Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Indiana Protester Loses An Eye After Being Shot In The Face By Police With A Tear Gas Canister

Indiana Protester Loses An Eye After Being Shot In The Face By Police With A Tear Gas Canister
@wgroth2pol/Twitter

Protestors in major cities across the country faced off against police in response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

In many of the cities—including Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and Washington D.C.—what began as a series of silent protests throughout the afternoon over the weekend turned violent by sundown as opportunists came to take advantage of the situation, forcing mayors to impose curfews.


During a demonstration in Indiana, 21-year-old Balin Brake was struck in the eye by a can of tear gas.

The chemical weapon similar to mace is often employed by police and military personnel to control crowds and causes severe eye and respiratory pain.

Brake—a student at Indiana Tech—was with a group of protesters that had congregated outside of the Allen County Courthouse on Saturday when he felt an object hit his shoe.

It turned to out to be a can of tear gas that police began hurling as they advanced towards the crowd.

Although there were conflicting reports as to what happened, according to WWFT, Brake reached down to pick up the can to hurl back at police.

When he turned around, a second can hit his eye.

His mother, Rachel Simonis, told the Journal Gazette:

"He saw [the canister] hit the ground after it hit him."

Doctors were not able to salvage her son's eye after an early morning surgery and told her there was "nothing left but the shell of his eye."

Sgt. Sofia Rosales-Scatena issued a statement denying allegations that an officer had targeted Brake.

The statement read:

"According to our officers on the ground, the protester was still in the area after commands to leave the area were given."
"Gas was deployed in the area and the protester bent over to pick up the canister to throw it back at officers as many others were trying to do."
"When he bent over, another canister was deployed in the area and that canister skipped and hit the protester in the eye. There was no deliberate deployment of gas to any persons head,

But Brake—who was still in the hospital after sustaining the injury to his face—told news outlets that he never bent down with the intention of throwing the canister back at the police.

Brake said:

"Absolutely not. I was not wearing gloves."
"Those canisters are hot as hell. I would not try to pick them up with my bare hands."

After sustaining his injury, Brake said that losing his eye was a "small collateral for the battle we're fighting."

He also acknowledged that White privilege was real and said that:

"if you're not going to use it to advocate for your fellow people, then that is just wrong."

He also minimized his physical pain on Twitter and said that it "pales in comparison to the hardships African Americans have endured for decades."

He added:

"Stand up for what u believe in."

People expressed appreciation for their injured ally.



The Brake family set up a medical fund page on Facebook to help cover medical expenses.

In two days, the amount reached $45K of its $50K goal.

More from Trending

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less