Demonstrator injured after federal agent fired projectile from close range during California protest

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A demonstrator was hit in the face with a projectile fired by a federal officer at close range during a Southern California protest, leaving him bloodied and with serious injuries, according to video and accounts from fellow protesters and family on Tuesday.

The Friday gathering outside the federal immigration building in the city of Santa Ana was in response to the shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a federal agent, which has kicked off a wave of protests around the country.

Hundreds of people had marched in the streets in Santa Ana until a smaller group was left outside the federal building by evening, shouting expletives through megaphones about Immigration and Customs Enforcement, video showed. At one point, they burned what appeared to be an American flag on the steps of the building while shouting “Justice for Renee Good.”

The demonstrators came up onto the plaza, where a handful of agents stood in riot gear and held crowd-control gear. At one point, officials forcefully move a demonstrator back down onto the steps, and the group continues to chant as the agents appear to urge them to move back. Later, an orange cone can be seen rolling up onto the plaza, and officers begin firing munitions as they walk toward the crowd. It is not clear if the cones were thrown and by whom.

The injured demonstrator, identified as 21-year-old Kaden Rummler by his aunt, is seen on video shouting through a megaphone along with others outside the building, where several officers are stationed in riot gear. The officers approached the crowd then grabbed another demonstrator by the arm, identified in a federal criminal complaint as Katelyn Skye Seitz, pulling them onto the steps.

In response, Rummler and a few other demonstrators step forward shouting. One of the officers fires a crowd-control weapon, striking Rummler from several feet away. Rummler grabs his face and falls to the ground. An officer grabs Rummler by the shirt and drags him backward across the ground, the video shows. His face is bloody and other demonstrators shout “leave him alone.” Officers take Rummler into the federal building, and later video appears to show him face down on the ground being handcuffed.

Video of the incident was taken by OC Hawk, which films breaking news in Orange County.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, called the group violent rioters and said that two officers were injured. Two protesters were arrested and charged with assault on a federal officer and disorderly conduct, she said. She did not respond to questions about the nature of the officers’ injuries or the injury of the protester.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn't answer questions about what type of projectiles were fired, but another protester said Tuesday they were pepper balls.

Rummler was blinded in his left eye, according to his aunt, Jeri Rees.

Rees said her nephew, a college student, was in the hospital for two days and underwent six hours of surgery to his left eye.

She said he was released from the hospital Tuesday while doctors work to determine what the fragments are made of to assess whether additional procedures are needed to remove them. Rees said he was hit in the left eye and suffered skull fractures.

“He’s completely blind” in that eye, she said. “There’s a hole in his eyeball.”

Rees said her nephew was given a citation for disorderly conduct.

In a statement read by another protester Tuesday, Rummler said he felt ringing and pressure around his skull and was dragged toward the building bleeding while struggling to breathe.

“I will never see through my left eye again, not even light,” he said in the statement. “I’m just glad I’m alive to tell my story.”

It was not immediately possible to independently confirm details of the injuries. The fellow protesters, from the group Dare to Struggle, declined to say what hospital he had been taken to.

Seitz, one of the arrested protesters, said the group was there to “rightly protest the brutal execution of Renee Good, and the government agencies that uphold ICE’s ongoing brutality.” Seitz identified themselves at the news conference as Skye Jones.

A federal complaint alleges Seitz failed to leave the property despite warnings and threw an orange cone at officers, then resisted arrest and struck an officer on the shoulder and in the groin. Details weren't immediately available about the second set of charges filed, and the U.S. Attorney's Office didn't immediately respond to questions about them.

Additional video shows demonstrators still gathered and shouting at agents after the confrontation breaks out. Some officers are standing at the door to the building, and another demonstrator approaches. Officers can be heard firing more rounds. The protester walks back toward the group covered in a white powder. He appears to have a cut on his face, and other demonstrators call for a medic.

