“I thought this was the end”: Anti-ICE protesters recount bloody attack by DHS agents in Santa Ana
A young protester gripped at the collar of his shirt, a desperate attempt to keep his airway clear as a Department of Homeland Security agent dragged him into a federal building in Santa Ana Friday, according to a statement he released to a social justice organization.
The protester, a 21-year-old who asked to only be identified as K, had been hit by a nonlethal round fired by an agent only feet away. He saw his blood pooling beneath him – “dark and thick,” and wider than his head.
K pleaded with agents to call an ambulance, he said in the statement. Instead, the agents taunted him, “laughing at the fact that I would never get to see out of my left eye again,” he said.
Rue El Amar, a friend of K’s, read the statement on his behalf during a press conference Tuesday, held by Dare to Struggle, a social justice organization that K is involved with, in front of the Santa Ana city jail.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of federal offices in Santa Ana Friday to protest the fatal shooting in Minnesota of Renee Good. K was injured and another protester, Skye Jones, was taken into custody.
Video footage of the incident shows three agents approaching the group before one agent tries to take a young person into custody, prompting at least three demonstrators to try to intervene.
The video then shows at least one agent firing nonlethal rounds at the crowd, before aiming and shooting a protester in the face. K drops to the ground after being shot, holding his face as the crowd retreats.
K remained in the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon, as they await a police report that can identify what type of metal was in the rounds used. His doctors are concerned about neurotoxins from the bullet, he said.
Rue El Amar holds a sign during a press conference about a young protester who was left blind in one eye after a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a less-lethal round at demonstrators.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“I pleaded with him, call an ambulance,” El Amar read. “I thought I was going to bleed out on the floor of the federal building with the DHS officer holding my head down to the ground like a trophy.”
K is now completely blind in his left eye, his tear duct was destroyed and the “flaps of my eye are barely holding on,” he said. Doctors found pieces of plastic and glass in his skull as well as metal in his stomach lining, and “pulled a piece of plastic the size of a nickel from my eye,” he said.
A piece of metal is lodged only millimeters from his carotid artery, which could have killed him. Doctors were unable to remove some of the shrapnel from his skull and he “will have to live with metal pieces there for the rest of my life,” he said.
“I focused on the voices of the people, the voices of my friends and comrades, I believe that’s what kept me alive, hearing them continue the fight despite how aggressive our oppressors were,” K said.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security, previously told The Times that a “mob of 60 rioters threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at law enforcement officers outside of the federal building.”
A spokesperson for the Santa Ana Police Department said the only violence they were aware of that night were demonstrators tossing orange cones at the agents.
Connor Atwood, a member of Dare to Struggle who was present during the incident, said he didn’t witness bottles or rocks being thrown toward agents. Some firecrackers were set off near the sidewalk but away from the building entrance, he said.
Jones, who also spoke during the press conference, was arrested during the incident and held for nearly three days until being released yesterday, they said during the press conference. Jones said they weren’t told the charges against them until the morning of their release.
Jones said they hope Friday’s incident makes people “open their eyes” to the violence committed by immigration against against “innocent civilians who are just trying to protect their neighbors and friends,” they said.
“When confronting those who enforce ICE terror, they will snatch us out of a crowd. They will shoot us point blank with pepper ball bullets, and they will throw us to the ground,” Jones said. “Repression is inevitable when demanding justice, so we must not cower at it.”
Staff Writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.
Terence Crawford thought win over Canelo Álvarez would be difficult
Now retired from professional boxing, Terence Crawford recently spoke with YouTube host Adin Ross about his career and his victory over Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez.
The unanimous-decision win over Álvarez in September in Las Vegas marked the end of Crawford’s domination of the sport — he subsequently retired with a 42-0 record and 31 knockouts — and the Mexican star’s run as super-middleweight champion.
During the conversation, Crawford said he expected to be challenged and tested more by Álvarez. Crawford, who had won titles in four weight classes before moving up to face Álvarez, took all four 168-pound titles on the line in the bout, becoming the undisputed champion at a third level.
“I’m not going to lie, I thought it would be more difficult,” he said.
Crawford explained that as the early rounds progressed, he was able to clearly read his opponent’s approach and feel increasingly comfortable in the ring. Crawford said he didn’t notice any significant adjustments on Álvarez’s part, which allowed him to control the pace of the fight and choose his moments to attack more effectively.
“The first round went by, the second round went by … and then I thought, ‘I’ve got him,’” Crawford said.
Crawford also spoke about the prefight narrative and how, in his opinion, he was underestimated.
“A lot of people spent time talking about how big he is, his stamina, that he was going to knock me out or run all over me,” Crawford said. “There was no talk about whether or not I could hurt him.”
According to Crawford, that perception changed in the ring when his power forced Álvarez to be more cautious. Crawford said the Mexican ended up respecting his punching power and his ability to control the exchanges.
The interview took place weeks after Crawford confirmed his retirement at age 38, ending speculation over the possibility of a rematch against Álvarez.
This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.
Mystery of Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s death at lux hotel where guest who found body ‘thought she was passed out drunk’
CHILLING details have been revealed in the strange death of Tommy Lee Jones’s daughter.
Former child star Victoria Jones, 34, was found unresponsive in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Staff thought Jones had been drinking when they found the 34-year-old lying on the ground of the 14th floor of the ritzy Fairmont hotel, San Francisco.
She was spotted by a guest who thought she “might be drunk”, a source told The Daily Mail.
But when desperate attempts to revive her failed, they realised the truth.
Hotel staff quickly started CPR and called an ambulance, but couldn’t bring her back.
Emergency services were called to the swanky hotel at 2.52am, where paramedics found Victoria unresponsive, TMZ reported.
First responders pronounced Victoria, daughter of actor Tommy Lee Jones, dead at the scene.
There were no signs of foul play or trauma to the body, according to the Daily Mail source.
Cops didn’t find drug paraphernalia on the scene, or any signs that Jones had taken her own life.
Her cause of death remains a mystery, and San Francisco police have asked anyone with information about the incident to get in touch with them.
It is still unclear if the child star was a guest at the hotel or what she was doing on the 14th floor.
A spokesperson for the police force said: “On 1/1/26 at approximately 3:14 a.m., San Francisco Police officers responded to a hotel located on the 900 block of Mason street regarding a report of a deceased person.
“At the scene, officers met with medics, who declared the adult female deceased. The Medical Examiner arrived on scene and conducted an investigation.”
Victoria was the daughter of Tommy and his second wife Kimberlea Cloughley.
She followed in her father’s footsteps, acting in several films, including 2002’s Men in Black II and One Tree Hill.
She performed her first acting role as a child before making her Hollywood debut in 2002.
Her famous father played Agent K in the Men in Black franchise.
Victoria also appeared in a handful of acting projects as a child, including a 2005 episode of One Tree Hill and a role that same year in the Western picture The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which was directed by her father.
Tommy is also known for Batman Forever, No Country for Old Men, Captain America: The First Avenger and Jason Bourne.
After a brief stint in Hollywood, Victoria did not act in any other movies, but occasionally appeared alongside her father to attend red carpet events.
In 2017, she posed at his side at the ArcLight Hollywood for the premiere of his movie Just Getting Started, which also starred Morgan Freeman and Rene Russo.
She is survived by her father Jones, her mother Cloughley and her brother, Austin.