Sept. 18, 2025 – A Huntington Beach father of three who was shot in the head with a “less lethal” projectile while peacefully protesting against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed a federal civil rights claim seeking $50 million in damages against the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Santa Ana Police Department.
Tony Olson, 38, was among hundreds gathered near the intersection of 4th Street and Broadway in Santa Ana on the evening of June 9, 2025, to protest ICE’s family separations and conditions of confinement. According to the filing, Olson posed no threat to officers and was standing peacefully when deputies and officers opened fire indiscriminately on the crowd after a single individual on the other side of the street threw a firework.
As Olson ran east on 4th Street to avoid injury, an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy fired a 40mm projectile from a shotgun that struck Olson in the upper right side of his head. The impact fractured his skull and caused an 8mm subdural hematoma and subarachnoid bleeding, the filing states.
Olson collapsed, bleeding profusely from the wound, with ringing ears, double vision and slurred speech. He was rushed to Kaiser Permanente in Irvine before being 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 and continues to suffer dizziness, nausea, headaches, memory loss, and emotional trauma…