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{
"title": "Reporter’s fingertip nearly severed by projectiles at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-fingertip-nearly-severed-by-projectiles-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-08T20:36:42.654500Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-08T20:36:42.654500Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-08T20:36:42.528600Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9jtmk\">Reporter Jeremy Cuenca was struck by impact projectiles — first in the leg, then in the hand, nearly severing the tip of his pinkie — while covering an immigration protest on June 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"9u7db\">It was one of many protests that began June 6 in response to federal raids in and around the city at workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"c65np\">On June 8, Cuenca, a recent graduate of Los Angeles City College, was eager to put his newly issued press pass to use and capture the unfolding events for the college’s newspaper, the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhBRU5KVPMQ\">Collegian</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gtjc\">“I felt compelled to go out and document what’s going on — especially because it’s targeting my community, the Hispanic and Latino community,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"9qpi5\">Outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, protesters gathered to support detained immigrants. Cuenca found himself on the sidelines, alongside other journalists with press credentials, caught between the crowd and a line of law enforcement officers clad in riot gear.</p><p data-block-key=\"1mtao\">Suddenly, the Los Angeles Police Department began shooting off crowd-control munitions without any warning, Cuenca recalled.</p><p data-block-key=\"eqs63\">“They just started firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, kind of endlessly, it felt,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9570d\">The dense crowd quickly descended into chaos — people were crying, choking and struggling to breathe, he said. As he tried to move away from the gas, Cuenca was struck in the leg by an impact projectile, leaving a deep bruise.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Cuenca_3.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"467\" alt=\"SCREENSHOT COURTESY COLLEGIAN WIRED/JEREMY CUENCA VIA YOUTUBE\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"lqtzh\">The bruise left on reporter Jeremy Cuenca’s thigh after being struck by an impact projectile while covering an LA protest on June 8, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — SCREENSHOT COURTESY COLLEGIAN WIRED/JEREMY CUENCA VIA YOUTUBE\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9jtmk\">Moments later, another impact projectile hit his left hand while he was still gripping his camera.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Cuenca_4.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"464\" alt=\"SCREENSHOT COURTESY COLLEGIAN WIRED/JEREMY CUENCA VIA YOUTUBE\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"lqtzh\">Reporter Jeremy Cuenca’s damaged camera after it was struck by an impact projectile while he was covering an LA protest on June 8, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — SCREENSHOT COURTESY COLLEGIAN WIRED/JEREMY CUENCA VIA YOUTUBE\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9jtmk\">A bystander quickly wrapped Cuenca’s injured finger in gauze before he was rushed to a nearby hospital. Surgeons managed to reattach the fingertip during what Cuenca described as a long and “tedious surgery process.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5agmi\">“I’m just grateful that I was holding the camera, because it definitely could have been a lot worse,” Cuenca said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Cuenca_2.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"462\" alt=\"SCREENSHOT COURTESY COLLEGIAN WIRED/JEREMY CUENCA VIA YOUTUBE\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"lqtzh\">Jeremy Cuenca’s left pinkie after it was struck by impact projectiles while covering an LA protest on June 8, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — SCREENSHOT COURTESY COLLEGIAN WIRED/JEREMY CUENCA VIA YOUTUBE\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9jtmk\">Though he’s still healing, Cuenca has been hesitant to return to the hospital due to the high costs.</p><p data-block-key=\"2rlqp\">“It still hurts pretty bad,” he said. “I’m trying not to use my hand at all.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ah36a\">Cuenca, who has an associate degree in psychology, said he is planning to enroll in journalism and photojournalism classes in the fall. Though the thought of returning to the field brings up some anxiety, he said the strong support he’s received from the community has helped him stay motivated to pursue journalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"20upa\">“This is really crucial right now. In this day and age, everyone has access to record with a microphone and a camera. No matter what’s going on in your community, it’s important to document everything around you,” Cuenca said. “All we have to protect ourselves is our own evidence.”</p><p data-block-key=\"afmps\">The LAPD did not respond directly to the Tracker’s request for comment but referred to a statement posted to its social media platform X, which said officers were responding to “significant acts of violence, vandalism, and looting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"676k7\">“Multiple deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property,” the department said, adding that its professional standards bureau would be reviewing allegations of excessive force.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Cuenca_1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"uaqu5\">California National Guard members line up to face demonstrators during a protest against immigration raids in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Reporter Jeremy Cuenca was struck and injured by impact projectiles while covering the event.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"links": [],
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jeremy Cuenca ([Los Angeles City College] Collegian)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter struck by police projectile while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-police-projectile-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-15T16:24:00.328400Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-15T16:24:00.328400Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-15T16:24:00.216938Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g0x07\">A reporter was struck by an impact projectile fired by police while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3h97\">The protest was part of a wave of demonstrations that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6, following federal immigration raids across the LA area amid a larger immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and later the U.S. Marines, despite objections from state and local officials.</p><p data-block-key=\"2v6r9\">The reporter, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal from federal authorities, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that around 6:30 p.m. on June 8, they were standing with other journalists documenting an encounter between protesters and Los Angeles Police Department officers near City Hall. The reporter said they were wearing a press pass and filming with their phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ulth\">The police started firing projectiles in the direction of the protesters, and then pointed crowd-control weapons at the group of journalists, the reporter said. The reporter then moved up a flight of stairs to get away from the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"7n548\">A short while later, the LAPD officers again began firing projectiles toward the demonstrators and the journalists. It was then that the reporter was hit in the leg with one of the projectiles. The reporter and others in the area began running to get away from the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"brg6c\">The reporter said they sustained bruising but not more serious injury because of the thick clothing they had on.</p><p data-block-key=\"69j9n\">While the reporter said they didn’t believe the police were aiming at them personally, “They were aiming at the direction of the journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c5fm8\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted concerning assaults on reporters that day.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25159817246949.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"miufn\">Police in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. A reporter was shot with a crowd-control munition while covering an immigration protest there that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anonymous reporter 6"
],
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},
{
"title": "Australian reporter shot with munition at LA protest during live broadcast",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/australian-reporter-shot-with-munition-at-la-protest-during-live-broadcast/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T21:17:59.247562Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T21:17:59.247562Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T21:02:01.682788Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u3p6o\">Lauren Tomasi, a correspondent for Australia’s 9News, was struck by a crowd-control munition while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1g57u\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and other local law enforcement units as well as federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"abbbf\">On June 8, the protests were focused around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA, where detainees from prior immigration raids were being held, 9News <a href=\"https://www.9news.com.au/world/los-angeles-protests-national-guard-troops-arrive-in-la-on-donald-trumps-orders-to-quell-immigration-protests/0e451581-493c-46fc-b426-ee220f6a29fc?ocid=Social-9News\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"egu6m\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1931885297203347706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1931885297203347706%7Ctwgr%5Ec5b80e43bb48ff30622cf28a88afdf2236acbe70%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmedia%2F2025%2Fjun%2F09%2Faustralian-reporter-shot-with-rubber-bullet-while-covering-anti-ice-protests-in-los-angeles\">live broadcast</a> moments before Tomasi was hit, she reported that, “After hours of standing off, this situation has now rapidly deteriorated. The LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of LA.”</p><p data-block-key=\"213lo\">Tomasi is seen turning to show the line of law enforcement officers behind her when the Los Angeles Police officer at the end closest to her abruptly turns and fires a crowd-control munition into her leg.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">U.S. Correspondent Lauren Tomasi has been caught in the crossfire as the LAPD fired rubber bullets at protesters in the heart of Los Angeles. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/9News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#9News</a><br><br>LATEST: <a href=\"https://t.co/l5w7JxixxB\">https://t.co/l5w7JxixxB</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/nvQ7m9TGLj\">pic.twitter.com/nvQ7m9TGLj</a></p>— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1931885297203347706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u3p6o\">A bystander can be heard telling the officer, “You just fucking shot the reporter!”