A 25‑year‑old downtown Los Angeles mother says a protest against ICE ended with her on an operating table, her cheek torn open by a so‑called less‑lethal police round as she tried to go home.
Jasmin Lomas says she was struck in the face by a projectile while leaving an anti‑ICE demonstration in downtown Los Angeles. Her attorneys have filed a claim with the Los Angeles Police Department and say they plan to follow with federal civil‑rights litigation. Lomas has already undergone surgery, and her lawyers say small metal fragments remain lodged near her eye as she recovers.
What the claim says
According to ABC7 Los Angeles, Lomas’s legal team at the Prestige Law Firm has presented an internal claim to the LAPD’s Internal Affairs Division alleging excessive force and is collecting witness video to back it up. Attorney Paul Aghabala told ABC7 that “the next step is to do a CT scan to see if the metal is in her bones,” and that some metal remains embedded in her wound.
How the scene unfolded
Lomas says she was peeling away from the crowd just after 6 p.m. on Jan. 30 when she felt a heavy blow to her cheek and was rushed to a hospital, according to FOX 11. The anti‑ICE protest had drawn hundreds to the area near the federal Metropolitan Detention Center. Authorities issued a dispersal order as officers moved in to clear the streets, per reporting by the Los Angeles Times. Bystanders and volunteer medics say they helped slow the bleeding on the sidewalk before Lomas was taken away for treatment.
What hit her and how badly
Photographs and medical descriptions reviewed by L.A. TACO show bright yellow paint and small metal‑like shards consistent with an FN303‑style marker round. Some outlets have reported that similar FN‑series paint projectiles were used after a court order limited other 40mm launchers at demonstrations. Reporters say surgeons removed the larger fragments from Lomas’s face but left smaller particles that remain lodged in her cheek. ABC7 has also reported on the plan for a CT scan and that doctors are weighing whether more metal can be safely taken out. Her attorneys say she is dealing with ongoing headaches and emotional distress as part of her recovery.
Policy backdrop and LAPD stance
The department’s increased reliance on paint‑marker launchers followed a federal judge’s January order blocking the LAPD from using certain 40mm foam projectile launchers at protests, as detailed by the Los Angeles Times. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told the Board of Police Commissioners that paint projectile launchers were only rolled out after dispersal orders failed, a position reported by FOX 11. The department has so far declined to comment on Lomas’s claim, citing the anticipated litigation.
Legal pathway
Lomas’s lawyers have filed the administrative claim that California generally requires before suing a public agency. Under state law, most personal‑injury claims against a government entity must be presented within six months of when the claim accrues. See California Government Code § 911.2 and the related administrative timeline in § 912.4, which gives the agency 45 days to act on a claim before it is treated as rejected by operation of law. If the claim is rejected, the clock starts ticking for Lomas to take her case into court under tight statutory deadlines.
Why this matters
The case lands in the middle of an ongoing fight over so‑called less‑lethal munitions that, in practice, can still leave people with life‑changing injuries. Past incidents have already cost cities real money: a Los Angeles area jury in recent years awarded more than $2 million to a protester who was hit in the face by a nonlethal projectile, according to AP News. Lomas’s attorneys say her claim is aimed at both accountability and policy change so that future protests are not policed in ways that send people home with permanent scars.
