USC student who lost an eye at ‘No Kings’ protest disputes federal account of crowd warnings

By Maria Aguilar Prieto, Rebekah Riess, CNN

(CNN) — The California college student who lost his right eye after being struck by a projectile while filming at a “No Kings” protest said Wednesday he was only recording and heard no warning before he was hit — an account disputed by federal authorities, who say officers issued multiple warnings before deploying force.

Tucker Collins, 18, who lost his right eye as a result of being hit, said he was documenting the protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on March 28. Wearing a black eye patch Wednesday, he spoke to reporters after his attorney announced the filing of a federal tort claim act.

The claim seeks compensation from the Department of Homeland Security and gives the agency six months to respond. It is a precursor to a potential civil rights lawsuit.

“One moment I was recording, and then the next thing I know, I can’t see. I’m on the floor screaming in agony,” the University of Southern California freshman said.

“There was no warning. I didn’t hear dispersal order. There was no one throwing anything next to me.”

DHS previously said that seven warnings were issued before crowd control measures were deployed and that “rioters threw rocks, bottles, and cement blocks at officers.”

DHS on Wednesday directed CNN to their earlier statement when reached for comment on the federal tort claim filing and Collins’ allegations.

Collins was hit in the eye by a less-lethal projectile he says was fired by a DHS agent, “destroying his eyeball and fracturing the bones in his eye socket,” his attorney V. James DeSimone told CNN.

Collins maintained he was there to exercise his First Amendment rights and that the use of force by federal agents was not warranted.

“There was no way in which I was doing anything at all except just taking photos, taking videos,” Collins said. “What I got from that is I lost an eye.”

Collins had followed the protesters to the detention center with the intention of documenting it, given his interest in photography and short films, DeSimone said. Although a tall black metal barrier separated the crowd of protesters and the law enforcement agents, and Collins stayed back from the front lines of the protest, he was still hit, his attorney said.

When asked about what transpired and why the projectile was fired, DHS previously said, “The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly – not rioting.”

DHS did not say whether the agency provided treatment or had been in touch with Collins since his injury.

Collins described feeling “some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”

“I couldn’t see anything, and I just didn’t know what was going on,” he said.

A nurse at the protest helped Collins with his wound, according to DeSimone. Collins was taken to the hospital, but the doctors weren’t able to save his eye and had to surgically remove it, he said.

The USC freshman studies astronautical engineering and has kept up with his schoolwork as he recovers, DeSimone said. Collins is getting used to reading with one eye, which impacts his ability to study, but “he’s still determined to try,” his attorney said.

A little over two weeks later, Collins said he is trying to regain a sense of normalcy but knows it will take some time.

“It feels like still that, like, everything I love is at risk of becoming collateral damage,” he said.

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CNN’s Sneha Dhandapani contributed to this report.