Huntington Beach Father Shot in Head by OC Sheriff’s Deputy During Peaceful Protest Files $50 Million Civil Rights Claim

Deputy’s 40-mm “less lethal” projectile fractured the man’s skull and caused brain bleeding, filing states

MARINA DEL REY, CALIF., Sept. 18, 2025 – A Huntington Beach father of three who was shot in the head with a “less lethal” projectile while peacefully protesting against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed a federal civil rights claim seeking $50 million in damages against the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Santa Ana Police Department.

Tony Olson, 38, was among hundreds gathered near the intersection of 4th Street and Broadway in Santa Ana on the evening of June 9, 2025, to protest ICE’s family separations and conditions of confinement. According to the filing, Olson posed no threat to officers and was standing peacefully when deputies and officers opened fire indiscriminately on the crowd after a single individual on the other side of the street threw a firework.

As Olson ran east on 4th Street to avoid injury, an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy fired a 40mm projectile from a shotgun that struck Olson in the upper right side of his head. The impact fractured his skull and caused an 8mm subdural hematoma and subarachnoid bleeding, the filing states.

Olson collapsed, bleeding profusely from the wound, with ringing ears, double vision and slurred speech. He was rushed to Kaiser Permanente in Irvine before being transferred by ambulance to Kaiser Anaheim’s Neurology ICU, where he was monitored for emergency brain surgery. Ten staples were required to close the wound. He remained hospitalized for days and continues to suffer dizziness, nausea, headaches, memory loss, and emotional trauma.

Olson will speak at a press conference at 11 a.m. (Pacific) Thursday, Sept. 18, at the offices of V. James DeSimone Law, 13160 Mindanao Way, Suite 280, Marina del Rey, Calif. (Photos, video and documents available here) The press conference will also stream on Instagram at @civilrightslawyerjimdesimone.

“This was not policing, it was brutality,” said DeSimone, a civil rights attorney. “Mr. Olson was shot in the head with a military-grade munition for exercising his First Amendment rights. The Sheriff’s Department’s reckless and indiscriminate use of force violated the Constitution and California civil rights law. It is part of a pattern of deputies targeting peaceful demonstrators with excessive force.”

The $50 million claim alleges violations of Olson’s First and Fourth Amendment rights, California Civil Code Sections 43, 51.7 and 52.1, and state common law claims of battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It also asserts that the Sheriff’s Department has a policy and practice of tolerating and encouraging excessive force.

Olson, who is still recovering, worries about the long term effects of his brain injury and how it could impact his wife and three children.

“This was an attack on the constitutional rights of peaceful citizens,” DeSimone said. “If law enforcement can get away with shooting people in the head for protesting, no one in America is safe exercising their rights.”

Los Angeles civil rights attorney V. James DeSimone has dedicated his 40-year law career to providing vigorous and ethical representation to achieve justice for those whose civil and constitutional rights are violated.