Business Maine company in the spotlight after Maduro apparently wore one of their hoodies “Probably a DEA agent slipped this hoodie on him and said, ‘You’re going to feel the fabric of freedom on American soil.’” In this courtroom sketch, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and his wife, Cilia Flores, second from right, appear in Manhattan federal court with their defense attorneys Mark Donnelly, second from left, and Andres Sanchez, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in New York. Elizabeth Williams via AP
The CEO of a Maine apparel company said his phone “blew up” after deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was apparently photographed wearing one of their hoodies upon arriving in New York over the weekend.
The U.S. captured Maduro, Venezuela’s president, and his wife in a staggering nighttime military operation Saturday, charging the ousted leader with drug and weapons offenses. Before long, social media was flush with images that appeared to show Maduro wearing an ORIGIN hoodie in the shade “Patriot Blue,” surrounded by Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
In one photo, Maduro appears to be giving the camera a double thumbs up.
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“I had to start putting the pieces together: Why is this dude wearing an Origin Patriot Blue hoodie?” Pete Roberts, the company’s founder and CEO, said in a video Sunday. “And the irony in this is that this wave, this logo here on the shirt Maduro is wearing, this is the ‘Wave of Freedom.’”
Farmington-based ORIGIN began as a way to help revitalize a struggling New England manufacturing community, he explained, and its “Wave of Freedom” logo represents a commitment to building back.
Roberts also offered his theory on how Maduro came to be wearing a hoodie made by a smaller brand from Maine.
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“Probably a DEA agent slipped this hoodie on him and said, ‘You’re going to feel the fabric of freedom on American soil,’” he quipped. “That’s my assumption, and I’m taking the liberty to assume.”
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