At 4 p.m., Espejo walked to L.A. City Hall, seeing a line of LAPD and L.A. Sheriff\u2019s Department officers on the building\u2019s steps. By 5 p.m. the sheriff\u2019s department began firing tear gas, foam projectiles, and pepper spray, attempting to disperse the crowd.<\/p>\n
Then a projectile hit Espejo and exploded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw parts of my finger fly off into the side of the street,\u201d Espejo said.<\/p>\n
The flash bang device that changed Espejo\u2019s life was a \u201cless lethal\u201d weapon. The category includes tear gas and pepper balls, which were first used by law enforcement after World War I<\/a> and deployed during strikes and political actions in the 1920s and \u201830s. Rubber bullets were created by the British army to quell protesters in Northern Ireland during the Troubles<\/a>. Typically, these weapons were used to enforce order without using live ammunition. <\/p>\n However, these tools have been a source of controversy since their inception, with lawyers, activists and academics claiming they\u2019re used too frequently and have devastating effects on targets. <\/p>\n After Espejo was hit, he said, he ran west on Temple Street, hand bleeding, shouting for help. Bystanders called for a medic, and he was taken to Los Angeles General Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. His left index finger was amputated.<\/p>\n A data engineer, Espejo can no longer type with his left hand. Worse, he said, he is no longer able to draw.<\/p>\n \u201cMy passion is drawing, that\u2019s how I express myself, and I can\u2019t do that anymore,\u201d Espejo said. <\/p>\n In a civil rights claim filed against the Los Angeles Sheriff\u2019s Department<\/a> and the city of Los Angeles, Espejo says sheriff\u2019s deputies \u201cused flash bangs, thrown at Plaintiff\u2019s face, along with other less lethal munitions,\u201d and \u201cit caused Plaintiff to suffer multiple injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened to Mr. Espejo is not an isolated act of misconduct. It reflects a broader and deeply troubling pattern in which the Sheriff\u2019s Department has repeatedly responded to peaceful protest with militarized violence,\u201d reads the claim submitted to the city of Los Angeles on June 19. <\/p>\n The claim also critiques pervasive use of less-lethal weapons. <\/p>\n \u201cThese weapons\u2014intended only for highly limited use by trained personnel in situations involving immediate threats\u2014have instead been used indiscriminately, often without urgency, warning, or legal justification.\u201d<\/p>\n The L.A. County Sheriff\u2019s Department declined to discuss the case but said all use-of-force incidents are reviewed and evaluated by department executives, according to a written statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department (LASD) requires all deputies to undergo extensive training in the use of less lethal force upon graduation from the basic academy and continuing throughout their service,\u201d the department wrote.<\/p>\n The same statement listed the ways officers are taught to use less-lethal weapons, from an eight-hour class in patrol school, to mandatory refresher courses each year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not use less lethal tools indiscriminately; we only use them when de-escalation measures have been exhausted and when Deputies, other members of law enforcement, or innocent citizens are being attacked and assaulted with items such as bricks, stones, mortars, and Molotov Cocktails,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s department wrote. <\/p>\n According to the department\u2019s use-of-force policy, such materials should be used only \u201cwhen objectively reasonable given the circumstances<\/a>.\u201d The same rules state <\/a>that officers who use excessive force will face discipline or prosecution. <\/p>\n But activists and attorneys say officers in the LAPD and LASD aren\u2019t abiding by their own rules.<\/p>\n Law enforcement aim less-lethal weapons at protesters during the \u201cNo Kings Day\u201d demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on June 14.<\/p>\n (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n The ACLU of Southern California has an open form<\/a> for people who were injured by law enforcement or federal agents during the anti-ICE protests. In the two weeks after the initial protests, the ACLU said it was contacted by 250 people who claimed to have either been harmed, or witnessed someone being harmed, by police and federal officers, the organization said in a statement.<\/p>\n The organization did not share details of the responses. <\/p>\n There have been 59 complaints filed against the Los Angeles Police Department since June 1 related to use of force, the LAPD told The Times in a written statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call on the city of Los Angeles, we call on the mayor, we call on our police chief: get your officers under control, have them comply with the law,\u201d said civil rights attorney James DeSimone<\/a> at a June 25 news conference. <\/p>\n DeSimone is representing three clients: Miguel Mendoza, Atlachinolli Tezcacoatl, and Daisy Bravo. All three attended the anti-ICE protest in downtown L.A. on June 8, according to claims for damages DeSimone filed against the city, and all suffered injuries from less-lethal projectiles. <\/p>\n Mendoza and Bravo spoke to reporters on June 25. Tezcacoatl remained silent, DeSimone speaking for him. After being hit in the face by a projectile, Tezcacoatl\u2019s jaw was wired shut. <\/p>\n Mendoza was in Koreatown visiting a friend while anti-ICE protests swept across L.A. A content creator, he began to notice other influencers posting about a City Hall protest on June 8. A first-generation son of Mexican immigrants, Mendoza believed that attending was something he had to do. <\/p>\n \u201cI was born here … in California, in the Bay Area. I have to stand up for my beliefs,\u201d Mendoza said in a interview. <\/p>\n Mendoza was among the thousands who marched to City Hall that day. At approximately 6 p.m., after police had already begun using batons and less-lethal projectiles to push back the crowd, Mendoza was looking through photos of the event he had taken on his phone. <\/p>\n All at once, Mendoza\u2019s felt the sudden shock of impact, and his ears began ringing. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd then I, like, looked down, and blood is just gushing out of my face, and my hands are just covered, like they\u2019re all red,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mendoza had been struck in the face by a less-lethal projectile<\/a>. According to Mendoza\u2019s claim, the LAPD \u201cintentionally and\/or recklessly subjected Mr. Mendoza to physical injuries and pain by shooting these projectiles at him or indiscriminately in his direction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey broke my nose on both sides, there was acute fractures to my cheek, my cheekbone, there was a deep laceration where the rubber bullet almost went completely through,\u201d said Mendoza, who first went to the PIH Urgent Care Center Westlake, then Glendale Memorial Hospital. \u201cI think they did a total of seven stitches.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLAPD is absolutely violating their own policies, as well as the United States Constitution as well as state law,\u201d DeSimone said in an interview. <\/p>\n The LAPD declined to comment on Mendoza\u2019s claims. <\/p>\n Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021<\/a>, Assembly Bill 48 places prohibitions on the use of less-lethal weapons, The law says such weaponry can only be used by law enforcement to defend against physical threats or to bring dangerous situations under control. Such weapons cannot be fired indiscriminately into crowds, or aimed at the head, neck, or any other vital organs, according to Section 2 of the bill. <\/p>\n This legislation came in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests<\/a>, in which thousands marched across Los Angeles demanding racial justice and an end to police brutality. According to an analysis by the L.A Times<\/a>, police actions related to these protests cost $11.9 million in settlements and jury awards.<\/p>\n Law enforcement use of less-lethal weapons and general protest tactics were a source of scrutiny then, and later the cause of mass retraining for LAPD officers<\/a>. <\/p>\n According to the Los Angeles Police Department, more than 500 people have been arrested for protest-related activity in Los Angeles from June 7 to June 15<\/a>. Charges range from assault to obstruction, and unlawful assembly. Others have been charged with use of Molotov cocktails against sheriff\u2019s deputies and throwing bricks at federal law enforcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n