Hodgetwins - “I’m Blind Now” Protester Speaks Out After Being Shot by Federal Officers
Aired: 2026-01-16
Duration: 10:36


=== Non-Lethal Device Hits Face (09:54) ===

[00:00:00]  All right, so this guy was protesting.
[00:00:01]  He effed around and found out.
[00:00:02]  He was protesting what happened to Renee Good in Orange County, California.
[00:00:07]  And they shot him in the face with a non-lethal device.
[00:00:10]  This eye looks crazy.
[00:00:12]  Yeah, he got interviewed by the local news station.
[00:00:15]  Check out what he had to say.
[00:00:16]  Here at home, a protester blinded by a non-lethal round fired near his face is speaking out about his violent encounter with a federal agent in Santa Ana.
[00:00:26]  Oh, wow.
[00:00:27]  Yeah.
[00:00:28]  It's non-lethal.
[00:00:30]  The 21-year-old was hit while protesting the shooting of Renee Goode in Minnesota.
[00:00:36]  He survived the encounter, but says that his life will never be the same.
[00:00:39]  And KTLA's Chris Wolfe spoke to Caden in a story you'll see only on five.
[00:00:44]  How did it feel?
[00:00:46]  I remember when it hit me, I kind of didn't realize what happened, really.
[00:00:52]  I remember falling to my knees and I remember covering my head and it was just like this pressure and this ringing in my ear.
[00:01:00]  I had so much adrenaline.
[00:01:02]  Doesn't he sound like a female to start taking hormones or something?
[00:01:05]  Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
[00:01:06]  Well, his eye looked just like the LGBTQ flag with all them different colors.
[00:01:10]  Look at all them colors.
[00:01:11]  That's an LGBTQ flag right there on his face.
[00:01:17]  His fingers are painted.
[00:01:19]  Yeah.
[00:01:20]  Hey, he might be trans.
[00:01:23]  A young life permanently reshaped following an explosive encounter during a protest nearly one week earlier.
[00:01:33]  21-year-old Caden Rumbler describes himself as a leftist.
[00:01:38]  Hmm.
[00:01:39]  A leftist.
[00:01:40]  Which means he's crazy.
[00:01:42]  Communist.
[00:01:44]  Anarchist.
[00:01:45]  Yeah.
[00:01:46]  Part of an activist group called Dare to Struggle, seen lighting an American flag on fire outside the federal building in Santa Ana Friday night.
[00:01:55]  Demonstrators were protesting the shooting of Renee Goode in Minnesota by an immigration and customs enforcement agent during a confrontation.
[00:02:06]  At one point, federal agents drag a participant from the crowd, and that's when Caden rushed after his friend, but was stopped almost immediately.
[00:02:16]  Shot at close range with some type of less lethal munition in the left eye.
[00:02:22]  What do you think of that?
[00:02:24]  I think that was awesome.
[00:02:25]  Obviously, he's been arrested for something, and you're trying to help him get away.
[00:02:31]  He should have never stepped forward to the officer.
[00:02:34]  Yep.
[00:02:34]  I don't think these people really understand the ramifications of their actions when they what they what they're doing.
[00:02:40]  I don't think they really grasp what they're doing.
[00:02:43]  Yeah, they are pretty stupid.
[00:02:44]  Takes a brain to do that.
[00:02:46]  They're like, you probably didn't do anything wrong, but your friend obviously did something.
[00:02:49]  That's why the officers were going to arrest him.
[00:02:51]  But you're going to go defend him.
[00:02:53]  Yeah.
[00:02:54]  I mean, what do you think you were doing?
[00:02:57]  Took one to the face.
[00:02:59]  Footage then shows an agent dragging Caden from the scene, his face covered in blood.
[00:03:04]  In fact, Caden wore the same blood-soaked clothing.
[00:03:08]  He dragged him up like a damn liar.
[00:03:12]  What?
[00:03:14]  Oh, you have a city dog.
[00:03:18]  National geographical clouds attack.
[00:03:20]  Well, you're talking about them cheetahs and stuff.
[00:03:21]  They do that.
[00:03:22]  Yeah.
[00:03:23]  How they drag off like they'll get their prey and just drag them off.
[00:03:29]  Yeah, they'll maim them.
[00:03:31]  The incapacity and did is drag him off up in a tree and eat them.
[00:03:34]  Yeah, that's like cheetahs.
[00:03:35]  Caden wore the same blood-soaked clothing from that fateful night for this interview.
[00:03:41]  This was closed and it was choking me.
[00:03:43]  And I was trying to grab at it.
