Linda Tirado headed out last Friday night, May 29, to attend a protest against police brutality in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. As a photojournalist, she knew how vital it was to document what was happening in the community to share with the larger world. Unfortunately, doing her job amounted to her being blinded in one eye by a rubber bullet.
Hey folks, took a tracer found to the face (I think, given my backpack) and am headed into surgery to see if we can save my left eye
Am wisely not gonna be on Twitter while I’m on morphine
Stay safe folks pic.twitter.com/apZOyGrcBO
— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) May 30, 2020
- The backlash against the media doesn’t help. Thanks to Trump’s demonization of the media as “fake news” and an enemy of the state, there seems to be a lot of resentment and even hatred towards those who work in the press. While this is nothing in comparison to what the Black community faces on a daily basis and has for hundreds of years, it makes it very difficult for the truth of what’s happening to be documented. Perhaps that’s what the police are afraid of!
- There was no warning at all. Linda Tirado said in an interview that police didn’t warn people to disband before firing teargas and rubber bullets into a crowd of journalists and peaceful protestors. The result is that she took one of those rubber bullets to the left eye, which exploded her left eyeball.
- Linda Tirado is now permanently blind in her left eye. Tirado had been updating her Twitter followers about her experience since the incident happened on Friday night, explaining that she had no idea what was happening at first. She was getting ready to take a picture when something hit her face and she noticed she was covered in blood. From there, fellow protestors got her out of the crowd and to a local hospital, where it was eventually revealed that she will never regain sight in her left eye. “I am permanently blind in my left eye, and the docs absolutely refuse to let me go back to work for they say six weeks,” she wrote. “I’m definitely not allowed to be near smoke or gas. Usually, if I had to stay home I’d spend a lot of time amplifying folk but reading hurts today.”
- Thankfully, she uses her right eye to look through her camera lens. Linda Tirado was lucky in that she escaped with her life and that her livelihood will eventually recover. She uses her right eye to take photographs, which is fortunate. Hopefully, when she’s able to get back out there, she’ll continue to use her gift to keep people educated about what’s really happening on the streets rather than the version the government and other officials would like us to believe. You can follow Tirado on Twitter HERE.
MUST WATCH: Photographer Linda Tirado @KillerMartinis was shot in the face by the Minneapolis police while she was covering the #GeorgeFloyd protests.
She's now blind in her left eye.
She doesn't have insurance and two young children.https://t.co/QuWp68RUap pic.twitter.com/ULn81MKCyw
— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) June 1, 2020
Early pics: pic.twitter.com/XLq6lHspBd
— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) May 29, 2020
LIVE ON @wave3news – something I’ve never seen in my career.
An armed officer shooting directly at our reporter @KaitlinRustWAVE and photographer @jbtcardfan during the protests in #Louisville.
My prayers are going out to everyone tonight.
Such a scary situation for all. pic.twitter.com/Ipg0DjFIXu— Lauren Jones (@LaurenWAVE3TV) May 30, 2020
"We're getting hit by tear gas!" Live coverage from field reporters from @ABC7 in Los Angeles as protests rage through the luxury stores of Rodeo Drive.
LIVE UPATES: https://t.co/xJQvixJr2S pic.twitter.com/xw9ZO9yFYN
— Good Morning America (@GMA) May 31, 2020