</p><p data-block-key=\"14cfq\">When reached for comment, the Los Angeles Police Department directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning the shooting of Tomasi.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ic3i\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.9news.com.au/national/lauren-tomasi-shot-in-los-angeles-protests-anthony-albanese-responds/428fdfbe-4358-4ba0-8414-40cc4e0254dd\">told 9News</a> that he was aware of the incident and that an investigation had been launched.</p><p data-block-key=\"883jk\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LaurenTomasi/status/1932129000358642126\">post</a> on the social platform X the following day, Tomasi wrote, “Hey there. Thanks for all your messages - I’m a bit sore, but I’m okay. Important we keep on telling the stories that need to be told.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hey there. Thanks for all your messages - I'm a bit sore, but I'm okay. Important we keep on telling the stories that need to be told. Here's our report on what unfolded in Los Angeles. <a href=\"https://t.co/S8AvjQuFA7\">pic.twitter.com/S8AvjQuFA7</a></p>— Lauren Tomasi (@LaurenTomasi) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LaurenTomasi/status/1932129000358642126?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u3p6o\">Tomasi did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0njd\">Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called footage of Tomasi being shot “horrific,” adding that it had already been raised with the U.S. government, 9News <a href=\"https://www.9news.com.au/national/lauren-tomasi-shot-in-los-angeles-protests-anthony-albanese-responds/428fdfbe-4358-4ba0-8414-40cc4e0254dd\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4afg2\">“She was clearly identified. There was no ambiguity,” Albanese said. “We don’t find it acceptable that it occurred, and we think that the role of the media is particularly important.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Tomasi_CA_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"5oht3\">Lauren Tomasi, a reporter for Australia’s 9News, was reporting live on protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025, when an officer suddenly turned and shot her in the leg with a crowd-control munition.</p>",
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"Assault"
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{
"title": "Reporter’s bag searched while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-bag-searched-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-10T19:01:00.054007Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-10T20:45:27.168200Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-10T20:45:27.083940Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1iaw9\">Freelance journalist Joey Scott had his equipment bag searched by a sheriff’s deputy while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bl9tt\">The weekend protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"b55ea\">Scott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and another reporter, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputy-searches-journalists-bag-during-la-immigration-protest/\">Lexis-Olivier Ray</a> of L.A. Taco, were attempting to cross a law enforcement skirmish line to escape tear gas and flash-bang grenades when they were stopped by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy. Although other journalists were allowed to pass, the deputy insisted on searching their bags, Scott said.</p><p data-block-key=\"erafo\">Scott said both he and Ray displayed their press badges — Scott’s issued by the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union — but still had to show the contents of their bags to cross. In <a href=\"https://x.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699\">videos</a> the pair posted to the social platform X, the deputy, who identified himself as a sergeant, can be seen shining a light into Ray’s bag.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In order for us to leave the tear gas we had to move pass the LASD skirmish line. LASD told us to they had to search our bags in order for us to leave. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ShotOn35mm</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/xY4YLwUKF5\">pic.twitter.com/xY4YLwUKF5</a></p>— Joey (@joeyneverjoe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1iaw9\">He told the Tracker he feared refusing the search would have resulted in being forced back into the tear gas, his devices being seized or his detention or arrest. Scott, who has covered numerous protests over the past five years, said this experience was among the most intense.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4uk0\">The trauma of these encounters builds over time, he said. “You go out and the thing that goes through your mind is: Is this the night that I get arrested? Is this the night that I get severely hurt?”</p><p data-block-key=\"96h29\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cj343\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25159739066258.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sogfe\">Law enforcement at a immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Freelance journalist Joey Scott had his equipment bag searched while covering the protest.</p>",
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},
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"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
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"Joey Scott (Freelance)"
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{
"title": "Reporter pushed by police officers at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-officers-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T17:00:12.432886Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-13T17:00:12.432886Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-13T17:00:12.344826Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2gcz\">E. Tammy Kim, a contributing writer at The New Yorker, was pushed by officers while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025, <a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/immigration-protests-threaten-to-boil-over-in-los-angeles\">she reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lc2n\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"47g7a\">In her piece for The New Yorker, Kim wrote that she encountered around 20 National Guard members — “in camouflage, armed, helmeted, clutching shields” —outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. Behind them were a half-dozen tactical vehicles.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbt0t\">“The scene did more to provoke than soothe,” she wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"am0mi\">More than 100 officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, outfitted in black riot gear, shot off tear gas, Kim reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6br4\">“A pair of officers shoved me repeatedly and pushed me forward on the sidewalk with their batons,” Kim wrote. “When I identified as press, one said, ‘I don’t care.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"1f5ll\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932838116722982997/photo/2\">to social platform X</a>, the department said it had worked through the night to restore public safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"1s6rl\">Kim could not immediately be reached for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25159739073979.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cnwn4\">Authorities stand outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. A New Yorker reporter said she was shoved repeatedly by a pair of police officers that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"E. Tammy Kim (The New Yorker)"
],
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},
{
"title": "NY Times reporter hit by crowd-control munition during LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ny-times-reporter-hit-by-crowd-control-munition-during-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T19:06:49.875275Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T19:06:49.875275Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T19:06:49.786695Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ogxed\">Livia Albeck-Ripka, a reporter for The New York Times, was struck by a round of crowd-control munitions while covering an immigration enforcement protest on June 8, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles, California, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000010217680/a-look-at-the-crackdown-on-the-la-protests.html\">the newspaper reported.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"449ml\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3m84v\">In a video posted to the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000010217680/a-look-at-the-crackdown-on-the-la-protests.html\">Times website</a>, Albeck-Ripka said that around midnight, she saw a line of officers, who very quickly began firing crowd-control munitions in her direction.</p><p data-block-key=\"49cnd\">“I was hit below my rib cage. It was a pretty intense, instant pain. I felt winded,” she said. “I was really lucky because I was not seriously injured. I just have a nasty bruise.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ksru\">Albeck-Ripka acknowledged in the video that there had been some incidents of violence by individuals who lit cars on fire and threw rocks and scooters, but said that the majority of protesters were peaceful.</p><p data-block-key=\"afl7f\">“In the instance that munitions were fired at myself and my colleagues, there were very few people on the street,” she said. “It was very late at night, and we were standing quite some distance from the officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dln68\">Albeck-Ripka did not specify which law enforcement agency deployed the shots, or whether she and her colleagues were targeted by the officers for being media members. Albeck-Ripka did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"eo6l8\">In statements issued to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, some of the local and federal agencies at the protest urged caution for journalists covering these events, defended their actions against threats of violence and emphasized training officers to respect the rights of clearly identified press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hceen\">In this image montage, New York Times reporter Livia Albeck-Ripka recounts her experience getting hit by a crowd-control munition while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Livia Albeck-Ripka (The New York Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist detained amid San Francisco immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-amid-san-francisco-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-12T20:03:15.283496Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-12T20:03:15.283496Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-12T19:44:49.171146Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xexkz\">Student journalist Sam Grotenstein was detained while covering an anti-deportation protest in San Francisco, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5k210\">The protests were in solidarity with those that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> in Los Angeles on June 6, following Trump administration immigration raids and the administration’s deployment of the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tr53\">The June 8 protests in San Francisco began that evening outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in the city’s North Beach neighborhood, Grotenstein told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He was on assignment for The Daily Californian — the student-run newspaper of the University of California, Berkeley — alongside fellow student journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-reporter-thrown-and-later-detained-at-bay-area-immigration-protest\">Aarya Mukherjee</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fap6k\">Grotenstein said that he and Mukherjee followed the crowd for a couple of hours and, after a prolonged standoff with San Francisco police, the protest split.