GET /api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cD0yMDI1LTA2LTI0LTgzNmVkZTc2LTcyMGUtMTFmMC05YjBiLWUyZWJmNGEzNmI0NA%3D%3D&format=api
HTTP 200 OK
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET,OPTIONS,HEAD
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Allow: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Link: 
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?format=api>; rel="first",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cj0xJnA9MjAyNS0wNi0xNy01YmZkMTlmNi00YzhhLTExZjAtODk1OC0yNjcxMzg5NDFjZjg%3D&format=api>; rel="prev",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cD0yMDI1LTA2LTExLTIwODI0YzUwLTYwZjAtMTFmMC1hYzU5LWJhNGRhMDAwNDBjNg%3D%3D&format=api>; rel="next"
Vary: Accept
[ { "title": "New York Daily News reporter banned by mayor from future news conferences", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-daily-news-reporter-banned-by-mayor-from-future-news-conferences/", "first_published_at": "2025-06-18T21:25:53.905902Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-03T20:10:56.407544Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-03T20:10:56.312652Z", "date": "2025-06-17", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "New York", "longitude": -74.00597, "latitude": 40.71427, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4fnvd\">New York Daily News reporter Chris Sommerfeldt was barred by Mayor Eric Adams from attending future press conferences after Sommerfeldt called out a question to the mayor during a news briefing on June 17, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"r9t4\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/rWCiOGH1Juo?feature=shared&amp;t=2180\">video</a> posted by the mayor’s office of an announcement on housing, Adams is seen opening the floor and taking questions from other reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ainn\">After Sommerfeldt attempts to ask a question, Adams responds in a mocking tone, “You’re calling out a lot, Chris. Stop calling out. You must have done that in school.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aps20\">The mayor then turns gruff, saying, “You’re not going to be disruptive in our conferences. You’re going to stop at the gate. You do that again, you’re going to stop at the gate. You’re not going to come into this conference off topic, be disrespectful, and call out and think you’re going to do what you want.”</p><p data-block-key=\"emu0s\">After Sommerfeldt calls out again, Adams responds, turning aside to staff and saying, “He did it again, make sure security knows he’s not allowed back into this room.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3a6a2\">Daily News Executive Editor Andrew Julien, in a statement issued via email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, said, “Our reporters have the right to ask questions, and taxpayers aren’t funding the police to keep reporters out of City Hall press conferences.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4jovk\">The union that represents Daily News reporters and staff later <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/nydnunion.bsky.social/post/3lrt2k7wjkk2h\">wrote the mayor</a> demanding that he reverse the restriction. “To ban a reporter from future press conferences for doing the very thing a press conference is designed to facilitate—asking a question—shows a flagrant disregard for the role of the press and for our colleagues’ professionalism,” the union wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"do2k2\">The union’s letter also noted that Adams had not called on Sommerfeldt during press conferences for the past three months.</p><p data-block-key=\"25q8c\">The mayor’s press secretary, Kayla Mamelak Altus, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/nyregion/eric-adams-reporter-ny-daily-news.html\">told The New York Times</a> that she didn’t know Sommerfeldt hadn’t been called on for that long. But Katie Honan, a reporter at The City, <a href=\"https://x.com/katie_honan/status/1935132228134048244\">said on social media</a>, “This is a blatant lie.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5btpo\">Other journalists took to social media to criticize the mayor.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jet1\">Craig McCarthy, City Hall bureau chief at the New York Post, <a href=\"https://x.com/createcraig\">said</a> that Sommerfeldt was not interrupting: “He injected a follow-up question during a pause, actually furthering the line of questioning from Politico.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7183c\">Joe Anuta, who covers City Hall for Politico NY, also <a href=\"https://x.com/joeanuta/status/1935138148582892007\">confirmed</a> that the mayor’s teams hadn’t called on Sommerfeldt for months. “Chris does not interrupt other reporters. Let him ask his Qs like the rest of us,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"bivud\">The New York Press Club <a href=\"https://x.com/NYPressClub/status/1935160888551514450\">responded to the ban</a>, saying, “We are reaching the height of absurdity when the Mayor of New York City is applying a hostile tactic seen in the White House.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5a6du\">The Tracker reached out to Adams’ press office for comment but did not receive a response.</p><p data-block-key=\"2qv3d\">“Chris was doing his job,” the union wrote the mayor. “The only person being disrespectful is you.”</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Adams_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"asse9\">New York City Mayor Eric Adams, above, at a June 17 news conference, where he said he would bar New York Daily News reporter Chris Sommerfeldt from attending future briefings.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": null, "was_journalist_targeted": null, "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "New York", "abbreviation": "NY" }, "updates": [ "(2025-06-24 20:09:00+00:00) Reporter allowed back in NYC mayor’s briefings, but his questions remain ignored" ], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [ "Local government: Mayor" ], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Denial of Access" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Chris Sommerfeldt ([New York] Daily News)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [ "Government event" ] }, { "title": "New charges filed against Spanish-language journalist amid ICE detention", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-charges-filed-against-spanish-language-journalist-amid-ice-detention/", "first_published_at": "2025-06-26T20:40:26.308791Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-21T20:19:10.759169Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-21T20:19:10.456498Z", "date": "2025-06-17", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Lawrenceville", "longitude": -83.98796, "latitude": 33.95621, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5a5sw\">Immigration reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spanish-language-reporter-arrested-at-atlanta-area-protest-faces-deportation/\">Mario Guevara,</a> currently in federal custody and facing possible deportation, was charged June 17 with three additional misdemeanors for traffic violations that allegedly occurred more than a month before his mid-June arrest at a protest near Atlanta.</p><p data-block-key=\"e31ee\">Guevara, a Salvadoran journalist who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, was arrested during a “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump in Chamblee, Georgia. The demonstration coincided with a military parade attended by Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpl4u\">Guevara was livestreaming the protest to over a million followers when Doraville police arrested him. At the time, he was wearing a press vest and helmet and repeatedly identified himself as a journalist. He was later charged with obstruction, unlawful assembly and walking on a roadway.</p><p data-block-key=\"c255g\">On June 18, Guevara was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after federal immigration officials placed a detainer on him. Guevara, who lacks permanent legal status, has work authorization and a potential path to a green card through his U.S.-citizen son.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dcbe\">The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office then filed three new misdemeanor charges — distracted driving, reckless driving and failure to obey a traffic control device — against Guevara. The new charges appear to stem from an incident 31 days earlier, when he was reportedly livestreaming immigration enforcement activity while driving.</p><p data-block-key=\"29rvc\">The incidents listed in the warrants happened on May 13 and May 20, but the warrants weren’t taken out against Guevara until June 17, his attorney Giovanni Diaz said in a video news update posted to the social platform Facebook.</p><p data-block-key=\"967g8\">“We’ve only been able to see the warrants. We’re trying to get a little more information,” Diaz said in Spanish. “I think the timing, to a lot of people, is a bit concerning. I’ll allow other folks to speculate about that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"55eum\">Diaz did not return U.S. Press Freedom Tracker requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ldm\">In a statement provided to the <a href=\"https://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/gwinnett-sheriffs-office-claims-ice-detained-jour[%E2%80%A6]ations/article_f66891f7-737e-4780-9cce-d735c9f65858.html\">Gwinnett Daily Post</a>, the sheriff’s office claimed Guevara “compromised operational integrity” and “jeopardized the safety of victims of the case, investigators, and Gwinnett County residents” during an unrelated investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"9f008\">A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office denied a Tracker request for the arrest warrants, stating that they are still active and an investigation is ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"ab5md\">In an interview with <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/06/ice-moves-to-deport-atlanta-based-hispanic-reporter-who-covered-immigration-raids/\">The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a> this spring, Guevara reflected on the risks of his reporting: “My lawyers are asking me to tone it down, to not be so aggressive,” he said. “I’m acting as if I were a citizen … but I’m not scared.