SoCal ICE Protester Blinded By Federal Agent During Rally In OC: Report

SANTA ANA, CA — A 21-year-old protesters was left permanently blind after a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a nonlethal round at close range during an anti-ICE rally in Orange County last week, the family of the victim told the Los Angeles Times.

Jeri Rees told the Times that her nephew narrowly escaped death after undergoing six hours of surgery. Doctors found shards of plastic, glass and metal embedded in his eyes and around his face, including a metal piece lodged 7 millimeters from a carotid artery.

Doctors didn't want to remove the shrapnel near that artery, fearing that it could kill him.

"That could have cost him his life," she told the newspaper, adding that for the next six weeks, he will have to resist sneezing or coughing because it could "do a lot of damage."

Skye Jones, who is transitioning and uses the pronoun he, suffered a fractured skull around his eyes and nose in addition to losing his vision in his left eye, the newspaper reported.

The protest unfolded on Friday after the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota by an ICE agent. Footage shared on X (formerly Twitter) shows a struggle between agents and protesters, who had thrown safety cones toward the agents, who were guarding a federal building in Santa Ana. At least one agent appears to shoot nonlethal rounds, hitting one person in the leg before striking a protester in the face.

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That person is seen dropping to their knees, holding their face. The same agent then drags the protester by the hood of their jacket. The protester appears to be choking as they are dragged, grasping the collar of their jacket as blood pours from one eye.

Reese told the Times that her nephew says the agents pressed his face against the pool of blood and did not immediately call paramedics.

“The other officers were mocking him, saying, ‘You’re going to lose your eye,’” she said.

READ MORE FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: Anti-ICE protester blinded by federal agent during demonstration in Santa Ana, family says

Good was killed Wednesday in Minneapolis after three Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surrounded her Honda Pilot SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.

Video taken by bystanders show an officer approaching the SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.

The vehicle begins to pull forward to flee and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him. Good was unarmed.