[00:03:45]  And I was like, I can't breathe.
[00:03:47]  I can't breathe.
[00:03:49]  And he just kept dragging me into sale where it was on top of me and was putting my hands behind my back really aggressively and handcuffing me.
[00:03:57]  That might be a female.
[00:03:59]  But was it male?
[00:04:00]  And he was trying to transition.
[00:04:02]  And he said, you know what?
[00:04:03]  I'm going to be a man.
[00:04:04]  Yeah.
[00:04:04]  I don't know what this is.
[00:04:05]  His voice is cracking.
[00:04:07]  So I'm thinking it's a female.
[00:04:09]  But we may be totally off.
[00:04:12]  But sometimes this is a female that was transitioning.
[00:04:15]  Whatever that is, it's got an Adams apple.
[00:04:17]  Well, when you get dragged off like that, it's going to make you have an Adam's apple.
[00:04:21]  Pleading with him.
[00:04:22]  I was like, call an ambulance.
[00:04:23]  Please call an ambulance.
[00:04:25]  There's so much blood.
[00:04:26]  An ambulance did eventually.
[00:04:28]  Come after Caden says agents mocked him about the injured eye.
[00:04:33]  Will you be blind in that eye for life?
[00:04:36]  From what I've heard the doctors say and everyone else, yes, I will be blind for life.
[00:04:41]  Yeah, the eye is blue now.
[00:04:44]  You an idiot.
[00:04:45]  That's a telltale sign that you're going to be blind.
[00:04:47]  It's blue now.
[00:04:48]  Look, Renee Good lost her life trying to protect illegal immigrants.
[00:04:53]  Viciously attacked the officer with a vehicle with violence.
[00:04:57]  Look, now he's going to be blind in one eye over what?
[00:05:01]  Absolutely nothing.
[00:05:05]  Pulled a piece of plastic the size of a nickel out of my eye.
[00:05:08]  They said I had shards of metal, glass, and plastic all throughout my eye and behind my eye and in my skull.
[00:05:16]  And they also said that I had a piece of strapnel metal about a few millimeters away from my corroded artery.
[00:05:21]  And they said it was a miracle I survived because if they got any closer, if it hit that, I would have died that night.
[00:05:26]  They think this was completely unjustifiable use of force.
[00:05:29]  And the force used was as you just heard from about the injuries, was lethal force.
[00:05:38]  That's not lethal.
[00:05:39]  Lethal force would be well.
[00:05:41]  We made a joke about it.
[00:05:42]  That's non-lethal.
[00:05:43]  Well, that's a non-lethal.
[00:05:44]  It's like a paintball or something, a pepper ball, whatever.
[00:05:46]  But I think they tell the cops, don't shoot people in the face with that.
[00:05:50]  I would think.
[00:05:51]  Well, I would think to shoot him in the leg in the lowest extremity, not straight to the face.
[00:05:58]  But hey, he ran in the way.
[00:06:00]  I think he was probably, I don't think he was the intended target.
[00:06:04]  I think he was the intended target because he's running after as you just heard from me about the injuries.
[00:06:13]  He's shooting everybody.
[00:06:16]  The GoFundMe page has been set up to help Caden with medical expenses.
[00:06:21]  You can find that link on our website, ktla.com.
[00:06:27]  He's not gonna, I mean, whatever.
[00:06:29]  I think that's a female who transitioned.
[00:06:31]  Because when I was looking at his neck, I don't see much of an Adam's apple.
[00:06:36]  Yeah.
[00:06:37]  See, he's uh, see, uh, I'm gonna just say it's a heat.
[00:06:39]  Um, see, his eyes blue.
[00:06:41]  Oh, that's nice of you.
[00:06:42]  His eyes blue.
[00:06:44]  Yeah.
[00:06:48]  Junior charged officer.
[00:06:49]  He's probably gonna get something.
[00:06:51]  Like what?
[00:06:52]  Oh, he's gonna get some money.
[00:06:55]  I'd rather have both use of my eyes.
[00:06:58]  Well, he definitely earned some money.
[00:07:00]  Look at his eye.
[00:07:02]  He looks like Rocky Bow Boy after he fought damn iced tea in that movie.
[00:07:06]  Iced tea.
[00:07:07]  Not iced tea.
[00:07:08]  He didn't fight iced tea.
[00:07:09]  Iced Mr. T.
[00:07:11]  They all tease.
[00:07:14]  I said iced T was Mr. T.
[00:07:19]  Yeah, man.
[00:07:20]  These people are just getting maimed and losing their life over absolutely nothing.