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7food\">In response to mounting public scrutiny, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on social media June 20 denying that Guevara’s detention was related to his journalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bj4f\">“This El Salvador national is in ICE custody because he entered the country illegally in 2004,” the agency said. “He was arrested for willful obstruction after refusing lawful orders.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">FALSE. Accusations that Mario Guevara was arrested by ICE because he is a journalist are completely untrue.<br><br>Mario Guevera was arrested by Dekalb County, Georgia police for willful obstruction after he refused to comply with local police orders to move out of the middle of the… <a href=\"https://t.co/xolCZrys93\">pic.twitter.com/xolCZrys93</a></p>&mdash; Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1936066664019243248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 20, 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=\"5a5sw\">In 2012, an immigration court denied Guevara’s asylum application and issued a deportation order. That case was later administratively closed — a discretionary decision that paused removal proceedings. He built his reputation covering immigration enforcement in Georgia for Mundo Hispanico before founding his own outlet, MGNews.</p><p data-block-key=\"2nf5m\">The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Guevara’s release and for removal proceedings to be dropped in a June 20 letter with a coalition of local and national civil society and media groups (including Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project). The letter warned that his continued detention raises serious press freedom concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"91n3c\">“If Guevara’s case proceeds, it would represent a grim erosion of both freedom of the press and the rule of law,” <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2025/06/cpj-partners-express-alarm-over-detention-of-journalist-mario-guevara-by-us-immigration-authorities/\">the letter stated</a>. “Journalists who are not U.S. citizens could be at risk of deportation solely because local law enforcement filed misdemeanor charges against them in retaliation for reporting without those charges ever being tried in court.”</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25168644577014.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2pkc1\">Police with reporter Mario Guevara during an immigration protest in metro Atlanta on June 14, 2025. Guevara was arrested while livestreaming the event, later transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, and now faces additional charges.</p>", "arresting_authority": "Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office", "arrest_status": "charged without arrest", "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": null, "was_journalist_targeted": null, "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "Georgia", "abbreviation": "GA" }, "updates": [ "(2025-07-03 21:58:00+00:00) Guevara remains in custody after being granted bail", "(2025-07-10 12:49:00+00:00) Traffic misdemeanor charges dropped against Guevara, still detained by ICE" ], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "ICE", "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Arrest/Criminal Charge" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Mario Guevara (Independent)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "ABC News correspondent pushed by police on live TV while covering LA protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/abc-news-correspondent-pushed-by-police-on-live-tv-while-covering-la-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-10T16:30:05.585766Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-10T16:30:05.585766Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-10T16:30:05.495918Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u13ks\">ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman was pushed and berated by a police officer on live TV while covering a protest against the Trump administration in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs2rr\">The protest was one of <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-military-parade-no-kings-protests-06-14-25\">more than 2,000</a> “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/08/us/la-immigration-protests-photos-map.html\">days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"4165p\">Gutman was <a href=\"https://x.com/ABCNewsLive/status/1934034296668385584\">reporting</a> <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEFlcu00mTE\">live</a> June 14 as the Los Angeles Police Department and other law enforcement agencies began aggressively clearing the streets of protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"c113e\">An ABC News Live video posted by multiple <a href=\"https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1934208144114336180?s=46&amp;t=b5CYqy68tBdQQ3mCxgkb5Q\">social</a> <a href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@msrebeccaaguilar/video/7515977329882025246\">media</a> users showed an LAPD officer — wearing a gas mask and other riot gear standing in a line of other officers — pushing Gutman and yelling at him for allegedly touching another officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"bje4g\">“Now you’re pushing me on live television,” Gutman said to the officer. “We didn’t touch anybody, you know that’s true.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ftgmj\">“Tensions are extremely high here,” Gutman continued. “Yes, because you touched the officer,” the officer shouted.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Whoa! Hats off to ABC News reporter Matt Gutman for keeping his cool yesterday.<br><br>This LAPD officer needs to be relieved of duty if he can’t handle an alleged “touch” without snapping. <a href=\"https://t.co/cqwVqpaHzD\">pic.twitter.com/cqwVqpaHzD</a></p>&mdash; Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cwebbonline/status/1934208144114336180?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 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=\"u13ks\">“That was a moment that we haven’t experienced very often here,” Gutman added as the officer moved away. “I think that there has been respect between the media and law enforcement here. We have kept our distance.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ai7m7\">Another <a href=\"https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1934307292159344852\">video</a> from the ABC News Live feed posted on social media shows an officer forcefully pushing Gutman out of the way of a police line and the reporter’s hand appearing to grab the officer’s arm in response, seemingly to maintain his balance. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker could not confirm the timing of that incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mms3\">The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment about the incident. In a statement on the social platform X, the department <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934063492237271071\">warned</a> members of the media not to position themselves between a crowd and a police skirmish line, saying they could get caught between “rocks, bottles, thrown items, fireworks, and less-lethal munitions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4g4an\">Gutman and ABC News did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Gutman.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ftaa7\">Correspondent Matt Gutman was pushed and berated by a Los Angeles Police Department officer while reporting for ABC News Live during a June 14, 2025, protest in Los Angeles, California.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Matt Gutman (ABC News)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Spanish-language reporter arrested at Atlanta-area protest; faces deportation", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spanish-language-reporter-arrested-at-atlanta-area-protest-faces-deportation/", "first_published_at": "2025-06-25T17:04:05.662466Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-03T22:05:43.981161Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-03T22:05:43.867417Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Chamblee", "longitude": -84.29881, "latitude": 33.89205, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hmhvl\">Mario Guevara, a Spanish-language reporter who covers immigration issues, was arrested at an anti-Trump protest in Chamblee, Georgia, near Atlanta, on June 14, 2025, according to multiple media accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"8l8if\">He is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faces deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"fh52r\">The protest was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations nationwide that denounced President Donald Trump’s administration and were organized against the backdrop of a Washington, D.C., military parade commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States Army.</p><p data-block-key=\"589uf\">Guevara, one of eight people arrested at the DeKalb County, Georgia, protest, was taken into custody as he livestreamed the demonstration to his social media audience of more than 1 million followers.</p><p data-block-key=\"4j3v3\">In his <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/video/news/2025/06/influential-hispanic-reporter-who-tracks-ice-agents-arrested-at-protest/\">Facebook Live</a> video, Guevara wore a helmet and a vest that identified him as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"egm02\">“We’re going to move a little bit because the authorities are advancing this way,” he said in Spanish. “The police are moving forward quickly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5p3jh\">As he walked beside a group of police officers in riot gear, he was taken into custody, his cellphone falling to the ground. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to confirm whether his phone was damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"etpt0\">“Officer, officer. I’m a member of the media,” he said before the video abruptly ended. “Let me finish.