A Huntington Beach accountant who was shot in the head with a “less lethal” projectile at anti-ICE protest in Santa Ana is seeking $50 million from the county of Orange.
Tony Olson, 41, said he was trying to leave the June 9 protest after sheriff’s deputies and Santa Ana police officers began firing the projectiles into the crowd. He was hit on the side of the head, cracking his skull and causing a traumatic brain injury. Olson, through attorney V. James DeSimone, filed a damage claim against the county, which typically leads to a lawsuit.
A separate claim seeking unspecified damages was filed against the city of Santa Ana.
“I never imagined I would be injured for exercising my civil rights,” said Olson, a controller at a real estate investment firm and a CPA, during a news conference Thursday, Sept. 18, at DeSimone’s office in Marina del Rey. “I didn’t expect to be shot. … I am fighting back for justice.”
A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the specific case, but said deputies responded to the protest to help with crowd control after Santa Ana police declared an unlawful assembly and ordered the protesters to leave.
“During this effort, individuals in the crowd threw water bottles, rocks, and fireworks mortars/explosives at law enforcement. OCSD deployed kinetic energy projectiles and chemical agents in response to those specific threats,” spokesperson Carrie Braun said.
DeSimone said one man threw a firecracker, causing the shooting to begin. But Olson says he was nowhere near that individual.
“Tony Olson was not a threat. He was walking away on a sidewalk,” DeSimone said. “What’s so upsetting, as a parent, is how do you explain to your (three) children that Dad is hurt because the police shot him?
“It’s like the officers have these new toys in their hands that are 12-gauge shotguns.” DeSimone said. “This was an attack on the constitutional rights of peaceful citizens. If law enforcement can get away with shooting people in the head for protesting, no one in America is safe exercising their rights.”
Olson, his in-laws and a niece were among hundreds gathered near the intersection of Fourth Street and Broadway to protest ICE raids on immigrants. When law enforcement began shooting the projectiles, Olson said he walked east on Fourth, trying to get out of the line of fire, but was hit by a 40 mm projectile that fractured his skull.
“When I got hit, (there was) ringing immediately in both ears, my vision went double,” Olson said. “It scared the hell out of me.” His voice also became slurred, he said.
Olson was rushed by family to Kaiser Permanente in Irvine before he was transferred by ambulance to Kaiser Anaheim’s Neurology ICU, where he was monitored for emergency brain surgery. Ten staples were required to close the wound. He remained hospitalized for days. While there, Olson alleged in his claim, a Santa Ana officer visited him, took his statement and apologized on behalf of law enforcement.
Months after, Olson said he still suffers from dizziness, memory lapses and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I told my family, if I start acting weird, get me to a hospital.”