olson had served two tours of duty in iraq during which he turned against the war and began speaking out. other protesters, including jesse palmer, are nearby when police decide to act. we were in the intersection, and it was actually fairly calm. and then all of a sudden, the explosions went off and the tear gas was kind of all around us. [ explosions ] protester ernest doty, a local artist, is there, too. kind of out of nowhere, the whole mood changed. it got very violent very quickly and just got really chaotic. in addition to tear gas, police also fire beanbag projectiles and flash-bang grenades, both considered non-lethal crowd control measures. then people, of course, started panicking. and then to the right of me, i saw scott olson get hit. i didn t know who he was at this time.
he was just a stranger. and when i seen him get hit, i whistled at another guy, and we ran in and grabbed him by his backpack and tried to pull him out. scott olson is lying on the ground, bleeding from his head and mouth. and that s when that other percussion grenade or tear gas canister came in and blew up. and it blew up right next to his face. that was the moment when you know, somebody yelled this guy is hurt and he needs to be carried. jesse, ernest, and a few others carry scott out of the street in search of medical help. medic! medic! what happened? what happened? he got hit. but he had blood coming out of his forehead and his eyes, his nose, his mouth. and i looked into his eyes, and i spoke to him, and i said, you know, you re going to be okay, we re going to get you to safety. what s your name? what s your name? what s your name? what s your name? what s your name? he didn t respond in any way. and at that point, i realized