"By the evening, the crowd had swelled to around 500 people and the protest had moved to the downtown Santa Ana area. Officers with the Santa Ana Police Department formed a skirmish line. Tran watched from Sasscer Park, around 30 feet away from the main crowd, as tensions rose. Police suddenly cleared the crowd with "barrages of rubber bullets, pepper balls, flash bangs, tear gas," Tran said, without warning or apparent provocation."
"He said people in the crowd responded by hurling back water bottles and fireworks. Tran turned to leave. Then, "I feel this like sensation, like I got punched really hard in the jaw," Tran said. He had been hit in the face with a less-lethal projectile. The impact left a deep gash on Tran's chin. Doctors at UCI Medical Center told him they could see the tendons connecting his jaw muscles."
A June 9 protest in Santa Ana began with a few dozen people outside a federal building and grew to about 500 as it moved downtown. Federal agents and Santa Ana police formed lines and, according to witnesses, cleared the crowd using rubber bullets, pepper balls, flash bangs and tear gas. Some protesters threw water bottles and fireworks in response. Nathan Tran was struck in the face by a less-lethal projectile, sustaining a deep chin gash that exposed jaw tendons. California law Assembly Bill 48 prohibits indiscriminate force at protests and requires de-escalation and dispersal orders before using such munitions.
Read at Kqed
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