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bf0m6\">Guevara, a Salvadoran native who has been in the U.S. for over 20 years, was taken into custody by the Doraville Police Department and charged with obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly, and walking along a roadway, <a href=\"https://portal-gadekalb.tylertech.cloud/app/ViewJailing/#/jailing/1529484\">according to police records.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"2a131\">Guevara built a social media following by reporting on ICE activities in Atlanta. He started his own media company, MGNews, and has been covering ICE since Trump’s first term, <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/06/additional-criminal-charges-filed-against-immigration-reporter-in-ice-detention/\">according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"1rq4l\">“My lawyers are asking me to tone it down, to not be so aggressive,” Guevara <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/06/ice-moves-to-deport-atlanta-based-hispanic-reporter-who-covered-immigration-raids/\">told the newspaper</a> in an interview about his work earlier this spring. “I’m acting as if I were a citizen … but I’m not scared.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3ag22\">After Guevara’s arrest, his attorney, Giovanni Diaz, <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/06/ice-moves-to-deport-atlanta-based-hispanic-reporter-who-covered-immigration-raids/\">told the Journal-Constitution</a> that ICE had issued a “detainer” against the journalist — typically an initial move in the deportation process.</p><p data-block-key=\"37q45\">ICE detainers are requests asking local jails to keep individuals in custody for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release, giving federal immigration authorities time to take them into custody.</p><p data-block-key=\"320dr\">On June 18, he was transferred to Georgia’s Folkston ICE Processing Center.</p><p data-block-key=\"63dvv\">In a June 20 <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1C7dXE5Uqb/\">Facebook video</a>, Diaz said Guevara should never have been arrested and that his firm is negotiating with the county to drop the charges. He said he is also preparing a bond request to secure Guevara’s release so he can fight his immigration case while free.</p><p data-block-key=\"ckavd\">Diaz told the Journal-Constitution that Guevara lacks permanent legal status, although he has work authorization and a path to a green card through his son, who is a U.S. citizen. Diaz did not immediately return a Tracker request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"35n62\">In a post on social platform X, the Department of Homeland Security said accusations that Guevara was arrested by ICE because he is a journalist were “completely untrue” and that he was arrested for willful obstruction after he refused to comply with local police orders to move out of the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"etrri\">“Following his arrest by local authorities, ICE placed a detainer on him. Following his release, he was turned over to ICE custody and has been placed in removal proceedings,” the statement said. “This El Salvador national is in ICE custody because he entered the country illegally in 2004.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">FALSE. Accusations that Mario Guevara was arrested by ICE because he is a journalist are completely untrue.<br><br>Mario Guevera was arrested by Dekalb County, Georgia police for willful obstruction after he refused to comply with local police orders to move out of the middle of the… <a href=\"https://t.co/xolCZrys93\">pic.twitter.com/xolCZrys93</a></p>&mdash; Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1936066664019243248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 20, 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=\"hmhvl\">Guevara fled El Salvador with his family in 2004 after he was beaten and repeatedly harassed because of his work as a political reporter for the newspaper La Prensa Grafica, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/journalist-detained-immigration-ice-mario-guevarra-atlanta-77158055cda30f6be3707fb40bf661d6\">The Associated Press reported</a>. He later worked as a reporter for Georgia’s largest Spanish-language newspaper, Mundo Hispanico, the AP reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"7chb6\">In 2012, a court rejected Guevara’s request for asylum and issued a deportation order, according to the Constitution-Journal. However, the journalist later received administrative closure, a legal process that permits an immigration judge to pause deportation proceedings.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ln7i\">After Guevara was transferred to ICE custody on June 18, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-charges-filed-against-spanish-language-journalist-amid-ice-detention/\">additional misdemeanor charges</a> were filed against him, according to the Journal-Constitution. The new charges appear to stem from an incident 31 days earlier, when he was reportedly livestreaming immigration enforcement activity while driving.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3tlk\">On June 20, the Committee to Protect Journalists <a href=\"https://cpj.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/DHS_Mario-Guevara_CPJ.pdf\">wrote a letter</a> to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem denouncing Guevara’s detention and asking that he be released on bond and removal proceedings be dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"63o5c\">“It is chilling to think of the press freedom implications of a reporter facing deportation simply because they are leveled with misdemeanor charges that directly contradict the First Amendment,” the letter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rvk4\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify that Mario Guevara’s phone was knocked to the ground in the course of his arrest, and is no longer listed under the Tracker’s Assault category.</i></p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25169052384919.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"07iou\">Mario Guevara, left, an Atlanta-area Spanish-language reporter, covers a local protest against immigration enforcement on Feb. 1, 2025. Guevara was arrested while livestreaming a metro Atlanta demonstration on June 14, 2025.</p>", "arresting_authority": "Doraville Police Department", "arrest_status": "arrested and still in custody", "release_date": null, "detention_date": "2025-06-14", "unnecessary_use_of_force": true, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": null, "was_journalist_targeted": null, "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "Georgia", "abbreviation": "GA" }, "updates": [ "(2025-06-25 20:44:00+00:00) Initial charges dropped against Guevara, but deportation threat remains", "(2025-07-03 22:01:00+00:00) Guevara remains in custody after being granted bail" ], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "chemical irritant", "ICE", "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Arrest/Criminal Charge" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Mario Guevara (Independent)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photojournalist hit in the arm with projectile shot by LAPD", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-in-the-arm-with-projectile-shot-by-lapd/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-03T14:06:16.286606Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-08T02:56:19.593451Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-08T02:56:19.439535Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"j9ezt\">Independent photojournalist Ron Haviv was shot in the arm by a Los Angeles Police Department officer on June 14, 2025, while documenting a protest for The New Republic.</p><p data-block-key=\"69rsp\">Haviv, the co-founder of documentary producer VII Foundation, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that he was in downtown Los Angeles to photograph a “No Kings” rally, one of <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-military-parade-no-kings-protests-06-14-25\">more than 2,000</a> held across the country to protest the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration, and planned to coincide with a military parade held in Washington, D.C., and Trump’s birthday.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fpcf\">The rally also followed <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&amp;date_upper=2025-06-13&amp;state=California&amp;tags=protest%2Cimmigration\">days of protests</a> in LA and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9alh\">After the protest ended, Haviv said, he witnessed confrontations around City Hall and the Metropolitan Detention Center between protesters and law enforcement, which included LAPD and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officers, with LAPD officers attempting to push protesters off the streets.</p><p data-block-key=\"fdco0\">Haviv was close to the police line, not near any protesters and “not much was happening on either side,” he said, when he was hit in the arm by a 40 mm crowd-control projectile shot by an LAPD officer — the first time, he said, that he’s been shot or shot at by U.S. law enforcement while working.</p><p data-block-key=\"67pav\">Haviv was wearing press credentials, he said, but didn’t know if he had been targeted as a journalist. None of his equipment was damaged, but he had to seek medical help for the injury, which weeks after the incident was still bruised and in the process of healing.</p><p data-block-key=\"eo6ed\">He said he is considering his legal options.</p><p data-block-key=\"dndjn\">Haviv noted that the protesters were mostly peaceful and that law enforcement’s response therefore seemed disproportionate. “The combination of horses, tear gas and rubber bullets seemed to be a higher amount than necessary for what was happening on the ground,” he said.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25165845151047.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ph3rm\">Law enforcement officers at protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025. Photojournalist Ron Haviv was shot in the arm with a crowd-control munition by a Los Angeles Police Department officer while covering one of the demonstrations.