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbo0l\">“Cops basically started chasing the crowd around the streets of San Francisco and we all ended up getting corralled,” Grotenstein said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c79k9\">After approximately 30 minutes, he said officers announced that people accompanied by minors and those with press credentials could leave. Mukherjee had a physical press pass and was allowed to leave the kettle at that time; Grotenstein, who only had digital press credentials, was not.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ufb5\">“We were both wearing helmets and mine said ‘Press’ in kind of comically large letters,” Grotenstein said. “Aarya explained to them that he is the news editor and I am a fellow staffer at the Daily Cal. They did not listen to that and kept me for another 30 minutes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bn0pj\">He told the Tracker that the managing editor of the student newspaper drove to their location and, after going back and forth with the officers for around 10 minutes, the police accepted that Grotenstein was, in fact, a student journalist and released him.</p><p data-block-key=\"1cr4f\">The San Francisco Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"822t0\">The following night, both <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-shoved-by-police-amid-bay-area-protest\">Grotenstein</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-at-bay-area-protest\">Mukherjee</a> were similarly detained and both assaulted by police while covering further anti-deportation protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"9i26g\">The Daily Cal condemned the detentions in a June 10 <a href=\"https://www.dailycal.org/opinion/editor-s-note-condemning-sfpd-s-detention-of-daily-cal-staffers-and-suppression-of-student/article_3a306ca7-0a14-428a-8eb6-c3b01b9ffea7.html\">editor’s note</a>, writing, “While our staffers were released after about an hour, their detainment prevented them from reporting on the events of the night and, most importantly, actively threatened their safety.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mwriu\">Police surround demonstrators and press amid immigration protests near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in San Francisco on June 8, 2025. Student journalist Sam Grotenstein was detained in the kettle for approximately an hour.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "San Francisco Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2025-06-08",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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},
{
"title": "Radio reporter hit with crowd-control munition, tear-gassed at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-reporter-hit-with-crowd-control-munition-tear-gassed-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-30T18:04:51.276920Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-30T18:04:51.276920Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-30T18:04:51.166299Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xv9nw\">Pete Demetriou, a reporter for radio station KNX, was hit in the leg with a crowd-control munition and tear-gassed while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddrc6\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"8fm2d\">In a June 9 interview with <a href=\"https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/local/reporter-recounts-being-shot-by-rubber-bullet-during-protest\">KNX</a>, Demetriou recalled that he and his security detail, Jose Aceves, were caught up in two separate incidents the previous day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ij3g\">In the first incident, Demetriou said the situation escalated when a few protesters threw full water bottles and soda cans at National Guard troops and Department of Homeland Security agents near the rear entrance of the Federal Building, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was bringing detainees.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rhvu\">Within seconds, the federal officers responded with pepper spray and tear gas to push the crowd back.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc9sk\">“You’ve got a mist and then all of a sudden, you got a white cloud of smoke coming at you,” Demetriou recalled, “Your eyes close, your nose shuts down, your throat locks up. You can’t do anything but try to struggle to breathe.”</p><p data-block-key=\"96d8f\">Demetriou and Aceves got into their car, grabbed bottles of water and turned on recycled air to recover.</p><p data-block-key=\"50pct\">Demetriou said at that point, his main objective was to regroup and get back on the air. “I can’t do my job if I can’t tell people what’s going on.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b9djp\">They soon went back out to continue covering the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qf4i\">In the second incident, Demetriou told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Los Angeles Police Department officers had formed a skirmish line to try to prevent protesters from going onto a street leading to the U.S. 101 freeway. Police fired dispersal rounds and impact rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"2sku9\">Demetriou was struck with a 40 mm impact round. He was broadcasting live when he was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"fsqel\">“Sorry, got a little bit dicey here, folks. I just took a hit to the leg with a 40-millimeter impact round. It’s blue, hard rubber,” Demetriou said during the broadcast.</p><p data-block-key=\"fitkh\">When anchor Rob Archer asked how he could stay on the air after getting hit, Demetriou replied, “You stay on the air because you have to. It’s your job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4t8qo\">Asked in the KNX interview whether the officer deliberately aimed at him, Demetriou said “Probably not.” He added that he received only minor irritation from the impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"44htq\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning Demetriou or <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-08&date_upper=2025-06-08&assailant=LAW_ENFORCEMENT&categories=Assault\">multiple other journalists assaulted</a> while documenting protests that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"90uge\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"26di0\">Protesters confront a line of police near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. KNX radio reporter Pete Demetriou was hit with a crowd-control munition and tear-gassed while covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Pete Demetriou (KNX)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved by police, knocked aside by horse at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-by-police-knocked-aside-by-horse-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-25T17:53:00.490701Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-25T17:53:00.490701Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-25T17:48:37.708053Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1mftl\">An unidentified photojournalist was shoved by multiple officers — one on horseback — while documenting an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2lp1\">The demonstration was part of a series of protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After protesters clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"fi84h\">Video footage captured by freelance journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel and provided to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker shows the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"3cr0a\">At roughly 47 seconds in, an individual carrying two professional cameras and wearing what appears to be a press ID is seen being pushed by two officers in riot gear. Moments later, a mounted officer rides directly into the journalist’s backpack with his horse, forcing the photographer to stumble forward.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4m0c\">The clip also captures the chaos as sirens blare and officers use aggressive tactics to disperse the crowd. In response to a request for comment, the Los Angeles Police Department directed the Tracker to its social media accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"7nhvv\">In a June 9 news release <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">posted to the social platform X</a>, the department stated that it worked with multiple agencies to “restore public safety and respond to criminal activity” during the protest. The statement did not address the use of force against members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vn6h\">As of press time, the photojournalist in the video has not been identified.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/enhanced_image.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kl2py\">A police horse shoves an unidentified photojournalist covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 39"
],
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},
{
"title": "Sheriff’s deputy searches journalist’s bag during LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputy-searches-journalists-bag-during-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-10T20:43:52.603461Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-10T21:40:05.228651Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-10T21:40:05.127348Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"271ck\">A sheriff’s deputy searched L.A. Taco investigative journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray’s bag while he was reporting on an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"19bod\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l1hp\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-bag-searched-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">another reporter, Joey Scott,</a> were trying to leave the protest and because of the excessive tear gas being deployed nearby, determined that the best course of action was to cross the law enforcement skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b1ki\">“I saw two other journalists pass through just by showing their press passes,” Ray said.</p><p data-block-key=\"600lf\">But despite seeing their press badges, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy, who identified himself as a sergeant in a <a href=\"https://x.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699\">video Scott posted</a> to the social platform X, insisted the pair stop to have their bags searched.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In order for us to leave the tear gas we had to move pass the LASD skirmish line. LASD told us to they had to search our bags in order for us to leave. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ShotOn35mm</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/xY4YLwUKF5\">pic.twitter.com/xY4YLwUKF5</a></p>— Joey (@joeyneverjoe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"271ck\">“If you’d like to go this way, I want to inspect your backpack,” the deputy said. “If not, you can go that way. It’s up to you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"92kbc\">Shining his flashlight into Ray’s bag, the deputy directed him to continue opening the pockets of his backpack, according to <a href=\"https://x.