Attorneys representing a USC student shot and blinded by a Department of Homeland Security officer at a “No Kings” rally announced Wednesday plans to file a federal claim against the agency — the first step in filing a federal civil rights lawsuit.
On March 28, Tucker Collins was shot with a projectile fired by a Department of Homeland Security officer and blinded in his right eye while taking a video of the rally, according to his attorney V. James DeSimone. The demonstration that drew thousands to downtown Los Angeles culminated at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly after the shooting, a Homeland Security spokesperson issued a statement, saying a group of about 1,000 protesters surrounded the Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles and “threw rocks, bottles, and cement blocks at officers.” Seven warnings were given “before the deployment of crowd control measures,” according to the statement.
Collins spoke out for the first time at a Wednesday news conference since being blinded at the rally.
“There was no way in which I was a danger to anyone,” Collin told reporters at the conference while wearing an eye patch. “There’s no way in which I was doing anything at all except just taking photos, taking videos.
DeSimone announced at the conference that his firm filed a federal tort claim against Homeland Security, the first step in filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the agency. He did not discuss the dollar amount he may seek.
“Here was an 18-year-old college student standing back and documenting what was happening when a DHS officer shot him in the eye and changed his life forever,” DeSimone said. “The law does not allow federal officers to permanently maim someone who is peacefully documenting a public protest and expect no accountability. And neither should the public.”
DeSimone’s law firm has represented at least 15 people who were allegedly injured by federal or local agents during protests since last June, including a guitar player whose finger was shattered and a 79-year-old car wash owner who was slammed to the ground and experienced a brain bleed.
Federal judges have issued preliminary injunctions restricting Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from using tear gas, pepper-ball munitions and other less-lethal projectiles against protesters — banning the targeting of the head, neck or torso, except when deadly force is justified.
The post An immigration agent shot out his eye at a ‘No Kings’ rally. His lawyers plan to file claim against Homeland Security appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