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "unknown", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "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": [ "Ron Haviv (The New Republic)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Freelance journalist targeted with crowd-control munitions at LA immigration protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-targeted-with-crowd-control-munitions-at-la-immigration-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-11T20:32:29.139010Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-11T20:32:29.139010Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-11T20:32:29.045336Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xqkiu\">Freelance journalist Solomon O. Smith was struck multiple times with crowd-control munitions he said were deliberately fired at him by sheriff’s deputies while he covered a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o3t6\">The protest was part of a wave of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide in opposition to President Donald Trump. It coincided with a military parade in Washington, D.C., where Trump led celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. In LA, tensions were already high following a series of aggressive immigration enforcement raids across Southern California.</p><p data-block-key=\"7r4g7\">During the demonstration, Smith was photographing Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies patrolling on trucks from several yards away when he noticed one aiming a weapon directly at him. Smith was clearly identifiable as press, wearing credentials and holding a large white camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0cmk\">Smith told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he instinctively turned his back to avoid being hit in the face or chest. Seconds later, a crowd-control munition slammed into his padded backpack, followed by additional rounds that struck his leg and rear. A gas canister then hit him directly in the lower back.</p><p data-block-key=\"70h7n\">He said the impact dented the aluminum body of the laptop inside his backpack. One round left a “hand-sized bruise” on his right buttock.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lt8j\">Smith captured photos of deputies pointing before firing — aiming at specific individuals, including members of the press — often turning from the main part of the crowd to do so.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qedr\">He showed the Tracker photos of what he said were two student journalists who had been struck in the arms by crowd-control projectiles, despite being clearly marked as press and standing apart from demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"crme9\">“They were firing these things waist height, at people, right? That’s not from a bounce. That’s like a direct strike,” Smith said. “For them to turn and shoot at press was intentional; they had to shift to shoot at us most of the time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dler4\">Smith said he saw other journalists who were injured during the protest, and recalled a piece of an overhead-exploding munition also struck him in the head, leaving a scab on his scalp. He captured a photo of the shrapnel falling into the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rimd\">“It makes you, as a reporter, reevaluate how much danger you want to put yourself in. And you worry about other reporters too,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9h7br\">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=\"ern8f\">“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/HQP_9724.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sj7cl\">Amid tear gas, members of the press and others are seen during an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025. Freelance journalist Solomon O. Smith said deputies deliberately fired crowd-control munitions at him that day.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": "law enforcement", "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [ { "quantity": 1, "equipment": "computer" } ], "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" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault", "Equipment Damage" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Solomon O. Smith (Freelance)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Australian journalist shot with crowd-control munitions at LA protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/australian-journalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munitions-at-la-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-22T20:06:11.685062Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-22T20:06:11.685062Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-22T20:00:47.822286Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"y70hu\">Australian journalist Reid Butler says police shot him twice with crowd-control munitions while he was covering a protest against the Trump administration in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"4oe2n\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&amp;date_upper=2025-06-13&amp;state=California&amp;tags=protest%2Cimmigration\">days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"7m33c\">Butler, a U.S. correspondent for Australia’s 9News, and his cameraman had been covering the protests since around 12 p.m. that day. The duo were accompanied by two security guards, and the cameraman’s large camera made it clear that they were journalists, Butler told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"em7og\">Butler said the protests were mostly peaceful that day. Then, around 8:30 or 9 p.m., the news crew was reporting in downtown LA when some protesters started throwing things at the police, and officers began shooting crowd-control munitions at the demonstrators. Butler said he doesn’t recall hearing a dispersal order or warning from the police before they started shooting.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecnk4\">Butler and his team were about one block from the police line, he said, and as the munitions started to reach them, he said they decided to leave the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"gqqm\">“We were then choosing to stay quite a bit back from the line of police, knowing that it was obviously poor visibility, and we just didn’t want to be right in front of it all,” Butler said.</p><p data-block-key=\"eshac\">As they were leaving, Butler says he was shot once in his left arm and once in the sole of his right foot. Butler’s boot mostly protected his foot, he said, but his arm started bleeding.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0vdj\">“It hurt a lot, obviously,” he said. “It had broken the skin quite badly. It was a crescent-shaped, large cut on my upper arm.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30gkj\">Butler added that his arm later bruised and now, one month since the incident, it appears to be leaving a scar. Still, Butler told the Tracker he’s glad the injury wasn’t more serious. “I’m just happy that it was just the arm,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5b6o9\">Butler said he hasn’t thought about filing a legal complaint over the incident, largely because he doesn’t think he was intentionally targeted for being a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"era3q\">“I don’t think there was thought to where they were firing. They didn’t care who they hit,” he told the Tracker. “It was just willy-nilly down the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fj4v7\">Butler has reported from protests before, but this time was different, he said. “It was the first time that I’ve been in a protest situation where I realized that being media doesn’t necessarily protect you,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"90pk0\">After being shot, Butler and his team left the area but continued to report from elsewhere in downtown LA. Around 10 p.m., the team was crossing through a parking lot when police in a passing police car shot at them in an apparent effort to disperse them, Butler said. A crowd-control munition struck one of the security guards in the foot, Butler said.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7kpu\">“If they’d asked, we would have told them that we were press. Or if they’d been closer and saw us, they would have seen that we were press,” Butler said. “At that point, we were like, ‘Oh, this is just too much. We’re going to go home.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"7269u\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 15 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/DSC00678.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"se29i\">Protesters face off with Los Angeles police in downtown LA, demonstrating against the Trump administration and its immigration policy on June 14, 2025. Australian journalist Reid Butler was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions amid the protests.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "no", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "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": [ "Reid Butler (9News [Australia])" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photographer attacked by protesters at LA immigration demonstration", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-attacked-by-protesters-at-la-immigration-demonstration/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-16T16:08:24.234457Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-16T16:08:24.234457Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T16:07:57.917929Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ocqni\">Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie was attacked by a group of people at an immigration protest while he was covering the event in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lbir\">The protest was part of the nationwide “No Kings” movement opposing President Donald Trump, timed to coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C., celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Tensions in LA were already heightened after a wave of aggressive immigration enforcement raids across Southern California.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1em9\">Seelie, who was clearly identifiable as press with a patch on his helmet and credentials around his neck, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was surrounded by five or six individuals who objected to being photographed.