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1931924134356984146\">another video of the incident,</a> posted by Ray. At one point, the deputy acknowledged that the pair were journalists, but said the request was reasonable and for the sake of other law enforcement officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7036\">“I’ve never been searched,” Ray is heard telling the deputy in the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lqhl\">“Nobody is asking to search you. I’m asking you to open your backpack to make sure you don’t have a bomb in there. Do you have a bomb in there?” the deputy asked.</p><p data-block-key=\"4nm6f\">Ray told the officer that he had no weapons.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u8h9\">“Journalists cross police lines all the time, they don’t get searched. It’s not practical to,” Ray told the deputy in the video Scott posted.</p><p data-block-key=\"bftp3\">“It is in this instance,” the deputy replied.</p><p data-block-key=\"dn5a9\">Ray told the Tracker that police don’t have the capability to search every journalist that goes through a skirmish line, and expressed concern that this could have a chilling effect on reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ado2\">“I could see law enforcement agencies potentially using these bag searches as a way to gain information about journalists or just to intimidate them or discourage them from crossing their lines,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"44n7u\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9qb45\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"13f6u\">Ray was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">struck by pepper balls fired by federal law enforcement</a> while covering another protest in downtown Los Angeles the previous day.</p><p data-block-key=\"c96mb\">The Tracker has documented other incidents in which Ray was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-repeatedly-shoved-while-covering-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">shoved,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-taco-reporter-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/\">detained,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-equipment-damaged-while-covering-dodgers-celebrations/\">tackled</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multiple-journalists-covering-protests-los-angeles-assaulted/\">struck with a baton</a> while covering protests in Los Angeles since 2020.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q5t30\">People console a man suffering from the effects of tear gas during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. Lexis-Olivier Ray, who took the photo, had his bag searched while covering the protest.</p>",
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{
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"name": "California",
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"Equipment Search or Seizure"
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},
{
"title": "TV news vehicle vandalized during LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-news-vehicle-vandalized-during-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-11T20:34:01.150422Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T18:37:18.920285Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T18:37:18.821506Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0bm3z\">At least one news van belonging to KTLA was seen being tagged with graffiti live on air during a news broadcast of an immigration enforcement protest on June 8, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles, California, the outlet <a href=\"https://ktla.com/news/local-news/waymos-lit-on-fire-ktla-van-defaced-as-los-angeles-protests-spin-out-of-control/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7mcr\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"5b99c\">During the live broadcast, reporter Rachel Menitoff addresses viewers while someone spray paints the KTLA news van behind her.</p><p data-block-key=\"b3jss\">“Discouraging to see this, people painting over our van,” Menitoff said. She then detailed the fear and anger felt by protesters over the immigration raids that sparked the public demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"4aihv\">“This is the reason for these protests, but over the last couple of hours it’s kind of devolved into violence and chaos, and people have shared with us that their message is kind of getting lost as a result,” she said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As KTLA 5 reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RachelMenitoff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RachelMenitoff</a> reported on the unrest near the federal building amid the ICE raids, our cameras caught a vandal spray painting our news van. This is among the many vehicles and property being damaged: <a href=\"https://t.co/PS0jAlUPdC\">https://t.co/PS0jAlUPdC</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/nCdCSUt0jK\">pic.twitter.com/nCdCSUt0jK</a></p>— KTLA (@KTLA) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KTLA/status/1931902521423036803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0bm3z\">Neither Menitoff nor KTLA immediately responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qhrco\">In this image montage, KTLA reporter Rachel Menitoff delivers a live broadcast as the station’s van is vandalized behind her during an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.</p>",
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{
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}
],
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},
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"KTLA"
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"Equipment Damage"
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},
{
"title": "Reporter pushed, mic lost while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-mic-lost-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-24T16:23:12.151599Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-24T16:23:12.151599Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-24T16:23:12.048399Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"82szv\">Michelle Zacarias, a reporter for Caló News, was pushed by a Los Angeles Police Department officer and her microphone knocked off and lost while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1dq5c\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and later the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"1gatf\">Zacarias told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that around 3 p.m. on June 8, she was following a protest march that started near the City Hall and was moving toward the nearby Federal Building. She was near the front of the march, wearing a press pass around her neck, and holding her camera and cellphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"di3fp\">As the crowd approached the Federal Building, Zacarias said she could see and smell tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"armli\">The LAPD created a line of scrimmage to meet the marchers on the sidewalk and started to push them back with their batons, yelling at them to clear the area. Zacarias, who said she is an amputee and visibly wears a prosthetic right leg, identified herself as media but the police continued to push her and others.</p><p data-block-key=\"8qr1c\">“I was pushed back by a police officer and kettled into a large crowd,” said Zacarias, “despite being both a reporter and disabled.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6bs6i\">As she was pushed back, the marchers became squashed together. At that point, she had to push her way out of the crowd to escape the confrontation. She said she sustained a minor lip injury from being pushed by an officer’s baton but felt well enough to continue reporting the rest of the day.</p><p data-block-key=\"5l00t\">Zacarias added that when she was pushed by police, an officer hit the microphone that was clipped to her chest, knocking it off. She said the microphone was lost and she had to buy a replacement.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk49s\">The incident was captured in footage filmed by Zacarias and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKqGqKoSdXS/\">posted</a> on Instagram by Caló News. She <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKqEo8shkjh/\">described the incident</a> in a separate Instagram post.</p><p data-block-key=\"fq6vr\">“I can say with certainty there was a clear disregard for media personnel and our rights to document,” she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"b555c\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning Zacarias’ assault.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zfcmh\">In this image montage, Caló News reporter Michelle Zacarias, left, describes being pushed by Los Angeles Police Department officers, right, while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown LA on June 8, 2025.</p>",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
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{
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Student reporter thrown and later detained at Bay Area immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-reporter-thrown-and-later-detained-at-bay-area-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-12T20:20:09.087940Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-12T20:20:09.087940Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-12T19:44:29.638898Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4rzam\">Student journalist Aarya Mukherjee was detained while covering an anti-deportation protest in San Francisco, California, on June 8, 2025. A police officer also grabbed Mukherjee by the arm earlier and threw him to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"9s0am\">The protests were in solidarity with those that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> in Los Angeles on June 6, following Trump administration immigration raids and the administration’s deployment of the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6c6m3\">The June 8 protests in San Francisco began that evening outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in the city’s North Beach neighborhood, Mukherjee told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He was on assignment for The Daily Californian — the student-run newspaper of the University of California, Berkeley — alongside fellow student journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-amid-san-francisco-immigration-protest\">Sam Grotenstein</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"csske\">Approximately an hour and a half later, Mukherjee said, protests and police began confronting each other, with officers attempting to advance their line further away from the ICE office.</p><p data-block-key=\"cq7kn\">“I guess they were trying to isolate and protect the federal building that some people were spray-painting and hitting with various objects,” Mukherjee said of the police, adding that they were indiscriminately throwing protesters and striking them with batons. “They grabbed me and threw me by my arm, even though, again, I was press. I had press credentials. I was announcing that I was press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cpbe6\">After a prolonged standoff with San Francisco police, Grotenstein said, the protest split and police pursued demonstrators through the streets until everyone was corralled using a law enforcement tactic called kettling.</p><p data-block-key=\"86ctc\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/Aarya_Muk/status/1931928185048068560\">post</a> on the social platform X, Mukherjee wrote, “Breaking: SFPD corralled roughly 100 protesters near Bush and Montgomery announcing ‘You are all under arrest.’”