Huntington Beach man seeks $50 million for protest head injury, allegedly caused by OC law enforcement
By Julie Sharp
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HUNTINGTON BEACH, California (KCAL/KCBS) — A Huntington Beach man who suffered a brain injury while protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations earlier this summer in Santa Ana is taking legal action against Orange County, seeking $50 million in damages.
Tony Olson joined his attorney, James DeSimone, at a Thursday news conference to announce the filing of a tort claim against the county for the actions of the Orange County Sheriff’s deputies, the first step to a civil rights lawsuit.
DeSimone said Olson’s right to freely assemble and freedom of speech were violated the night of June 9, as he joined a group of protesters near the intersection of 4th Street and Broadway in Santa Ana.
According to the filing, a projectile from a deputy’s shotgun, which was fired during the protest, struck Olson in the upper right side of his head. He collapsed and was bleeding profusely from the wound before he was transported to the hospital.
Olson was hospitalized for days, with a skull fracture and brain bleeding, according to the filing.
“I promised my children when I left that I would be okay. That wasn’t the case,” Olson, father of three, said. “I went to the protest as a peaceful protester, and I never imagined that I would be severely injured for exercising my First Amendment right.”
Olson said around 10:15 p.m., law enforcement began shooting indiscriminately at protesters after an agitator threw a firework in the middle of the intersection where the protest was taking place.
Sheriff’s spokesperson Carrie Braun said on June 9 that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department responded to assist the Santa Ana Police Department with crowd control “after SAPD declared the protest an unlawful assembly and gave multiple dispersal orders.”
“During this effort, individuals in the crowd threw water bottles, rocks, and fireworks mortars/explosives at law enforcement. OCSD deployed kinetic energy projectiles and chemical agents in response to those specific threats,” Braun said.
Olson’s attorney said Tony was “not a threat when he was walking briskly away from the officers, on a sidewalk in Santa Ana, where he had every right to be.”
The impacts of Olson’s brain injury have long-term implications, he said, as he now has vertigo, dizziness, headaches, and difficulty concentrating.
“I am fighting back for justice, to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions and to give me peace,” Olson said.
DiSimone said deputies targeted peaceful protesters with excessive force. “The Sheriff’s Department’s reckless and indiscriminate use of force violated the Constitution and California civil rights law,” he said.
The department would not comment on Olson’s claims. “In reference to this specific incident, the Department does not comment on pending litigation,” Braun said.
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