Police shoot teen protester in head with projectile, hospitalizing him, Texas cops say
An Austin teen has been hospitalized after police shot him in the head with a projectile during a protest, Texas police said.
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters on Monday that Brad Levi Ayala, 16, was injured during a protest over the weekend when the teenager was shot in the forehead with a “less lethal” beanbag projectile, The Austin Chronicle reported. Manley said Ayala is in “serious but stable condition.”
Manley also spoke about a black man who was injured during a protest on Sunday and is “fighting for his life,” according to The Austin Chronicle. Manley said a pregnant woman was hit in the stomach but “did not have such grave consequences,” the outlet reported.
In a viral video circulating on social media, Ayala can be seen standing on a hill before a police officer raises something to the 16-year-old’s head, CBS Austin reported. There is a “loud crack” before Ayala “instantly goes limp” while in the police officer’s arms, according to the outlet.
“I saw police officers not seeing the humanity in him — not seeing the kindness that he is — not seeing him for what I see,” Edwin Sanchez, Ayala’s brother, told CBS Austin. “They saw a monster and they treated him like that.”
Sanchez told CBS Austin that Ayala underwent a seven-hour surgery and won’t have “permanent brain damage” but will need a skin graft. Sanchez also said Ayala was at the protest alone after finishing his work shift at a deli.
A GoFundMe page created to help with Ayala’s medical expenses has raised over $67,000 as of June 2.
“He is only 16 and his family is struggling to pay the medical bills and recover from this tragedy,” Sara Sahm and Edwin Ayala, who created the page on behalf of Ayala, wrote. “He was standing quietly on a hill when a rubber bullet (hit) him in the head. He is recovering and stable but the recovery will be a long process.”
National protests against racism and police brutality have gripped the country after George Floyd, a black man, died in police custody last week.
The violence and looting is being done by much smaller groups at mostly peaceful gatherings, authorities say. The vast majority of the protesters across the nation have been “peaceful demonstrators calling for change,” law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer shown on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes before he died, was arrested Friday, according to the Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner.
Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, said John Harrington, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Police shoot teen protester in head with projectile, hospitalizing him, Texas cops say."