[00:07:24]  Yeah.
[00:07:24]  And you're actually protesting against the Constitution.
[00:07:28]  It's not like these officers are doing anything illegally.
[00:07:31]  Yeah, they're enforcing immigration laws.
[00:07:33]  What happened?
[00:07:34]  Renee Good is unfortunate and it is a tragedy.
[00:07:37]  But she put herself in that position, just like you put yourself in that situation.
[00:07:41]  I wish both, I wish she was still alive and you still had your eye, but you put yourself in that position.
[00:07:46]  Like you may have not been doing anything, but the people that you surround yourself with, they may do something and it's something like this is going to happen.
[00:07:53]  And you can't run into his aid.
[00:07:55]  He just broke the law.
[00:07:56]  They was dragging him off like a damn line.
[00:08:00]  He was on arrest.
[00:08:01]  And you tried.
[00:08:01]  What were you trying to do?
[00:08:03]  Trying to help him get away?
[00:08:06]  I don't think he's going to get much, if anything.
[00:08:08]  Oh, man, that dude's going to get paid.
[00:08:09]  What are you talking about?
[00:08:11]  That dude is getting paid.
[00:08:14]  Here it is right here.
[00:08:15]  Dude's fitting to get paid.
[00:08:18]  Grabbed his friend.
[00:08:19]  Yep.
[00:08:20]  He assaulted.
[00:08:21]  He's resistant with violence.
[00:08:23]  He comes to his aid with that damn bullhorn.
[00:08:25]  Yeah.
[00:08:26]  And they took it as you're making an aggressive stance.
[00:08:32]  You're charging for it.
[00:08:33]  So you're going to get one to the...
[00:08:34]  He's probably aiming for your chest.
[00:08:36]  He's going to probably give you one to the chest, but he missed by.
[00:08:39]  I mean, just a hair.
[00:08:40]  If you go up and down with your muzzle on that weapon, whatever kind of weapon it is, it just goes up and inch.
[00:08:44]  It goes into your face instead of in your chest.
[00:08:47]  Yeah.
[00:08:48]  Yeah, I'm thinking that's probably because that probably shoots somebody in the face of that thing.
[00:08:52]  Yeah.
[00:08:53]  I would think so.
[00:08:53]  Remember, I remember I used to be a security professional.
[00:08:56]  I remember I got a gun permit and a baton permit.
[00:08:59]  They said, never ever.
[00:09:00]  It's not going to save you from a lawsuit if you take that baton and whack somebody upside the head.
[00:09:09]  They said go for the arms.
[00:09:10]  And legs.
[00:09:11]  The legs.
[00:09:12]  Yeah.
[00:09:13]  You can poke him in the gut if you want to.
[00:09:16]  You can jab him right in the ribs.
[00:09:18]  But they said you whack somebody upside the head and he falls and then right on the floor and that dude dies, you're going to jail.
[00:09:30]  I'm pretty sure they got those same policies with that.
[00:09:33]  What is that?
[00:09:35]  Federal officers.
[00:09:36]  I mean, what is that?
[00:09:36]  They shooting beanbags at people?
[00:09:41]  What kind of protect?
[00:09:42]  What kind of projectile is it?
[00:09:46]  Probably like paintballs or something, but fuck the paint.
[00:09:51]  Poor guy.
[00:09:53]  He did it to himself.

=== The Other Eye Gets Big (00:41) ===

[00:09:55]  Man, your eye looks crazy.
[00:09:57]  Yeah, he did it to himself.
[00:09:59]  Look how the other eyes wide open.
[00:10:02]  That's what's going to happen.
[00:10:03]  Like when you lose one eye, the other eye is going to overcompensate for not having the other eye.
[00:10:07]  So the other eye is going to get big as hell.
[00:10:09]  Remember that one woman?
[00:10:12]  Yeah.
[00:10:13]  I ain't going to tell that story.
[00:10:15]  She had something wrong with her eye, and her eye was always oozing.
[00:10:17]  And she had one good eye.
[00:10:18]  That eye looked big as hell.
[00:10:20]  She looked like Cyclops.
[00:10:21]  Because that one eye over time gets bigger because it's overcompensating.
[00:10:24]  Because it's used to have another eye.
[00:10:26]  I ain't going to even get into that.
[00:10:28]  But that's what's going to happen to you, man.
[00:10:30]  And Renee Goodman, y'all are throwing y'all's lives away over nothing.
[00:10:33]  Yeah.
[00:10:34]  Cause the Democrats told you to.