California protester says federal agent left him blind in one eye then 'mocked' his injury

SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA: Kaden Rummler, a protester in Santa Ana, California, says he lost sight in one eye after joining an anti-ICE protest.

Things got out of hand on January 9, and video from that day shows a federal agent firing non-lethal rounds at him from close range. His family backs up his story.

Agents were later seen dragging a bloody Rummler on the floor. Officers were seen shoving around and hitting other protesters, too.

Protester says he was blinded and injured

Rummler, 21, was stopped by a less lethal round fired at close range that struck his left eye after he ran after his friend, Sky Jones, who was pulled by a Federal officer.

“When it hit me, I kind of didn’t realize what happened. I remember falling to my knees and I remember I covered my head. It was just this pressure and ringing in my ears,” Rummler recalled. “I had so much adrenaline from the impact that I wasn’t really feeling it yet, I don’t think.”

Footage then showed an agent dragging Rummler across the plaza, his face covered in blood, which ran down onto his clothes and shoes.

“I was like, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,’ and he just kept dragging me and didn’t say a word,” Rummler said. “He was on top of me and putting my hands behind my back really aggressively and handcuffing me. I was pleading with him. I was like, please call an ambulance, there’s so much blood.”

Rummler says he will be blind for rest of his life

Rummler recalled that before the help arrived, agents mocked him about his injured eye.

“From what I’ve heard the doctors say and everyone else, yes, I will be blind for the rest of my life,” Rummler said.

“They pulled a piece of plastic the size of a nickel out of my eye. They said I had shards of metal, glass and plastic all throughout my eye, behind my eye, in my skull. They also said I had a piece of shrapnel, metal, a few millimeters from my carotid artery. They said it was a miracle I survived because if it had gotten any closer and hit that, I would’ve died that night,” Rummler continued.

While talking about how he was treated by Federal officers, Rummler said, “I don't remember all the things that they said. I have fractures in my skull that they can't fix, and I can't sneeze or cough because it's dangerous, too. I remember also when I shot, there was pepper in it, and I had pepper down my throat. It made it hard to breathe for a long time.”

Rummler’s family has since launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with medical bills and recovery costs, calling attention to his permanent disability and the severity of his injuries.