Teen blindsided by Homeland Security agent who went to photograph LA ‘No Kings’ rally, lawyer says

A USC freshman who went to photograph the recent “No Kings” protest in downtown Los Angeles was shot by a Homeland Security agent with a less-than-lethal projectile and had to have one of his eyes removed, according to his lawyer.

Tucker Collins, 18, was shot in the eye by a projectile containing chemical irritants during the March 28 demonstration, said his attorney, V James DeSimone. He was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center next to the protest and blindfolded. A nurse was driving by and offered to take her to the hospital, DeSimone said.

“We have unfortunately seen in other instances where law enforcement has targeted the press with violence,” he told the Times. “Instead of targeting the people who were throwing things into the crowd, they were targeting the person who was taking documents and photographs of the crowd.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to DeSimone, Collins, who is still recovering and was not feeling well enough to be interviewed Monday, had his right eye removed because of his injury.

“This is the third person to lose an eye, maybe the fourth [Department of Homeland Security agent]DeSimone said. “Two were in Orange County. I don’t represent those people but my former partners are. I see this as a really broad problem across the board.”

DeSimone’s law firm has represented at least 15 people allegedly injured by Homeland Security agents during demonstrations since last June, including a guitar player who suffered a broken finger and a 79-year-old car wash owner who was knocked to the ground and suffered a brain bleed.

Federal judges have issued preliminary injunctions barring Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from using tear gas, pepper-ball ammunition and other less-lethal projectiles against protesters — banning targeting the head, neck or torso unless lethal force is justified.

DeSimone said he plans to file a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Collins, claiming that an officer fired in reckless disregard of his rights under federal or state law.

“They are able to protect themselves in many different ways,” he said. “There was no imminent danger to the officers and this level of violence is troubling. These low-lethal weapons are target specific and it’s not like they’re going to disperse a crowd. Using them to disperse a crowd is against policy and law.”

DeSimone said he has seen other incidents in which members of the press or people taking photos were targeted by agents at protests.

“I think unfortunately you have the mentality of some in police agencies that they are the enemy of people exercising their First Amendment rights, instead of respecting that they are exercising their rights in the American tradition of free speech and peaceful protest,” he said.

DeSimone said other lawsuits filed on behalf of individuals who said they were injured by Homeland Security agents are in their early stages and are still being filed. He said he was confident that he would be able to win those cases.

“I’ve been a civil rights lawyer for 40 years, but during the protests of the ’80s, they didn’t have those kinds of weapons and they gave them to the officers like candy,” he said. “These officers have high-powered toys in their hands but they’re not toys. They may have green stock barrels but they’re 12-gauge shotguns that can be filed at over 200 mph, so with that power, we’ve got people with broken jaws and skulls. It’s just heartbreaking.”

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.