George Floyd death: Indiana TV editor loses eye after tear gas canister hits him on the face while protesting
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA: A 21-year-old protester in Indiana lost his right eye after being hit in the face with a gas canister after he joined a group of people raising their voice against protesting the death of George Floyd, an African-American man on whose neck a Minneapolis cop knelt for eight minutes till he could not breathe and eventually passed out.
Balin Brake, a weekend editor at a local television station, told Journal Gazette that he complied immediately after the cops ordered the crowd to disperse on May 30 at Fort Wayne. While he was attempting to run back, the officers started deploying tear gas. After one of the canisters hit him on the back of his foot, he turned to see what was going on when a second canister came flying and hit him right in the face. He did not have time to dodge and ended up severely injuring his right eye.
Despite photos from the scene showing blood gushing out of the eye the canister had hit him in, Sofia Rosales-Scatena, public information officer for the Fort Wayne Police Department, denied that any of the officers purposefully targeted protesters in the head.
“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,” police said in a statement. “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 person's head."
However, Brake's mother Rachel Simonis, said on May 31 that she had heard a different story from his employer who had reporters on the scene. "The owner of (the station) called to see how things were going with Balin. When Balin was struck in the eye, he said a couple of his newscasters saw Balin get hit in the eye. Balin fell to the ground and they (police) left him laying on the ground and two men picked him up and took him to safety, towards the police and a police officer called an ambulance. They just left him laying there in the street," Simonis said.
Brake also denied ever picking up the canister and trying to throw it back to the police officers. "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. In fact, one of them hit my shoe and burned my laces off," he said.
After he was rushed to the hospital, doctors said that they could not save Balin's eye. As a result, he has to undergo another operation to repair fractures and then will be fitted for a prosthetic eye. Simonis has set up a Facebook page called "Balin’s medical fundraiser" to help cover medical costs of her son's operation.
"My son was down at the protest yesterday in Ft. Wayne, IN. He was standing up for his beliefs. An officer on the FWPD unnecessarily and improperly fired a tear gas can hitting Balin in the eye. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, with a ruptured eye and fractured occipital bone. He is having surgery right now, but the Dr. said the damage is so sever (sic) he will more than likely loose (sic) his eye. The medical bills will be astronomical. He is currently working part-time and the medical bills will be very high. thank you for your support," the page read.
In a later post, she also reacted to rumors of her son's eye damage being a scam. "Dear Supporters, I want everyone to know that some people are claiming this is all a scam. They are claiming the Balin's eye that are injured are different in the 2 different pictures. The first pic of him on the street was taken by a bystander. The 2nd picture of when he got out of surgery is a selfie he took. I dont know how people can be so ignorant. I would never try to scam anyone out of money. Or lie about my gorgeous, amazing, kind hearted son loosing an eye, or about what really happened!" she said.