College Student Files Civil Rights Suit After Eye Lost to DHS Projectile

An 18-year-old college student, Tucker Collins, was filming protests outside an immigration detention center in Los Angeles when a projectile struck his face, resulting in the loss of his right eye. The incident occurred last month during a demonstration against immigration policies.

Collins has since filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Trump administration, joining a growing list of lawsuits alleging unconstitutional use of force by federal agents during protests nationwide. The complaint accuses federal agencies of assault, battery, and violations of California’s Bane Act, which safeguards protesters from violence.

“DHS has been turned into a weapon of terror,” Collins stated at a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “I was recording when it happened. There was no warning.” He described the moment as surreal: “One moment I was recording and the next thing I know, I can’t see. I’m on the floor, screaming in agony.”

As a freshman studying astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California, Collins was documenting the “No Kings” rallies on March 28 when he followed the protests outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. Videos captured him moving through the crowd before officers began deploying crowd-control munitions.

“I was blind for a couple moments,” he recalled. “I tried to swallow the pain as fast as I could.” Footage shows protesters wrapping his face in bandages while blood streamed down as officers continued to fire tear gas into the crowd.

“It started to creep into my lungs,” Collins said, recalling his disorientation. “I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t know what was going on.” Images shared with media outlets depict him undergoing surgery to remove parts of his eye and debris from the projectile.

The federal tort complaint alleges that officers fired less-lethal munitions into the crowd without warning, striking Collins from a distance of 20 to 30 feet. As a result, he has endured catastrophic injuries, including permanent vision loss and significant emotional distress.

Collins faces multiple surgeries ahead and will need to extend his college education to complete his degree, according to his attorney. A spokesperson for Homeland Security did not comment on the specific complaint but emphasized that “the First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting.”

“DHS is taking appropriate measures to uphold the rule of law,” the spokesperson added, claiming that officers acted within their training and used minimal force necessary for public safety.

According to DHS, a group of “1,000 rioters” surrounded officers, throwing projectiles before crowd control measures were deployed. “I’m in no way an agitator. I just had my camera,” Collins asserted. “There’s no way I was a danger to anyone.”

In recent months, numerous protesters have reported severe injuries from projectiles used by law enforcement during demonstrations. Lawsuits against DHS have led federal courts to intervene, restricting indiscriminate use of tear gas and other munitions.

Judges have criticized law enforcement tactics, with one in Chicago stating that certain actions “shock the conscience.” Another judge in Oregon recently blocked agents from firing into crowds after children were affected by tear gas, declaring that “our nation is now at a crossroads.”

“When something like this happens, it really affects the whole family,” Collins’s mother, Joann Collins, expressed. “He was just there to document history … and they took his eye for it.”

Collins’s attorney, V. James DeSimone, has called for state and local law enforcement to initiate a criminal investigation into the incident. “Stop shooting at people’s heads,” he urged. “How many eyes have to be lost? How many injuries? It is time to stop.”