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Breaking: SFPD corralled roughly 100 protesters near Bush and Montgomery announcing “You are all under arrest”. <a href=\"https://t.co/IvQ4QT6vMN\">pic.twitter.com/IvQ4QT6vMN</a></p>— Aarya Mukherjee (@Aarya_Muk) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Aarya_Muk/status/1931928185048068560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4rzam\">Approximately 30 minutes later, officers announced that people accompanied by minors and those with press credentials could leave. Mukherjee had a physical press pass and was allowed to exit the kettle. Grotenstein, who only had digital press credentials, was held for an additional 30 minutes until Mukherjee and the Daily Cal’s managing editor convinced police to release him.</p><p data-block-key=\"2rner\">The San Francisco Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"1e6bc\">The following night, both <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-at-bay-area-protest\">Mukherjee</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-shoved-by-police-amid-bay-area-protest\">Grotenstein</a> were similarly detained and both assaulted by police while covering further anti-deportation protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvrh8\">The Daily Cal condemned the detentions in a June 10 <a href=\"https://www.dailycal.org/opinion/editor-s-note-condemning-sfpd-s-detention-of-daily-cal-staffers-and-suppression-of-student/article_3a306ca7-0a14-428a-8eb6-c3b01b9ffea7.html\">editor’s note</a>, writing, “While our staffers were released after about an hour, their detainment prevented them from reporting on the events of the night and, most importantly, actively threatened their safety.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mukherjee_6_8_arrest-assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"anbfb\">Demonstrators march toward an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in San Francisco on June 8, 2025. Student journalist Aarya Mukherjee was thrown to the ground and later detained by police while covering the anti-deportation protests.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "San Francisco Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2025-06-08",
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
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"Aarya Mukherjee (The [UC Berkeley] Daily Californian)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter hit by crowd-control munition while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-hit-by-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-25T18:36:18.514385Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-25T18:36:18.514385Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-25T18:36:18.392663Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jaisp\">Sergio Olmos, an investigative reporter for CalMatters, was struck in the chest by a crowd-control munition fired by police officers while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkqk9\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2dqt\">Olmos told <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2025/06/09/journalists-injured-la-protests/\">The Washington Post</a> that he was wearing a press pass and <a href=\"https://x.com/MrOlmos/status/1931816889992573095\">shooting</a> video of a protest a few blocks from a complex of federal buildings when Los Angeles Police Department officers shot crowd-control munitions at demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e60f\">In a video of the incident <a href=\"https://x.com/mrolmos/status/1931881207073264118\">posted</a> by the reporter on the social platform X, police can be seen firing into the crowd, and then the camera angle moves to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"55qh3\">Olmos told the Post that he was hit with what he believed was a 40 mm sponge grenade. “I got hit in the chest and it’s a moment of, ‘What the f---?’” He said he put his camera down momentarily to check that he was OK.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A less lethal round hits this reporter in the chest <a href=\"https://t.co/7fQWGOcihp\">pic.twitter.com/7fQWGOcihp</a></p>— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1931881207073264118?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jaisp\">In an <a href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-legislature-news-roundup-2025-newsletter/\">interview</a> in CalMatters, Olmos said that on the day he was hit, police fired more less-lethal rounds in a single day of protests than he’d ever seen.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekm9t\">“California law enforcements are trained not to shoot these less-lethal rounds at the head and neck area because they can cause severe injuries. And you’re not supposed to use them to disperse people. But the LAPD is using them to move crowds back, which goes against their training,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l1ns\">Olmos did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3s0ra\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning Olmos’ assault.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dmu6q\">A Los Angeles Police Department officer fires a crowd-control munition near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA on June 8, 2025. CalMatters reporter Sergio Olmos was struck with a round while covering an immigration protest that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sergio Olmos (CalMatters)"
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in head, leg with crowd-control munitions amid LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-head-leg-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-02T14:01:29.843029Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-02T14:01:29.843029Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-02T14:01:29.659355Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uvxq9\">Freelance photojournalist Ted Soqui was shot by federal officers in the face and shin with a pepper ball and rubber bullet while covering anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e41ko\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"as83l\">According to a June 18 <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70581520/1/los-angeles-press-club-v-kristi-noem/\">lawsuit</a> filed by the Los Angeles Press Club against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Soqui had been documenting the protests at LA’s Federal Building each day from around 11 a.m. until early evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"3pipv\">On June 8, Soqui was reporting alongside other journalists, standing approximately 15 feet from both demonstrators and federal officers, according to the suit. The photojournalist, who has covered protests throughout his decades-long career, said the protest was tense but that escalation did not seem imminent.</p><p data-block-key=\"ud5n\">As DHS officers pushed back protesters, Soqui was struck in the left cheekbone with a pepper ball and in the right shin with a rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"alclp\">There was no marked perimeter, audible dispersal order or warning that DHS agents would use force, according to the lawsuit, and the shootings of Soqui were “misuses of militarized weapons.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3fhgh\">“The way federal agents used pepper balls here can cause significant and serious harm,” it continued.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l6ov\">Although the incident left Soqui feeling “shaken and upset,” according to the lawsuit, he still returned the following day to continue reporting and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-rubber-bullets-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest\">was struck again</a> with multiple crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"b9qac\">Soqui did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. While his experiences were detailed in the LA Press Club’s lawsuit, he is not listed as a plaintiff.</p><p data-block-key=\"2in1i\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25160171601458.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ayig7\">Protesters face off with police in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Ted Soqui was shot with crowd-control munitions that day while covering the protests against immigration enforcement raids.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Ted Soqui (Freelance)"
],
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{
"title": "Student journalist struck by crowd-control munitions amid Compton protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-struck-by-crowd-control-munitions-amid-compton-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-05T20:52:32.460090Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-05T20:52:32.460090Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-05T20:52:32.302199Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e427v\">Jake Crandall, a student photojournalist for Santa Monica College’s The Corsair, was hit with a pepper ball and a stun grenade while documenting an anti-deportation protest in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"chd92\">Crandall was at one of a series of protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered in and around LA, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines, despite objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"coo89\">Crandall was photographing a confrontation between demonstrators and deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, who had formed a skirmish line at a nearby intersection. Protesters had dragged dumpsters and other debris into the street to build a makeshift blockade. While crouched behind a car for cover, Crandall was struck in the leg by a pepper ball fired by deputies, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said no protesters were nearby at the moment.</p><p data-block-key=\"elbeh\">“I don’t know if it was necessarily targeted at me, but it definitely had to have been a careless error shooting at me,” Crandall said.</p><p data-block-key=\"24cq4\">Later on, he moved toward a wall where journalists had gathered, a spot law enforcement had previously directed the press to stand. As he approached, a stinger grenade, which releases rubber pellets and chemical irritants, exploded at his feet. He identified the device, which coated his lower body with powder, by its residue and a photo he took of one used during the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"cdk4a\">Crandall was standing about 10 feet from other clearly identified journalists at the time and wearing visibly marked press gear himself, he recounted. He said a protester was standing about 20 feet away from him at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"dq22c\">In the surrounding days of news coverage, Crandall said he saw fellow journalists arrested, struck with crowd-control munitions and taken to the hospital. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-pepper-sprayed-at-la-immigration-protest/\">pepper-sprayed</a>, shot with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-hit-by-pepper-ball-at-la-immigration-protest/\">pepper ball</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-hit-by-crowd-control-rounds-at-la-protest/\">detained by police</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u594\">“It definitely makes me feel a lot less safe than I have before,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dabha\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 10, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it does not condone any actions that intentionally target the press and prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"o3xh0\">Law enforcement gather at a protest near the cities of Compton and Paramount in California on June 7, 2025. Student photojournalist Jake Crandall was hit with crowd-control munitions while documenting it.