FED Agent Shoots Anti-ICE Protester in Face at Point-Blank Range, Leaving 21-Year-Old Permanently Blind

Kaden Rummler will never see out of his left eye again. The 21-year-old activist was shot in the face by a Department of Homeland Security agent during an anti-ICE protest in Santa Ana, California on 9 January. What happened that night has left him with catastrophic injuries—metal, plastic and glass shards embedded in his skull, a fractured face, and permanent blindness in one eye.

Rummler had joined demonstrators outside the federal building to protest deportations and demand justice for Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis just days before. Video shows him trying to help another protester when federal officers moved in to make arrests. That's when an agent fired a less-lethal projectile directly at his face from close range. The impact was immediate and brutal. Rummler collapsed, his hands covering his bloodied face. An officer then dragged him across the ground by his hoodie as other protesters screamed for help.

Emergency Surgery Revealed Extent of Damage

Doctors spent six hours in surgery trying to save what they could. What they found was horrifying. 'They pulled a piece of plastic the size of a nickel out of my eye,' Rummler said. 'They said I had shards of metal, glass and plastic all throughout my eye, behind my eye, in my skull.'

But the most dangerous discovery came when surgeons located a piece of metal just millimetres from his carotid artery. 'They said it was a miracle I survived because if it had gotten any closer and hit that, I would've died that night,' Rummler said.

The surgical team made a difficult call—they left the metal fragment where it was. Removing it carried too much risk of severing the artery and causing him to bleed to death.

His aunt Jeri Rees said the metal piece sits just 7 millimetres from the artery. Rummler also suffered skull fractures around his eyes and nose. 'That could have cost him his life,' Rees said. 'But now, for the next six weeks, he can't sneeze or cough because it could do a lot of damage.'

Vision Gone Forever

When asked Rummler if his vision would return, his answer was clear. 'From what I've heard the doctors say and everyone else, yes, I will be blind for the rest of my life.'

He can't even see light through his damaged eye. 'I will never see through my left eye again, not even light,' he wrote in a statement. 'I'm just glad I'm alive to tell my story.'

Rummler is part of Dare to Struggle, a social justice group. The protest he joined was responding to the killing of Renee Good on 7 January. ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good multiple times during Operation Metro Surge, which sent 2,000 agents to Minneapolis for immigration enforcement.

Expert Says Shooting Violated Training

Spencer Fomby, a retired police sergeant, reviewed the video footage and didn't mince words. 'There is really no reasonable explanation for that person being shot in the face,' he said

His assessment is damning. Law enforcement officers are specifically trained not to aim less-lethal weapons at people's heads or faces because of the risk of permanent injury or death. The shooting appears to violate basic protocols for using crowd control weapons.

Federal officials issued Rummler a citation for disorderly conduct—a misdemeanour—after the shooting.

Two Very Different Stories

DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin painted a picture of violent chaos. She told the Los Angeles Times that a 'mob of 60 rioters threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at law enforcement officers outside of the federal building'.

But Santa Ana Police told a different story. Their officers only saw protesters throwing orange cones at federal agents that night. No rocks. No bottles. No fireworks.

DHS also claimed they took Rummler to hospital for a 'cut' and released him the same night. That's not what happened. Rummler's father—described as a conservative Republican—disputed the federal account. His son was not rioting nor did he assault anyone, and was not released after treatment.

Civil Rights Attorney John Washington is now investigating. He said he sees no justification for the level of force used against Rummler.

Growing Pattern of Violence

The Santa Ana shooting happened just two days after Good's killing in Minneapolis. She was a 37-year-old US citizen and mother. ICE agent Ross shot her multiple times as she tried to drive away from a confrontation on a residential street. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey watched the video and called federal claims that Good tried to run over agents 'bullsh*t'.

Less-lethal weapons have a troubled history at protests. During 2020 demonstrations following George Floyd's death, multiple people suffered serious injuries from rubber bullets and similar projectiles. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found 89 patients were treated for injuries from less-lethal weapons during the Minneapolis protests, with 10 sustaining eye trauma and seven requiring surgery.

Rummler's permanent blindness due to excessive use of force raises uncomfortable questions. Are federal agents following proper protocols? When protesters exercise their First Amendment rights, should they risk losing their sight—or their lives?

For now, Rummler is alive but facing a new reality. Half his vision is gone. Metal remains lodged near an artery in his neck. And he can't cough or sneeze without risking further injury. All from one night of protesting outside a federal building.