Several individuals sustained injuries during a clash between protestors opposing ICE and law enforcement outside a Californian federal building on Tuesday.
Protestors were observed burning an American flag and hurling insults through a megaphone, demonstrating against the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota. Amidst the chaos, a person who charged at officers while they were attempting to arrest someone else was hit in the eye by a crowd-control device. The Department of Homeland Security reported injuries to two officers as well.
The primary altercation unfolded after the bulk of demonstrators had dispersed from the federal premises. A smaller contingent, organized by the group Dare to Struggle, stayed behind and faced off with officers clad in riot gear.
Video footage captured officers forcefully pushing a protestor back onto the building’s steps, with the group continuing their chants as agents appeared to instruct them to retreat. Subsequently, an orange cone was seen rolling onto the plaza, which prompted officers to discharge munitions as they advanced toward the demonstrators.
In a video provided by OC Hawk, a federal officer is shown dragging a protestor who was struck in the face with a projectile fired at close range during an arrest at the Santa Ana demonstration on Friday, January 9, 2026. (OC Hawk via AP)
The individual wielding the megaphone was identified by relatives as 21-year-old Kaden Rummler, who was hit in the eye by munitions as agents attempted to clear the area.
Rummler could be seen collapsing to the ground before being grabbed by agents and dragged into the federal building, where he was ultimately arrested.
Rummler’s aunt, Jeri Rees, says he was blinded in his left eye and spent six hours of surgery after the incident as doctors sought to remove fragments of the projectile.
In this image taken from a video provided by OC Hawk, a federal officer drags a demonstrator hit in the face with a projectile fired from close range by an officer in Santa Ana, California, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (OC Hawk via AP)
Rees said Rummler was released from the hospital Tuesday while doctors work to determine what the fragments are made of to assess whether additional procedures are needed to remove them. She said he was hit in the left eye and suffered skull fractures.
“He’s completely blind” in the left eye, she said. “There’s a hole in his eyeball.”
Rummler was charged with disorderly conduct and at least one other agitator was charged with assault on a federal officer.