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jake Crandall (The [Santa Monica College] Corsair)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Univision video journalist targeted with pepper balls during LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/univision-video-journalist-targeted-with-pepper-balls-during-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-10T16:37:14.268269Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-16T13:44:10.731841Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T13:44:10.618620Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jn3ri\">Raúl Gutiérrez, a video journalist for KMEX-DT, Univision’s Los Angeles affiliate, was targeted with crowd-control munitions while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"cqtdc\">The protest was part of a wave of demonstrations that began <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 6,</a> following a series of immigration raids across LA. Federal agents targeted worksites and locations where immigrant day laborers congregated, prompting widespread unrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"38hkb\">As confrontations between protesters and law enforcement escalated, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard and later the U.S. Marines, despite opposition by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"cspst\">In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/shoton35mm.bsky.social/post/3lr3dvqv4j22p\">video</a> posted to the social platform Bluesky by L.A. Taco journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray, federal officers can be seen firing pepper balls as journalists — some clearly displaying press credentials — retreat. The Los Angeles Press Club later identified Gutiérrez and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/univision-reporter-targeted-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">reporter Victor Cordero</a> as the KMEX journalists seen in the clip. Gutiérrez did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6q89\">In a statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Univision News President Daniel Coronell said that the affected reporters were OK and continued to do their job despite the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"5f0qm\">“We condemn any type of aggression against those who fulfill their duty to inform citizens,” Coronell added. “The authorities must protect journalistic work and guarantee access and safety in places of newsworthy locations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6msgt\">It’s unclear which federal agency was deploying the crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l00o\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"oggav\">Video journalist Raúl Gutiérrez of KMEX-DT retreats as federal police deploy crowd-control munitions during an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025.</p>",
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"tags": [
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"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with crowd-control munition at LA-area protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munition-at-la-area-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-17T18:58:37.259095Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-23T18:38:28.272300Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-23T18:38:28.150753Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f16d0\">Freelance photojournalist J.W. Hendricks was shot with a crowd-control munition while documenting anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5c9j3\">The protests<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\"> began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"5d237\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\">reported</a>. Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrived to aid in the protest response.</p><p data-block-key=\"ao59p\">Hendricks told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived at approximately 6:30 p.m., and noted that the protests that night unfolded along a single block in Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ms3h\">“On the east intersection was the sheriff’s skirmish line with the military-looking vehicles and the rapid deployment barrier, which we all just called ‘The Slinky,’” Hendricks said. “And on the opposing intersection, where the doughnut shop is, that’s where most people were hanging out, kind of watching from afar, and the closer you got to the sheriff’s intersection, the protesters were more and more spread out.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Hendricks_CA_assault_6_7.width-828.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"1000\" alt=\"COURTESY J.W. HENDRICKS\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"0ewb5\">Freelance photojournalist J.W. Hendricks was shot with a crowd-control munition by law enforcement while covering anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. The impact caused his skin to tear and left a large bruise.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY J.W. HENDRICKS\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f16d0\">As night began to fall, Hendricks said he was approximately 100 feet from the skirmish line when shot in the leg with an unidentified crowd-control munition.</p><p data-block-key=\"k9je\">He told Adam Rose, press rights chair of the LA Press Club, that there had been a lull in officers firing. “Then it felt like a high-speed rock hit my leg. I was wearing a vest that said in gigantic letters, ‘PRESS.’ Not sure what they used.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4cgrq\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b2gl8\">The Sheriff’s Department told the Tracker via email on June 10 that it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e38gf\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4bono\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated with additional information from J.W. Hendricks.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fkov6\">LA County sheriff’s deputies behind a mobile barrier during an anti-deportation protest in Paramount, California, on June 7, 2025. Photojournalist J.W. Hendricks was shot with a crowd-control munition after the protest was pushed into neighboring Compton.</p>",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck by pepper pellets, tear-gassed while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-by-pepper-pellets-tear-gassed-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T21:26:51.738360Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-13T21:26:51.738360Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-13T21:26:51.645435Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1ue4w\">An unidentified photojournalist was part of the KNBC television crew struck with pepper balls and caught in tear gas while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"793p6\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"c64hr\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKp4fugB0Am/?igsh=aGxzbmFzbXo2Zm5p\">video</a> posted by KNBC TV’s Mekahlo Medina on social media, the reporter said that at about 8:30 p.m. on June 7, a mix of Los Angeles Police Department officers and federal agents pushed through crowds of protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-pepper-pellets-and-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/\">Medina said he and his crew were shot by pepper pellets</a> and affected by tear gas, and later took cover behind a news truck.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbi1k\">“A rough night in downtown LA as journalists, along with protesters, shot at with pepper pellets and tear gas,” Medina said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddg6t\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKoDXJguulB/?igsh=ejdmeG80eHZiMnd6\">another video</a>, he said that one of the station’s photographers was also hit by the projectiles, which he said were deployed by the LAPD. Medina did not return the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"brv5o\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted to X, the department said it was responding to “significant acts of violence, vandalism, and looting” and worked through the night to restore public safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"fls9a\">“Multiple deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property,” the statement read, before adding that its professional standards bureau would be investigating allegations of excessive force used during the protests.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25159833549699.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"085sb\">Police outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. At a protest the night before, an unidentified KNBC photographer was struck with pepper balls.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Unidentified photojournalist 37 (KNBC)"
],
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{
"title": "Reporter struck by pepper pellets and tear gas while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-pepper-pellets-and-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T18:07:05.550562Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-13T21:27:50.630858Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-13T21:27:50.546176Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"267cz\">Reporter Mekahlo Medina and his KNBC television crew were struck with pepper balls and tear gas while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"bq3bq\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hg9i\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKp4fugB0Am/?igsh=aGxzbmFzbXo2Zm5p\">video</a> posted on social media by Medina, the reporter said that at about 8:30 p.m. on June 7, a mix of Los Angeles Police Department officers and federal agents pushed through crowds of protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"dedfo\">Medina — who was wearing a press vest — said approximately 20 minutes later he and his crew were shot by pepper pellets and affected by tear gas, and later took cover behind a news truck.</p><p data-block-key=\"eo3ni\">“A rough night in downtown LA as journalists, along with protesters, shot at with pepper pellets and tear gas,” Medina said, showing white powder on his press vest, as well as on the back of a man he identified as his security guard.</p><p data-block-key=\"9todd\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKoDXJguulB/?igsh=ejdmeG80eHZiMnd6\">another video</a>, Medina said that one of his photographers was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-by-pepper-pellets-tear-gassed-while-covering-la-protest/\">also hit by the projectiles</a>, which he said were deployed by the LAPD.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1o5b\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted to X, the department said it was responding to “significant acts of violence, vandalism, and looting” and worked through the night to restore public safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"crslm\">“Multiple deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property,” the statement read, before adding that its professional standards bureau would be investigating allegations of excessive force used during the protests.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD Releases Information Related to Recent Protests <a href=\"https://t.co/XDNnngM5ty\">pic.twitter.com/XDNnngM5ty</a></p>— LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932838116722982997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"267cz\">Also on June 7, Medina was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-pushes-reporter-in-press-vest-at-la-immigration-protest/\">pushed by a federal agent</a> with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He did not immediately return a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/combined.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sqwdo\">KNBC TV reporter Mekahlo Medina was struck with pepper balls and tear gas during a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025.</p>",
