Student Photographer Loses Right Eye While Covering LA Protest

A student photographer lost his right eye after he was allegedly struck by a projectile fired by a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent while covering a “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles last month.

Tucker Collins, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Southern California (USC), was photographing demonstrators in downtown Los Angeles on the afternoon of March 28. According to a statement from his lawyer V. James DeSimone, Collins was photographing a confrontation between protesters and federal agents when he was allegedly hit by a less-lethal projectile.

Footage shared by DeSimone on social media shows Collins taking pictures of demonstrators outside a federal facility before suddenly falling to his knees. The video captured by a bystander near the Metropolitan Detention Center shows Collins, wearing a red T-shirt and jeans, standing behind a fence line separating protesters from law enforcement, with his camera raised, before collapsing to the ground.

DeSimone says a crowd-control projectile struck Collins in the right eye, fracturing bones in his eye socket. Collins was taken to a hospital, where he underwent two and a half hours of surgery in an attempt to save the eye. The injury was too severe, and the eye was surgically removed.

“We’ve unfortunately seen in other instances where law enforcement has targeted the press with violence,” DeSimone tells The L.A. Times. “Instead of targeting people who were throwing things into the crowd, they were targeting someone who was documenting and taking photos of the crowd.”

According to a report by The L.A. Times, DeSimone plans to file a federal civil rights lawsuit on Collins’ behalf, alleging that an officer acted in reckless disregard of his rights under federal or state law. His law firm has represented at least 15 people who were allegedly injured by federal or local agents during protests since last June. DeSimone says he has seen other cases in which members of the press or individuals taking photos were targeted by agents at protests.

The incident comes after federal judges 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, including bans on targeting the head, neck, or torso except when deadly force is justified.

Losing an eye has affected Collins’ ability to work in a visual medium, but he intends to continue pursuing photography, according to DeSimone.

“He wants to continue on and continue his work,” DeSimone tells The New York Times. “But, when I’ve spoken to him, he’s struggling.”

In a statement to The New York Times, the DHS says a crowd had gathered at the Roybal Federal Building, next to the Metropolitan Detention Center. The agency describes some in the crowd as rioters who threw rocks, bottles, and concrete at federal officers, and said personnel used crowd-control measures only after issuing seven warnings.

“Our law enforcement has followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property,” the DHS says.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.