</p><p data-block-key=\"1kh27\">“It escalated very suddenly,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1q7f1\">When the group demanded he stop taking pictures, Seelie reminded them they were in a public space where there is no expectation of privacy, and he had a First Amendment right to document the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"622aa\">The group surrounded him, knocked him to the ground, and one person swung at his head. Another grabbed his phone and smashed it on the pavement. His camera sustained only cosmetic damage. Seelie ran, then kept shooting, but he spent the rest of the day scanning the crowd for people from the group.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mh85\">“This is an unprecedented shift in my understanding of the safety of protest,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ampd\">Earlier that day, Seelie said he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-by-projectile-shoved-by-officers-while-covering-la-protest/\">shoved by deputies</a> as they formed a containment line to trap protesters. During the chaos, he was hit on his right leg by a crowd-control projectile and exposed to tear gas fired into a nearby group of journalists. He sustained only minor injuries — a bruise and irritation from the gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6580\">“The protesters did more damage than law enforcement did,” he said.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/NoKingsProtest-TodSeelie-3.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"uge89\">A protester holds an American flag during the “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie said he was attacked by people at the protest while covering the event.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": "private individual", "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "private individual", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [ { "quantity": 1, "equipment": "cellphone" } ], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault", "Equipment Damage" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Tod Seelie (Freelance)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Journalist struck, shoved by police at Philadelphia immigration protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-shoved-by-police-at-philadelphia-immigration-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-06-23T20:52:13.552276Z", "last_published_at": "2025-06-23T20:52:13.552276Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-23T20:52:13.469687Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Philadelphia", "longitude": -75.16362, "latitude": 39.95238, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2h9i2\">Unicorn Riot reporter and editor Chris Schiano was struck and shoved by police while reporting on an anti-deportation march in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"2n2ni\">Schiano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the immigration enforcement protest, separate from the “No Kings” protest in Philadelphia the same day. The march began around 6 p.m. at the Federal Detention Center in the Center City neighborhood and continued around nearby streets.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3f8n\">Bicycle officers from the Philadelphia Police Department began working to encircle the protesters, who in turn used improvised barriers to slow down the police, Schiano told the Tracker. He said officers finally surrounded the demonstrators at around 7 p.m. outside a Holiday Inn Express hotel.</p><p data-block-key=\"dahio\">Schiano filmed protesters as they fled the scene until two police officers slammed their bikes into the journalist and ordered him to move. “I only heard their orders by the time I was already being struck,” Schiano said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cln98\">Schiano said he was wearing a vest with “PRESS” written across it in large white letters, as well as his Unicorn Riot press pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"51kpj\">“I’m a journalist. I’m a journalist, sir,” Schiano told the police in <a href=\"https://x.com/UR_Ninja/status/1934056638958452822\">a video of the incident</a>. “Move back,” a police officer said as he shoved Schiano. At that moment, the reporter told the Tracker he worried he would be hit again.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3r4i\">Looking back, Schiano says he has the “strong impression” that the police didn’t care that he was a journalist. He added that he did not sustain any injuries.</p><p data-block-key=\"45s9b\">After that incident, Schiano said he was caught in the kettle for about one more minute before he was allowed to leave with the remaining protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"83icd\">The reporter said he then documented protesters being followed by dozens of police officers on motorcycles. While filming, Schiano said police officers sped up and came “within an inch or so of striking me.” The people Schiano was following eventually dispersed, and the police on motorbikes stopped following them.</p><p data-block-key=\"boqqm\">Schiano filed a complaint against the police over the incident June 22.</p><p data-block-key=\"26u4a\">When reached by email for comment, PPD spokesperson Jasmine Colón-Reilly said, “The role of the Philadelphia Police Department is not to interfere with the expression of any First Amendment rights, but to manage public safety during demonstrations to prevent the loss of life, injury, or property damage, and minimize disruption to persons (and communities) who are uninvolved; as well as those who are involved.”</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Schiano_PA_assault.8ed0869b.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"romx1\">A Philadelphia Police Department officer shouts at Unicorn Riot journalist Chris Schiano moments after hitting him with a police bicycle and pushing the journalist back amid anti-deportation protests on June 14, 2025.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "Pennsylvania", "abbreviation": "PA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Christopher Schiano (Unicorn Riot)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photojournalist shot with rubber bullet by law enforcement at LA protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-rubber-bullet-by-law-enforcement-at-la-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-01T20:11:59.275933Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-01T20:11:59.275933Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-01T20:11:59.086784Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9pvcx\">A photojournalist for news agency Agence France-Presse was struck with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement officers while documenting a protest against the Trump administration in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e8ik8\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&amp;date_upper=2025-06-13&amp;state=California&amp;tags=protest%2Cimmigration\">days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"be5r9\">The photojournalist, who asked to remain anonymous, <a href=\"https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250617-afp-photographer-shot-in-face-with-rubber-bullet-at-la-protest\">told France 24</a> that he was wearing two cameras, a helmet with AFP stickers and a patch on his chest that said “Press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4vu5m\">He said he was about 90 feet away from law enforcement officers when they advanced on the protesters and began firing rubber bullets. Two struck him in the face and right arm.</p><p data-block-key=\"8g163\">The photojournalist told the news network that he went to the hospital to be treated for his injuries from the shots.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hk74\">France 24 asked both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department about the shooting; neither agency claimed responsibility.</p><p data-block-key=\"5159c\">The police department told AFP that “less-lethal munitions were used to clear the area of those who refused to comply and leave the area.” The Sheriff’s Department said that it “does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press.”</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/HQP_2472.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f9wuu\">Los Angeles Police Department officers advance on protesters on June 14, 2025. An Agence France-Presse photojournalist was shot in the face with a rubber bullet by law enforcement while covering the protest against the Trump administration.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "unknown", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "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": [ "Unidentified photojournalist 38 (Agence France-Presse [France])" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photographer hit by projectile, shoved by officers while covering LA protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-by-projectile-shoved-by-officers-while-covering-la-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-15T20:16:18.790907Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-16T17:12:23.956236Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T17:12:23.820460Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cem9p\">Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie was shoved by police and struck by a crowd-control projectile while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fn49\">The demonstration was one of many “No Kings” protests held across the country in opposition to President Donald Trump. In Washington, D.C., the protests coincided with a military parade marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. In LA, the political climate was already tense following a series of aggressive immigration raids across Southern California.</p><p data-block-key=\"fm3iq\">Seelie told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was trying to move through a line near downtown’s Grand Park when deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shoved him from behind. They were forming a containment line around demonstrators, and he was caught in the space between deputies and protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"1f32f\">Seelie was wearing a helmet marked with a press patch and had media credentials around his neck, he said. As tensions escalated, a crowd-control projectile struck his right leg, leaving a bruise and a visible residue on his pants. Tear gas filled the area, affecting both protesters and journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"68oh8\">“A lot of it I don’t know, because it was all happening at the same time,” said Seelie, speaking of when he was struck by the projectile. He said he doesn’t believe law enforcement had intentionally targeted him. Later that day, a group of <a href=\"/all-incidents/photographer-attacked-by-protesters-at-la-immigration-demonstration/\">people at the protest</a> attacked him for taking their photo.