Thread on one case from our @washingtonpost video investigation https://wapo.st/protests-police-blinding

1/ This is 21-year-old Balin Brake of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Brake lost his right eye when he was shot in the face with a police gas canister at a protest in downtown Fort Wayne on May 30.

2/ Fort Wayne Police Department quickly blamed Brake for his own injury. It alleged that he was hit while bending down to grab a gas canister to throw it back at officers. It said a canister “skipped” before hitting him.

3/ But we found video showing what actually happened. Brake, who had been protesting peacefully with his hands up, turned and ran out of an intersection that police were trying to clear with gas.

4/ Brake was hit directly in the face after turning back to face the police. He was not bending down or throwing anything at officers. The canister did not skip or bounce. Watch it fly across the intersection:

5/ Brake says that since losing his eye, he has received threats from people claiming that he is an “antifa leader” or a terrorist. Watch our story on Brake and seven others partially blinded by police at protests on May 30: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2020/07/14/george-floyd-protests-police-blinding/