Two men say they were seriously injured by LAPD projectiles during a protest in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend and are now facing long and painful recoveries.
Marshall Woodruff, a Los Angeles filmmaker, said he was struck in the face by a less-than-lethal round Saturday night during a protest. “I just have a lot of pain and numbness in the right side of my face,” Woodruff said from his hospital bed. “When the bullet struck my face, all I could hear was a high-pitched ringing noise.” Woodruff said that he was part of the “No Kings Protest” when LAPD officers began firing into the crowd after declaring the gathering unlawful.
The department reported that officers had come under attack from protesters throwing bottles and concrete, prompting them to order the crowd to disperse. Woodruff, however, said he never heard any clear instructions to leave. “Nobody on megaphones, nobody shouting clear orders,” he said. “It was just chaos.”
According to Woodruff, he was not acting aggressively when he saw an officer aim at him. After being hit, he underwent a five-hour surgery and said doctors have told him he may lose vision in his right eye.
Another protest attendee, Christopher Fernandez, a registered nurse, told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell that he was also hit by a projectile while offering medical assistance to the crowd. “I looked down and saw it was more bloody and the pain started to set in, and I said ‘I think it might be worse than I thought,’” Fernandez said.
He described his shock at being targeted. “How are you going to shoot me?” he said. “I was surprised.”
Fernandez sustained a serious leg wound and was treated in the emergency room before being released.
Both men expressed frustration over their treatment by police. “I find it ironic that their motto is to protect and serve,” Woodruff said. “It doesn’t seem like they were doing that.”
A fundraiser has been launched to help cover Marshall Woodruff’s medical expenses and recovery. More information can be found on his GoFundMe page.
This protest is one of several recent demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles targeting ICE activity. Earlier this week, another protester told KTLA that a rubber bullet fired by LAPD officers during the same demonstration “shattered” his testicle, requiring emergency surgery.