</p><p data-block-key=\"33jn8\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"25li1\">“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/NoKingsProtest-TodSeelie-7.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"74nn6\">Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department personnel form a line during a “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie was pushed by deputies and struck with a projectile while covering the protest.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "no", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "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" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Tod Seelie (Freelance)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photojournalist shot with pepper balls at Los Angeles ‘No Kings’ protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-15T13:23:58.621708Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-15T13:23:58.621708Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-15T13:23:58.467550Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6vxgk\">Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions by sheriff’s deputies while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfeti\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&amp;date_upper=2025-06-13&amp;state=California&amp;tags=protest%2Cimmigration\"> days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"33bc9\">Swart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was covering the protest alongside other members of the press when Los Angeles Police Department officers deployed tear gas and she became separated from her “press safety buddies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4hms9\">“I ended up on a terrace and I thought I was safe because on the street below was where the action was happening,” she said. “Then, all of a sudden, I feel, like, shooting at me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dr916\">She said that it was only then that she noticed Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies coming across a bridge nearby and shooting at her. Initially the rounds hit the ground at her feet. Then they hit her chest.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq4go\">“I start to move, but then realize that there’s absolutely nowhere for me to go except forward to where the sheriffs are shooting,” Swart said. “So, I start to go do that. And I’m holding up my press card. I have ‘Press’ labels everywhere, all over me, and I’m holding up my camera in a kind of surrender while moving forward and saying, ‘I’m press! I’m press! I’m press!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"9e3vj\">The photojournalist said none of it made a difference.</p><p data-block-key=\"6sfv0\">“They shoot again, and I kind of just step backward and I’m not sure where to go. And then I try to go again, and then they shoot me again,” Swart told the Tracker. “They eventually let me go forward, and that was where I got the bruise.”</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/Swart_assault_614.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"1104\" alt=\"COURTESY MADISON SWART\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"07rmr\"><i>Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart photographed bruises to her arm from Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies repeatedly shooting her with crowd-control munitions amid protests in LA on June 14, 2025.</i></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 MADISON SWART\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=\"6vxgk\">Swart says she believes the initial rounds were pepper balls, but she can’t be sure what other crowd-control munitions hit her.</p><p data-block-key=\"eqopq\">“They were shooting so many things that I can’t tell you which was which,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8723f\">She told the Tracker she was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-munition-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest\">struck with another crowd-control munition</a> later that day, which she believes was likely a tear gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"8uaba\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6lf11\">“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=\"bm90m\">Swart told the Tracker that her efforts to clearly identify herself as a journalist had proven futile. “Me saying press and being visible press and holding up my press pass in a surrender didn’t do shit. I was hoping that it would, but that was wishful thinking,” she said.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/20250614_USA-NO-KINGS-PROTEST-DOW.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bq2wt\">Protesters gather in downtown Los Angeles on June 14, 2025, in opposition to the Trump administration and its immigration policy. Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the demonstration.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "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" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Madison Swart (Freelance)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photographer struck and injured by tear gas canister at LA protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-struck-and-injured-by-tear-gas-canister-at-la-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-06-24T17:02:44.424941Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-14T20:35:26.221542Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-14T20:35:26.137820Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ql2i2\">Photojournalist <a href=\"https://www.hectoradolfoquintanarperez.com/\">Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez</a> was struck with a tear gas canister fired by police while documenting an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3vvl\">It was one of numerous protests 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=\"c3cv4\">Quintanar, a Mexican stringer working for Zuma Press, said that at the start of the protest, a group of Los Angeles Police Department officers — some on horseback — arrived outside the Roybal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"au2eo\">According to Quintanar, officers pushed media members who were clearly displaying their press badges. About two minutes later, he was hit by a tear gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"48pqd\">“I was walking backward, trying to do my job. The officer simply fired from about three meters away,” Quintanar wrote in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</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/495075587_1441142500220072_1885396325058906729.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1241\" alt=\"Courtesy Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"cumzz\">Photographer Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez, on assignment for Zuma Press, was struck in the knees by a tear gas canister while covering a protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 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 Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez\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=\"ql2i2\">The canister ricocheted off both of his knees. Quintanar said he couldn’t tell whether he had been targeted intentionally because the officer was wearing sunglasses.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcl6i\">“The pain prevented me from working properly,” he said. “I couldn’t leave because we were blocked and surrounded, so I was forced to stay at the protests for a couple more hours while my wounds continued to bleed and worsen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ipqk\">Quintanar said he was returning to Mexico to seek medical treatment for his injuries and was struggling to walk.</p><p data-block-key=\"brlt8\">“The message it conveys is one of profound disappointment over the criminalization of our work as press officers,” he said. “Everything indicates that freedom of the press doesn’t exist, and they’re proud of it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9tab5\">In a statement posted to social platform X, the Los Angeles Police Department said “deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property.” The department’s professional standards bureau would investigate allegations of excessive force used during the protests, according to the statement.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/HQP_2629.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pjthv\">Los Angeles Police Department officers with crowd-control munitions during an immigration enforcement protest on June 14, 2025. Photographer Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez was injured by a tear gas canister that day while on assignment for Zuma Press.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "unknown", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "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": [ "Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez (Zuma Press)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photojournalist shot with crowd-control munition amid LA ‘No Kings’ protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munition-amid-la-no-kings-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-17T19:10:28.177485Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-17T19:10:28.177485Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-17T18:59:29.854098Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kws2t\">Freelance photojournalist Matthew Reamer was shot by police in the back with a crowd-control munition while he was covering a protest against the Trump administration in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"at100\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&amp;date_upper=2025-06-13&amp;state=California&amp;tags=protest%2Cimmigration\">days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"3r0us\">Reamer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived around 10 a.m. to cover protests outside Los Angeles City Hall for German outlet Die Zeit. When Reamer left a few hours later to file some photos, he described the protest as still peaceful.