An anti-ICE protester says he was blinded by a federal agent during a demonstration outside the federal building in Santa Ana on Friday.
During a press conference on Tuesday, the protestor, identified as K, shared his story in a statement read by a friend.
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“I heard a bang, and suddenly I was on my knees,” the statement read. “It hadn't dawned on me what happened. Everything was a blur. Sounds became muffles. The only thing I could focus on was the ringing and pressure all around my skull.”
In his statement, K said the projectile used to shoot him has left him blind in his left eye. He remains in the hospital.
Skye Jones, one of the protestors arrested, also spoke at the press conference.
“The truth is, when confronting those who enforce ICE terror, they will snatch us out of the crowd,” he said. “They will shoot us at point-blank range with pepper ball bullets and more, and they will throw us to the ground.”
K and Jones are part of Dare to Struggle, which, according to its website, is” a multinational organization open to anyone who wants to resist and stop injustice no matter who holds political office.” Video from that night showed the two being dragged away by agents while struggling to leave.
Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said he went to the same protest, but left before the two arrests.
“It was slated to go on from 6 to 8, and unfortunately, I think a lot of the activity that we saw on video happened afterwards, when there was a small crowd still remaining,” he said. “But when I was there, there were school board members from Santa Ana Unified School District. There were council members from the Santa Ana City Council, and all we saw was a vigil-like demonstration.”
He said he's disturbed by what he saw in the video
“This has consequences beyond the injury to the young person,” he said. “It has a chilling effect on our entire community to not be present, to not be vigilant about what's happening in our neighborhoods, about seeing people taken, dragged, now shot in the face as we saw to Renee Good. But now also here in our local community, where somebody is going to lose their sight as a result of simply wanting to call attention to something that is extremely disturbing.”
Homeland Security said protesters threw rocks, bottles, and fireworks at the federal officers, injuring two of them. Officials say the two arrested are facing assault and disorderly conduct charges.
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