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"case_number": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist hit by crowd-control munition while covering protest near LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-by-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-protest-near-la/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-16T20:03:56.454326Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-16T20:03:56.454326Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T20:03:56.359096Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ynw34\">Photojournalist Ringo Chiu was hit in the waist by an impact projectile fired by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies while covering anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5s26v\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fvqm\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times<a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\"> reported</a>. That protest spread to the adjacent city of Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"1k62c\">Chiu, who was freelancing for news agency Agence France-Presse, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at around 4 p.m., at an intersection in Compton, he saw some protesters throwing rocks and other objects at Sheriff’s Department deputies, who responded with crowd-control munitions including tear gas, flash bangs and foam-tipped projectiles to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"1eb72\">Chiu was wearing a bulletproof vest labeled “PRESS” in all caps on the front and back, and a similarly marked helmet, and was carrying three professional cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1ujs\">After the sun went down, he said the situation became more chaotic. “Protesters continued to throw rocks, fireworks and other items, and I no longer felt safe. I ran to a parking lot in front of nearby stores.”</p><p data-block-key=\"28k3\">While he was in the parking lot, he was hit on the left side of his waist by a 40 mm foam-tipped impact projectile. He said his injury was not serious.</p><p data-block-key=\"feeqb\">Chiu added: “I can’t say for sure if I was targeted, but I believe I should not have been shot, especially while standing in a location where most media had gathered. We considered that parking lot a safe zone, and expected law enforcement to treat it that way.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ff1ro\">Chiu emphasized that the experience made it harder for him to do his job. “As a photojournalist who often works on the front lines, wearing heavy gear and a mask makes it difficult to move and capture photos. More importantly, the risk to our safety now feels higher.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2c07o\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ptfe\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Chiu_CA_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2ofrh\">This image montage shows photojournalist Ringo Chiu, left, in the gear he wore June 7, 2025, when he was hit in the torso with a projectile fired by LA County sheriff’s deputies as he covered an immigration protest in Compton, California.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter struck in head with munition by federal officers at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-in-head-with-munition-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-02T20:39:44.087317Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-16T20:28:26.609028Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T20:28:26.495856Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0lsrk\">Ryanne Mena, a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, was shot in the head with a crowd-control munition by federal officers while documenting anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"comqe\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6khgm\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times<a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\"> reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7t2f9\">Mena told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. and began interviewing a few individuals who had been injured by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies, who had fired crowd-control munitions at the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"qorf\">“Then 4:30 p.m. rolls by and I’m like, ‘OK, things are relatively mellow. I think I’m going to get ready to head out,” she said. “Then I see three to four dozen federal officers emerge from this warehouse area across the street from the Home Depot that was raided earlier in the morning.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8r3af\">Mena noted that there weren’t many protesters around and she hadn’t observed any antagonistic behavior from the protesters, but officers began firing crowd-control munitions at the crowd without issuing a warning, sending her and independent journalist <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-hit-in-head-with-tear-gas-canister-at-immigration-protest/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a> running for safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"do35h\">“We’re kind of just trying to find a place to go where we won’t get hit, but we didn’t have a lot of time,” Mena told the Tracker. “So they began shooting at the crowd and I think we were both shot in the head at almost the exact same time: I’m hit with a rubber ball bullet to my head an inch above my right ear.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mena_assault_67.width-828.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"1280\" alt=\"COURTESY RYANNE MENA\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"2hrmn\">Los Angeles Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena was photographed moments after she was struck in the head with a rubber bullet fired by federal officers responding to anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY RYANNE MENA\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0lsrk\">She added that the munition hit the thick edge of her baseball cap, which may have lessened the impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"p7hg\">Beckner-Carmitchel was struck in the forehead with some type of canister, he told the Tracker. The journalists were almost immediately surrounded by tear gas, Mena said, which was particularly debilitating because she has asthma.</p><p data-block-key=\"54tvc\">“I just kind of grab Sean’s arm and he leads us around the corner so we can get away from all the tear gas and the firing,” she told the Tracker. “And then we wash our eyes out and document each other’s injuries.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8k0eo\">She said that she was wearing two press credentials — one issued by her news outlet and one by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. “It was very clear I was there working as a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sesl\">Mena, who had also been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-ball-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest\">shot with a pepper ball</a> by federal officers the previous day, said that she got a severe headache later that day and threw up that evening. She ultimately went to an urgent care center two days later and was diagnosed with a concussion.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ang1\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1r8c8\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-07&date_upper=2025-06-07&city=Compton&state=California\">Multiple journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the demonstrations in Compton and Paramount that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"dm66c\">Mena told the Tracker that she had been cleared by her newsroom to go back out to cover protests June 12, and her willingness to cover demonstrations and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids was in no way diminished.</p><p data-block-key=\"24u7s\">“This is not going to turn me at all from this coverage,” she said. “It’s motivating me to go even harder with my reporting, because it is so important what’s going on and they’re not going to silence the press.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mena_CA_assault_67.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q46q1\">In this skewed screenshot from footage taken at a June 7, 2025, anti-deportation protest in Compton, California, Los Angeles Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena is seen ducking for cover after she was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by federal officers.</p>",
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{
"title": "Munition strikes photojournalist at LA protest, shrapnel surgically removed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/munition-strikes-photojournalist-at-la-protest-shrapnel-surgically-removed/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T20:52:23.427380Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T20:52:23.427380Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T20:52:15.369716Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
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"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ymu58\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern required surgery after he was struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition while documenting protests in the California cities of Compton and Paramount on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1439m\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3sf9v\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\">reported</a>. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies formed a police line blocking the bridge that led to the Home Depot and connected Paramount to the adjacent city of Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"aqj53\">Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he and his colleague Tina-Desiree Berg arrived to document the mounting protest at around 3 p.m., and found a standoff along the skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"ato9p\">“Things went backward and forward,” Stern said. “The Sheriff’s Department firing projectiles, throwing these kinds of stun grenades, firing pepper pellets at people. People responding by throwing things like bottles of water and small bits of concrete.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9r6sn\">He said it continued until night fell, at which point the deputies moved their line back. Meanwhile, some demonstrators had assembled a makeshift barricade to protect themselves from the crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"faeo0\">Shortly before 9 p.m., Stern said, he was documenting protesters holding Mexican flags illuminated by the shining headlights of the deputies’ vehicles in the distance when he felt a sudden, immense pain.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ddpr\">“I felt this incredible, painful impact into my right side. I immediately put my hand down there and in the dark I saw this kind of solid object that appeared to be part of my leg,” Stern told the Tracker. “I hobbled away shouting, ‘I’ve been hit! I’ve been hit!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"dfgaj\">He said a group of protesters carried him to safety and a medic <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKov0doxoEH/?hl=en&img_index=1\">worked to stabilize him</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6trej\">“A medic came over, cut my pants off with some scissors, put a pad onto the wound — which was about a two-inch diameter, circular hole in my leg — and then tightly wrapped a bandage around it,” Stern said. “I was sitting on the pavement and I actually passed out, and the medics brought me back round, which is fucking terrifying, if I’m honest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cmjts\">Berg was then able to transport Stern to the emergency room with him lying in the back seat while his wound continued to gush blood. At the hospital, Stern said, the doctors thoroughly examined him.