</p><p data-block-key=\"cvuli\">Reamer returned to the protest around 5 p.m., after he learned that Los Angeles Police Department officers were using force to disperse the crowds.</p><p data-block-key=\"4otuo\">Reamer started taking photos as police fired crowd-control munitions to disperse the demonstrators. “I was quite close to a few of them. I’m pretty sure they saw me,” Reamer said about the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs0iu\">Shortly after, stun grenades and a flurry of shots by the police prompted a small stampede of people, Reamer said. In the chaos, one of Reamer’s cameras fell, and a lens broke.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6r8i\">About 20 minutes after returning to cover the protest, Reamer was taking photos of protesters in the crowd of people when he said police shot him squarely in the back, between his shoulder blades.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ium0\">“It welted up and bruised and had some minor breakage of the skin,” Reamer told the Tracker. He added that he had been taking photos near the police line and had not heard any dispersal warnings.</p><p data-block-key=\"bl30a\">Reamer said that he believes he was targeted. It was a “perfect shot,” he said, right in the middle of his back. He also said he was clearly working as a journalist, wearing a press credential from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and carrying two large cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"bt3mg\">“It was pretty obvious I was a member of the press,” he said. “It did feel like it was intentional.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eg0pa\">After being shot, Reamer said he took a moment to recover and then went back to covering the protest for a few more hours.</p><p data-block-key=\"2om4g\">Around 8 p.m., Reamer was behind the police line with other journalists as the police surrounded a group of protesters in a tactic known as kettling. After he moved closer to the police, Reamer said an officer turned around, grabbed him and pushed him back with the other journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"43lsr\">Reamer told the Tracker that he hasn’t taken any legal action over the incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"31als\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 15 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/DSC09556.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ch4k7\">Los Angeles police respond to protests against the Trump administration and its immigration policies at LA’s City Hall on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Matthew Reamer was shot with a crowd-control munition and shoved while documenting that day.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": "unknown", "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [ { "quantity": 1, "equipment": "camera lens" } ], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "immigration", "protest", "shot / shot at" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault", "Equipment Damage" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Matthew Reamer (Die Zeit [Germany])" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photojournalist struck with munition at Los Angeles ‘No Kings’ protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-munition-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-15T13:31:36.225057Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-15T13:31:36.225057Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-15T13:31:32.464932Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kuxre\">Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was struck with a crowd-control munition fired by law enforcement while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"43fat\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&amp;date_upper=2025-06-13&amp;state=California&amp;tags=protest%2Cimmigration\"> days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"8atm6\">Swart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was separated from the journalists she was reporting alongside for safety, and was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest\">repeatedly shot with crowd-control munitions</a> by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies while on a terrace above the main protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"92bta\">When she was able to reconnect outside City Hall with the other journalists — freelance journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Sean+Beckner-Carmitchel\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Ryanne+Mena\">Ryanne Mena</a> of the Los Angeles Daily News — the group tried to cross a nearby thoroughfare during what appeared to be a lull in the action.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pk5v\">“There was the sheriff’s line and they were very far ahead, we weren’t anywhere near them,” Swart said. “We thought it was a good time to cross, but just as we started to do that they started shooting at us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5sevb\">In footage Swart shared with the Tracker, she films alongside two other journalists — including Beckner-Carmitchel — as they cross the street approximately 50 feet in front of a crowd of protesters. After a sudden pop, the camera jolts and the trio turns back in the direction they had come.</p><p data-block-key=\"d91mg\">“That hurt,” Swart is heard saying moments later.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vco\">She told the Tracker that she was struck in the leg with what she believes was a tear gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"sup2\">“It’s hard to know what the fuck they’re shooting at us, because they’re just shooting so many different things. It felt heavy and hot, and it hit my thigh and it was stuck on my leg for a second because I had a battery pack in my pocket,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ficmq\">“There were too many things going on, so I didn’t actually look at what it was and I didn’t want to touch it,” Swart added. “So I just remember using my shirt to kind of flip it off of me and it didn’t end up leaving a mark, but it was hot and it was heavier than the things that were being shot at me on the terrace.”<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"43mti\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bhbet\">“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=\"7s327\">Reflecting on both of her experiences that day, Swart said, “It’s scary how many journalists have just been hurt these past few weeks.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fvp\">“So many of us already have PTSD: How much of this is going to sit with us for a while? But the work is important, so stopping isn’t an option,” she continued, adding of law enforcement, &quot;They need to stop, that’s the option.”</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/20250614_USA-NO-KINGS-PROTEST-DOW.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880_iFgGDvN.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hoi87\">Protesters stand off with police in downtown Los Angeles on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the protests against the Trump administration and its immigration policy.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "unknown", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "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" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Madison Swart (Freelance)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Independent journalist assaulted at Seattle protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-assaulted-at-seattle-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-08-05T20:23:00.459900Z", "last_published_at": "2025-08-05T20:23:00.459900Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-05T20:22:56.739496Z", "date": "2025-06-14", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Seattle", "longitude": -122.33207, "latitude": 47.60621, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7499n\">Reporter Cam Higby was attacked while documenting an anti-deportation protest in Seattle, Washington, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhsja\">The protest was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.</p><p data-block-key=\"55svv\">Higby, a journalist and personality for the conservative digital news media and commentary site Today Is America, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he generally does not wear press identification or badges while covering protests to avoid becoming a target.</p><p data-block-key=\"3r7dd\">“It’s dangerous,” said Higby, who is an outspoken critic of the political group known as antifa. “I’ve been attacked a lot in the past, and I found that the best way to avoid violence against me is to blend in.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3nufe\">About 100 protesters had gathered that night outside Seattle’s Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, rallying against Trump’s immigration policies. Although Higby didn’t wear any press markings, he was live-posting from the scene, and he believes that his attackers recognized him from social media.</p><p data-block-key=\"atgtl\">At one point in the night, Higby was sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall, when he heard someone say, “Cameron, it’s time for you to leave,” according to a Seattle Police Department report.</p><p data-block-key=\"92tga\">Higby said he recognized the voice as someone he knew from a previous protest who had sent him a thinly veiled threat on Instagram about a week earlier. Before he could get to his feet, three men grabbed him by the neck, pinned him down and began punching him in the head. Higby, dazed, pepper-sprayed the man punching him. The incident was captured on video by a bystander and later posted to social media.