Kaden Rummler, who was injured after being hit with a projectile fired by a federal agent during a protest outside an immigration building in Santa Ana, Calif., poses for a portrait Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Southern California. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Kaden Rummler, who was injured after being hit with a projectile fired by a federal agent during a protest outside an immigration building in Santa Ana, Calif., sits on a couch at home Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Southern California. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Kaden Rummler, who was injured after being hit with a projectile fired by a federal agent during a protest outside an immigration building in Santa Ana, Calif., plays the bass at home Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Southern California. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Kaden Rummler, who was injured after being hit with a projectile fired by a federal agent during a protest outside an immigration building in Santa Ana, Calif., poses for a portrait Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Southern California. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Skye Jones, right, with Dare to Struggle, speaks during a news conference outside the Santa Ana Police Department in Santa Ana, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, following a recent protest outside a federal building in the city. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Christina Castillo, center, with Dare to Struggle, speaks during a news conference outside the Santa Ana Police Department in Santa Ana, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, following a recent protest outside a federal building in the city. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the eastern sea, South Korea’s military said, staging its own show of force as the rival South conducts a joint military exercise with the United States.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, but didn’t immediately say how far they flew. Japan’s Defense Ministry said the weapons landed in waters outside the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The South’s Joint Chiefs said the military has stepped up surveillance and is maintaining readiness against possible additional launches while closely sharing information with the U.S. and Japan.

The launches came as the U.S. and South Korean militaries conduct their annual springtime exercises involving thousands of troops while the Trump administration also wages an escalating war in the Middle East.

The war has raised concerns about potential security lapses in South Korea, as local media — citing security camera footage and other images — have speculated that the U.S. is relocating some missile defense assets stationed in the country to support operations against Iran.

When asked by The Associated Press this week whether U.S. Forces Korea was moving interceptor missiles from its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system in Seongju to the Middle East, President Lee Jae Myung’s office said it could not confirm details about U.S. military operations.

The office said the potential relocation of U.S. military assets would not affect the allies’ defense posture against nuclear-armed North Korea, while also citing South Korea’s conventional military strength. It earlier gave a similar response to reports about the possible relocation of Patriot missile defense systems from South Korea.

North Korea has long described the allies’ drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up its own military demonstrations or weapons testing.

The North in previous years has conducted numerous salvo launches of missiles or artillery while describing them as simulations of nuclear attacks against targets in South Korea.

The launches came days after the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday criticized Washington and Seoul for proceeding with their drills at a perilous moment for global security, and warned that any challenge to the North’s safety would bring “terrible consequences.”

Without directly referring to the Iran war, Kim Yo Jong said the U.S.-South Korea drills undermine regional stability at a time when the global security structure is “collapsing rapidly and wars break out in different parts of the world due to the reckless acts of outrageous international rogues.”

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has released separate statements denouncing the joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and expressing support for Tehran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

The 11-day Freedom Shield exercise, which runs through March 19, is one of two annual command post exercises conducted by the militaries of the United States and South Korea. The largely computer-simulated drills are designed to test the allies’ joint operational capabilities, while incorporating evolving war scenarios and security challenges. Freedom Shield will be accompanied by a field training program called Warrior Shield.

North Korea has repeatedly rejected Washington and Seoul’s calls to resume diplomacy aimed at winding down its nuclear program. Talks derailed in 2019 following the collapse of Kim Jong Un's second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term.

Kim has made Russia the priority of his foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for aid and military technology.

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AP journalists Yuri Kageyama and Mayuko Ono contributed from Tokyo.

South Korean army's K1A2 tanks move during a joint river-crossing exercise between South Korea and the United States as a part of the Freedom Shield military exercise in Yeoncheon, South Korea, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

U.S. Army's armored vehicles cross a floating bridge on the Imjin River during a joint river-crossing exercise between South Korea and the United States as a part of the Freedom Shield military exercise in Yeoncheon, South Korea, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

U.S. Army's armored vehicles move during a joint river-crossing exercise between South Korea and the United States as a part of the Freedom Shield military exercise in Yeoncheon, South Korea, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)