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs8e\">“They looked over my entire body — from the soles of my feet to the top of my head and under my arms — to see if they could find an exit wound for a bullet, because they figured it may well have been a live round,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ntq5\">In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/tinadesireeberg.com/post/3lr7gxv4fsc25\">post</a> on the social platform Bluesky, Berg later confirmed that doctors surgically removed what appears to be a portion of a stun grenade that was embedded deep in Stern’s leg.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Stern_CA_assult_67.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"512\" alt=\"COURTESY NICK STERN\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"j6ury\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern was struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. A nearly three-inch piece of a stun grenade was surgically removed from his thigh.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY NICK STERN\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ymu58\">Stern, who has documented protests in Los Angeles for at least five years, said that what he witnessed at these demonstrations was different.</p><p data-block-key=\"arhnp\">“I was covering the George Floyd protests in 2020, and law enforcement in Los Angeles was heavily criticized for their use of these devices because they weren’t trained on them,” he said. “But to see what they were doing out on the streets the past few days, last week is absolutely horrific. Effectively — if what we assume is correct, about this device that hit me — they’re firing explosive munitions toward people.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ab9jo\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it was still reviewing footage of Stern’s assault and that “it is not clear at this time whether our department was involved in this incident.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dj8ja\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer added. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"59cqa\">Stern said that while he has been released from the hospital, he has a long road to recovery — including extensive physical therapy — ahead of him.</p><p data-block-key=\"7h2c2\">After police shot Stern with multiple munitions and struck him with batons <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-multiple-projectiles-while-covering-la-protest/\">amid the 2020 protests</a>, the photojournalist filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department and reached a $150,000 settlement in 2024. He told the Tracker he thinks he has no choice but to pursue that same recourse.</p><p data-block-key=\"4inn3\">“This whole kind of lawsuit culture in the U.S. is quite alien for me, as a British person, and is one that I don’t necessarily, deep down, agree with, but there seems to be no other accountability,” Stern said. “I think, as a member of the public, as a citizen, as a journalist, whatever: It has to be a multipronged approach. It has to be done by official complaints, it has to be done by lobbying politicians, it has to be done by lawsuits.</p><p data-block-key=\"272dk\">“The system needs to change by whatever means we can change it.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"701n8\">Protesters help independent photographer Nick Stern after he was struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition while documenting a protest in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. A portion of a stun grenade was later surgically removed from his thigh.</p>",
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"tags": [
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Agency photojournalist grazed by shrapnel at LA-area protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/agency-photojournalist-grazed-by-shrapnel-at-la-area-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-15T17:48:29.837314Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-16T13:19:23.719606Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T13:19:23.565392Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8ynxq\">An agency staff photographer was struck by shrapnel from a stun grenade deployed by law enforcement while documenting anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"ef2p1\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"7o5l3\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"c53kv\">As the evening progressed, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies formed a line blocking the bridge that led to the Home Depot and connected Paramount to the adjacent city of Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"55tru\">The photojournalist, who asked to remain anonymous because the agency they work for did not authorize them to speak about the incident publicly, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the deputies were deploying stun grenades throughout the evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"5si52\">“They were throwing them out like crazy,” the photojournalist said, “and a piece of shrapnel just kind of grazed my shoulder. I was standing among the protesters at that one, so that one wasn’t so alarming to me. It hurt, but I feel like that’s kind of a hazard of the job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5koln\">The photojournalist noted that law enforcement was more violent that day than at any prior protest that they had documented, including throughout 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"5mm28\">“I have never been in a situation where less-lethals were fired so rapidly for such an extended period of time. The flash bangs were like, ‘Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,’ and they weren’t stopping,” they said. “It was honestly terrifying. It felt like a war zone.”</p><p data-block-key=\"csetp\">The agency staff photographer was also shot with multiple crowd-control munitions while documenting protests in LA two days later.</p><p data-block-key=\"d9dvq\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"60bcm\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"twxe1\">Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies advance during an immigration protest in Paramount, California, on June 7, 2025. An agency staff photographer was injured by stun grenade shrapnel after deputies pushed the demonstration across the bridge to Compton.</p>",
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"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter struck with pepper balls while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-10T21:37:27.667375Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-02T18:13:33.954752Z",
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"date": "2025-06-07",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8eeh9\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter for L.A. Taco, was struck with multiple pepper balls while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rt2n\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"64coj\">On the evening of June 7, protesters <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/08/us/la-immigration-protests-photos-map.html\">gathered</a> <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-aide-calls-los-angeles-anti-ice-protests-an-insurrection-2025-06-07/\">outside</a> the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where immigrants were being held. The Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly, ordering demonstrators to disperse. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was also present, as well as officers from multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.</p><p data-block-key=\"1j6lu\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, where detainees were <a href=\"https://abc7.com/post/immigrant-advocates-demand-investigation-reports-ice-holding-families-downtown-la/16678054/\">allegedly being held,</a> when federal law enforcement began dispersing the crowd using pepper balls. He said he was unsure which agency the officers belonged to.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fol7\">Ray then relocated to a nearby sidewalk on Alameda Street, where reporters had set up tripods and several TV news trucks were parked.</p><p data-block-key=\"dejt1\">Eventually, the federal officers moved up their skirmish line toward Alameda Street, continuing to fire volleys of the projectiles in the direction of the press. Ray was struck multiple times, once in the middle finger and at least once on his back, he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ueo4\">“It seemed so blatant, we weren’t around any protesters, we were clearly media,” Ray said. “They didn’t seem to care that we were media. They treated us like we were protesters and didn’t respect our First Amendment rights as journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hbam\">The gaggle of press continued to back away as officers followed them, eventually establishing another skirmish at Alameda Street and Temple Street, according to Ray, who said his backpack, which was covered in pepper ball residue, served as a shield.</p><p data-block-key=\"3i15l\">“I definitely am worried about the implications of covering other protests like that,” Ray said. “If the media wasn’t there, the public wouldn’t have an understanding of what happened that night.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3odn0\">The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"740o2\"><a href=\"https://x.com/ICEgov/status/1931472857554645294\">In a June 7 post on X,</a> ICE said: “Our officers and agents continued to enforce immigration law in LA, despite the violent protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cg7b4\">On June 8, a sheriff’s deputy searched the bags of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputy-searches-journalists-bag-during-la-immigration-protest/\">Ray</a> and freelance journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-bag-searched-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">Joey Scott</a> while they were reporting on another immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles.</p><p data-block-key=\"6su1a\">The Tracker has documented other incidents in which Ray was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-repeatedly-shoved-while-covering-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">shoved,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-taco-reporter-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/\">detained,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-equipment-damaged-while-covering-dodgers-celebrations/\">tackled</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multiple-journalists-covering-protests-los-angeles-assaulted/\">struck with a baton</a> while covering protests in Los Angeles since 2020.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"v5ira\">Law enforcement officers stand on a freeway in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025, following an immigration protest the previous night. L.A. Taco investigative journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray was struck with pepper balls while reporting on the protest.</p>",
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"case_number": "2:25-cv-05563",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
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"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-06-18 16:29:00+00:00) LA journalist sues DHS over protest assault"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
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"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco)"
],
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}
]
