18-year-old shot in face with rubber bullet at Sacramento protest, recovering at hospital

A recent high school graduate is recovering in the hospital after he was shot in the face with a rubber bullet — and cited shortly after his injury — during the Sacramento protests on Saturday against the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.

Dayshawn McHolder, 18, was participating in the march as it stopped outside Sacramento County Jail on I Street. Law enforcement formed a line facing the marchers.

Video obtained by The Sacramento Bee showed he threw something small in the direction of officers. Officers shot in his direction, and he immediately fell to the ground.

McHolder was surrounded instantly by more than a dozen protesters. He was then picked up by a marcher who moved him away from the crowd and into the street.

McHolder received a quarter-sized gash on his left cheek and a broken jaw, a family member said.

McHolder, who just graduated high school days ago, is still in the hospital waiting to be released. That won’t happen until he is able to chew his food comfortably, said Devon Jones, McHolder’s cousin, who lives with him.

“You can actually stick your finger in the hole in his cheek,” Jones said.

Sgt. Tess Deterding with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that an individual was sent to a local hospital where he was treated and cited for assault on officers.

“The individual seen injured in the video has been identified as an 18-year-old man,” said Deterding. “Initial investigation indicates the subject was throwing objects at officers and deputies prior to being struck by a less than lethal weapon that was being utilized by a few of the officers to stop the assault.”

McHolder underwent a medical procedure to close the wound Saturday night and will require additional medical attention in following weeks to fix his broken jaw. McHolder will be unable to eat solid food for six weeks.

“It’s just sad because he has been working so hard to prepare himself for college,” Jones said. Jones and McHolder live just a block from where the incident took place.

Ian Lee, who witnessed the incident said the tone and energy of the march shifted after McHolder was shot. Protesters crowded around McHolder, frantically trying to help him.

“Everything got super intense,” Lee said. “Someone lit a trashcan on fire, and probably about 20 minutes after that, that’s when the vandalism and looting started.”

In additional videos obtained by The Bee, people began screaming, “Back up” as McHolder was bleeding profusely from his face. After a few minutes on the ground, protesters carried him to a vehicle which stopped and helped transport McHolder to a nearby hospital.

A GoFund me page has been set up for him described him as a “comedic, light-hearted outgoing Youtuber” who just graduated high school with plans on becoming a registered nurse.

Jones, said the rubber bullet hit McHolder will leave a life long scar on his cousin’s face.

Officers arrested 18 people Saturday night. Seven of those arrests were for burglary and looting, and 11 were made for unlawful assembly. All of them were booked at the main jail.

The Sacramento chapter for the National Lawyers Guild denounced the “indiscriminate brutality” used by law enforcement throughout the night. NLG legal observers reported that law enforcement used more than 100 rubber bullet rounds, “spraying a handful of protesters standing silently in the streets,” according to a NLG press release.

This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 3:16 PM.