A new federal lawsuit says a peaceful protest outside Los Angeles City Hall turned violent when an LAPD officer shot a demonstrer in the head with a so‑called less‑lethal round, knocking her unconscious and leaving her with life‑altering head trauma.
The complaint, filed Saturday by civil‑rights attorney V. James DeSimone, names plaintiff Daisy Ureno and seeks money damages along with a detailed accounting of LAPD crowd‑control tactics. It is the latest in a growing stack of legal claims and media reports accusing both city officers and federal agents of using aggressive tactics at anti‑ICE rallies downtown.
What the lawsuit says
According to Davis Vanguard, the lawsuit states that Ureno was seated in a public seating area outside City Hall when an officer fired a less‑lethal round that hit her in the head and rendered her unconscious. The filing quotes DeSimone as saying that the LAPD “took aim at helpless people on a staircase and struck Ms. Ureno in her head, causing life‑altering injuries,” language the complaint uses to support claims of intentional misconduct.
The suit includes allegations of both negligent and intentional harms and argues that the department violated existing court limits on when and how certain crowd‑control munitions can be used.
Court limits on crowd‑control weapons
The claim that officers violated an injunction lands in the middle of ongoing litigation over policing at anti‑ICE demonstrations. Court documents from press‑freedom litigation and related orders restricted the use of kinetic impact projectiles, chemical irritants and other crowd‑control weapons against journalists and non‑threatening observers in late 2025, according to the court record.
Other injured protesters and journalists
Ureno’s complaint joins a series of high‑profile injuries linked to downtown demonstrations. In March, USC freshman and photographer Tucker Collins was struck in the eye by a projectile and has since lost that eye, according to The Guardian. And in January, another protester reported that a 40mm foam round shattered his jaw; that incident and the resulting legal claim were reported by FOX 11.
LAPD response
The LAPD has previously told reporters that it will comply with court orders limiting the use of certain munitions. Attorneys and press‑freedom advocates, however, say injuries and legal claims have continued. As of the initial reports on Ureno’s filing, city and police officials had not placed a statement addressing her complaint into the public court record, and litigation over how the rules apply in real‑time crowd‑control situations remains underway.
Legal implications and next steps
DeSimone’s firm has publicly announced related filings and press events and is representing multiple people who say they were injured at anti‑ICE protests, according to the attorney’s notices. Ureno’s complaint seeks damages and alleges violations of federal civil‑rights law. If the case survives early procedural challenges, it will move into discovery, where body‑worn camera footage, officer reports and internal communications could play a central role.
The complaint was first reported on July 18, 2026, and is expected to draw formal responses from the city and the LAPD as it proceeds through the federal courts. This story will be updated as new court filings or official statements are made public.
