of Centro CSO, faces two federal charges for conspiracy to commit civil disorder and abetting civil disorder with up to five years in prison for each charge. Orellana got on the FBI's radar following video that circulated showing him driving a Ford F-150 pickup truck where an unidentified woman distributed face shields from the truck, according to court records. On June 12, the FBI raided their house, where agents found face masks, spray paint, a slingshot and a notebook with anti-police slogans in the Ford pickup. They were also detained but released the following day after the East LA and Boyle Heights community rallied for their release. The FBI argues those face shields aren't typically used by protesters and would help protect "agitators" from less lethal weapons deployed by the local police, according to the criminal complaint. On July 3, Orellana pleaded not guilty to the charges Advocates with Centro CSO are calling U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli in the Central District of California to drop the charges against Orellana. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment. A spokesperson with the FBI said the agency "investigates federal crimes and threats to the national security. We will never open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity." But that's not how Topete sees it. "We are criminalized simply for not being willing to tolerate hate and injustice around us," Topete said at the news conference. "This is a clear attack of them trying to silence us, but we will not be silenced." Carlos Montes, a longtime leader with Centro CSO, said the organization's events, including protests, have always been peaceful and organized. He called the FBI's actions toward protesters a "witch hunt." The FBI raided his house in 2011; the warrant said the investigation was for "providing material information" to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the FARC. "We see this as a direct attack on not just Centro CSO, but anybody who is fighting back against ICE raids, fighting back against the Trump agenda," said Sol Marquez, a member of the immigration committee at Centro CSO. On June 27, following the day Topete was detained, advocates with Centro CSO and community members rallied at Ruben Salazar Park in East Los Angeles chanting "protesting is not a crime" and "stop the FBI witch hunt." They warned that "when there is another uprising against police terror, activists in the street trying to change the system, the FBI is going to come knocking on their doors as well." The movement to drop the charges and investigation of Orellana and Topete has drawn support from Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles. Baba Akili, a national field coordinator, said they are in solidarity with the immigrant population because "if we don't stop this now, if we don't stand up now in solidarity, then we are next." "We have to stand in solidarity with Centro CSO, because they have stood with us," Akili said. Marquez said Centro CSO is not going to back down and will "keep fighting back for our people no matter what happens." "Just like our ancestors, we are resilient, and these intimidation tactics will only fuel us to advocate harder and stronger for immigrant rights and to fight for our immigrant community," Topete said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Immigrant justice advocates say FBI is targeting protest organizers
