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Protester in Santa Ana Is Left Permanently Blind by “Less Lethal” Round Fired by Federal Agent

HeadlineJan 15, 2026

In California, 21-year-old Kaden Rummler says he was left permanently blind in one eye and narrowly avoided death, after a federal agent fired a crowd control weapon into his face during an anti-ICE protest in Santa Ana last week. Rummler had joined protests against the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, when a federal agent fired a “less lethal” round at close range that struck his left eye. He was then dragged by an agent across a plaza, his face covered in blood, as he complained, “I can’t breathe.” He says he pleaded for agents to call an ambulance as they mocked him about his injured eye. He ultimately underwent six hours of surgery to remove plastic, glass and metal from his face and skull, with one piece narrowly missing his carotid artery. Rummler says doctors told him it was a “miracle” he survived.

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