Los Angeles man blinded by officer’s projectile at anti-ICE protest, claim says

Jesus Javier Gomez Islas, 23, says in filing against LAPD he has permanently lost vision in one eye due to unjustified munition fired at his faceA 23-year-old Los Angeles man who attended a recent immigration protest outside a federal building says he was blinded in one eye by a law enforcement projectile.Jesus Javier Gomez Islas filed a claim against the LA police department (LAPD) on Thursday stemming from permanent injuries he says he suffered at a 31 January demonstration outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. The federal facility has been the site of frequent protests against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and was the site of “ICE Out” rallies that week.Gomez Islas’s claim said doctors told him he would not regain sight in his right eye where he was hit, with his lawyers saying he is in danger of also losing sight in his left eye due to complications from the injury.Gomez Islas’s lawyers said their analysis suggested the projectile came from an LAPD weapon, though there were also federal officers in the area at the time. The claim is a legal letter, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, and was filed against the city of LA and not the Department of Homeland Security.The LAPD declined to comment, saying it does not respond to pending litigation. The LA city attorney’s office and the DHS did not immediately respond to inquiries on Thursday.“I’m absolutely devastated, frustrated and betrayed by what we call law enforcement that are not really enforcing the law, but only bringing violence against our people,” Gomez Islas said at a briefing at his lawyer’s office in LA. “What they’ve done is horrible, monstrous, and for what?”Gomez Islas’s right eye appeared swollen shut and green markings apparently caused from the projectile remained visible on the skin under his eye.The incident occurred at about 9.40pm, just minutes after Gomez Islas arrived at the protest, according to his claim. He said he was on his scooter heading home from his job at a department store when he stumbled upon the demonstration and saw someone he knew.Video shared by his attorneys showed a chaotic scene and appeared to capture the moment that there was some kind of explosion of green paint by Gomez Islas’s head. He was standing by his scooter not moving before he appeared to be hit. The video does not clearly show where the projectile originated, and no officer is visible in the blurry footage.Another video, which spread on social media at the time, before his identity was known, showed the aftermath, with Gomez Islas on the ground and his face covered in a bright green paint as other demonstrators helped him. It’s unclear who took the videos.Gomez Islas recounted the moment of the impact, saying: “I was in my work uniform at the time, dress shirt, dress pants, not posing a threat at all. Then suddenly I just felt something punch my eye … I couldn’t open my right eye. I was panicking … I was scared.”The legal claim alleged the LAPD did not attempt to provide medical assistance and said his sister picked him up and drove him to a hospital where he learned he had permanently lost his vision.The claim, which calls for $100m in damages, said he also suffered a traumatic brain injury. The officer who fired the projectile has not been identified, his lawyers said. The claim alleged excessive force, assault, battery, negligence and infliction of emotional distress.“No amount of money is going to bring my client’s vision back,” said Jamal Tooson, Gomez Islas’s lawyer. “His life has changed forever … we are going to do our very best to hold [LAPD] accountable, to bring about change.”The 31 January protest came two weeks after a federal judge issued a ruling restricting LAPD officers’ use of so-called “less-lethal” launchers at protests, finding the police agency had violated previous court orders limiting the use of certain kinds of weapons against demonstrators, the LA Times reported at the time.On Thursday, the department disclosed in a public document that its officers responding to protesters that night had used a weapon known as the “FN 303”, which is a launcher that does have the capability to shoot rounds with paint, according to the newspaper, which first reported on Gomez Islas’s case. The LAPD’s disclosure said demonstrators had thrown rocks and fireworks at officers.The LAPD has for years faced litigation over its deployment of projectiles and munitions to control crowds amid widespread concerns about the risks of serious injury.Earlier in January, two demonstrators at a different immigration protest in Santa Ana, south of LA, said they were blinded by projectiles fired by federal agents.Gomez Islas said he has not been back to work since and used to be an avid cyclist, but has been too frightened to get back on a bike due to his severely reduced vision. “I’m actually a bit more scared to go out in public now, because I’m afraid of bumping into people and causing problems and disturbances.”Carol Sobel, a civil rights lawyer who has long been involved in litigation challenging the LAPD’s use of projectiles, said munitions are fired at high velocities and should never be aimed at people’s heads. Sobel, who is not involved in Gomez Islas’s case, said she felt it was outrageous protesters continued to suffer severe harms from these kinds of weapons: “It’s astonishing to me that the city doesn’t have this under control.”