Pittsburgh City Paper, 05/03/21: “Alex Horell lost his right eye last year. During a Black Lives Matter protest in Downtown Pittsburgh on May 30, 2020, Pittsburgh Police fired a less-lethal projectile — either a rubber bullet, a bean bag, or a sponge round — at Horell, striking him in the face. Horell, who lives in Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood, believes it was a rubber bullet, after initially thinking it was a beanbag.

“I really distinctly remember being hit, that is what I really remember,” says Horell, who says he blacked out momentarily after being struck by the object. “Then I remember people shouting ‘Man down!’ and not realizing that it was about me. I remember people looking at my face coming to, like they were looking at a dead person. That is a pretty vivid memory.”

Horell was particularly shocked at the level of confrontation from the police, since he says he was marching with a group and didn’t participate in any looting, violence, or property damage. The day of the occurrence on May 30 was Pittsburgh’s first and largest Black Lives Matter protest, following the death of George Floyd.

Two months later, after Horell’s lawyer sent a letter to the Pittsburgh Police about a possible lawsuit against the department, Horell was charged with felony riot, three misdemeanors, and two summary charges. The arresting officer listed in the court documents for those charges was Pittsburgh Police officer Sean Stumpf.”

Read the full article here.