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨ANTIFA just JUMPED ME. <br><br>While SPD was refusing to intervene with the riot tonight, militant Tyler Hahn and his lackeys JUMPED ME. Dealing several blows to my head. <br><br>I was able to deploy pepper spray and repel them, regaining the belongings they knocked out of my pockets. <a href=\"https://t.co/gTsFtlIwDF\">pic.twitter.com/gTsFtlIwDF</a></p>&mdash; Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1934135321882664985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 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=\"7499n\">One of the blows was strong enough to dent Higby’s helmet. Another dislodged a filter from his gas mask. Based on the sound of the attacker’s fist hitting the helmet and photos of his fists, police said they believe he was wearing sap gloves, weighted knuckle gloves usually filled with metal pieces.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Those are the imprints of my attackers knuckles. <br><br>I, a journalist doing my job was jumped tonight at Seattle’s federal building. I was sitting down. I was not filming. <br><br>3 men approached me, held me down and beat on my head. <a href=\"https://t.co/Re3ekGuMem\">pic.twitter.com/Re3ekGuMem</a></p>&mdash; Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1934146521907556611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 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=\"7499n\">The next morning, Higby woke up with a severe bloody nose that had soaked through his sheets.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a4lb\">“My arms and my face were covered in blood,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"55s61\">The attack left him with debilitating headaches, flashing light visuals, dizziness, and nausea. Doctors diagnosed him with a mild to moderate concussion.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Woke up with a bloody nose. I never get bloody noses in the night. Unsure if it’s related. Sheets and body are covered in blood. <br><br>Hitting urgent care this morning. <a href=\"https://t.co/xyKFj82rGb\">pic.twitter.com/xyKFj82rGb</a></p>&mdash; Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1934310001570656258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 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=\"7499n\">Jeremy Lawson, identified through videos posted on social media, has been charged with one count of third-degree assault in connection with the attack. According to the charging document, Lawson texted Higby after the assault, implying he knew where Higby lived. Soon after, Higby’s address and details about his family were posted online.</p><p data-block-key=\"703tr\">Higby obtained a temporary protection order on July 3. Lawson was arrested July 16 and remains in custody on $75,000 bond.</p><p data-block-key=\"1alh1\">Though the experience has shaken him and his sense of safety, Higby said he hasn’t stopped documenting protests. He now takes extra precautions: staying at the edge of crowds, concealing his identity more carefully, and avoiding live coverage or recording.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bvki\">“If I teach them that all you have to do is beat the journalist up and they won’t show their face again, that’s going to become learned behavior,” he said. “I’m not going to let them think that I’m intimidated by them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7ivu0\">This isn’t the first time Higby has faced risks while reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s0k6\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-detained-in-police-kettle-amid-la-protests/\">On June 9,</a> just days before the Seattle attack, Higby was detained in a police kettle while covering an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California. In 2024, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-while-covering-clashing-la-protests/\">pepper-sprayed</a> while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-equipment-damaged-at-ucla-student-protest/\">shoved</a> at a UCLA student protest.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-08-04_at_4.56.53P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7y1sw\">A police compilation of video screenshots captures reporter Cam Higby being assaulted during an anti-deportation protest in Seattle, Washington, on June 14, 2025.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": "private individual", "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "private individual", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [ { "quantity": 2, "equipment": "protective equipment" } ], "state": { "name": "Washington", "abbreviation": "WA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault", "Equipment Damage" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Cam Higby (Today Is America)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Videographer hit by pepper ball while covering Oregon ICE protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-by-pepper-ball-while-covering-oregon-ice-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-02T20:55:49.683041Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-16T13:45:13.543495Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T13:45:13.471004Z", "date": "2025-06-13", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Portland", "longitude": -122.67621, "latitude": 45.52345, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fupbe\">Independent journalist Mason Lake said he was shot by federal agents with a projectile that struck his arm while he covered a protest outside an immigration detention center in Portland, Oregon, on June 13, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jq00\">Lake, a Portland-based videographer and founder of the independent outlet Channel Heed, was filming a protest over the arrest of Moisés Sotelo, a Newberg business owner detained by federal immigration agents the day before. His arrest followed the detainment of at least four asylum-seekers outside a Portland courthouse after immigration hearings, <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/12/newberg-business-owner-arrested-ice/\">according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"6rkrk\">“Locals feel like someone in their community was kidnapped by the U.S. government,” Lake said. “We’re just trying to report it so that people can see what’s going on.”</p><p data-block-key=\"baft1\">At around 10 p.m., Lake was filming officers raining down crowd-control munitions on people when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot at him multiple times — despite clear press markings on his coat, helmet and belt, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">June 13th 2025<br>At the &quot;cube&quot; facility in Portland footage show officers raining munitions of all sorts down onto protestors. The agents are from Texas &quot;Houston Field Office&quot; based on their badges<br>Camera: Vide Reporting<br>©Lake Vide Production, All Rights Reserved<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/texas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#texas</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oregon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oregon</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/btvy72X27d\">pic.twitter.com/btvy72X27d</a></p>&mdash; Mason Lake (@MasonLakePhoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1934002353679761875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 14, 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=\"fupbe\">“They were aiming specifically down the barrel of my lens,” he said, adding that the round went underneath his monopod instead. “I’m fully there as press. They see me. They just want to get rid of me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"adqd8\">Lake said his right arm was struck by a pepper round and believes ICE’s Special Response Team was responsible, based on uniform patches in his footage. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Mason+Lake\">14 incidents since 2020</a> in which Lake has been assaulted while covering Portland protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e6rc\">“It’s disheartening, but I’m ready for it,” Lake said. “Don’t assume that the shield of ‘press’ will protect you right now.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3k31\">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>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mason_Lake_image_1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gq6lz\">A federal officer looks down at protesters as munitions and pepper ball rounds are fired into the crowd outside an immigration detention center in Portland, Oregon, on June 13, 2025. Videographer Mason Lake was struck while covering the protest that day.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "Oregon", "abbreviation": "OR" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "chemical irritant", "immigration", "protest", "shot / shot at" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Mason Lake (Independent)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Cyberattack hits journalists’ email accounts at Washington Post", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cyberattack-hits-journalists-email-accounts-at-washington-post/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:33:31.430921Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:33:31.430921Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-10T19:33:31.353708Z", "date": "2025-06-12", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Washington", "longitude": -77.03637, "latitude": 38.89511, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zk7th\">Journalists at The Washington Post were targeted in a cyberattack on June 12, 2025, which may have breached a small number of their email accounts, according to The Wall Street Journal.</p><p data-block-key=\"o006\">Staff at the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper were told their Microsoft email <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/cybersecurity/cyberattack-on-washington-post-compromises-email-accounts-of-journalists-70bf1300?mod=hp_lead_pos6\">accounts had been compromised</a>, possibly granting access to emails they had sent and received, according to an internal memo by Executive Editor Matt Murray.</p><p data-block-key=\"d49rn\">The memo said a small number of journalists’ email accounts were impacted and that a forensic team has been hired to investigate the breach, <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-16/washington-post-probes-hack-of-journalist-email-accounts\">reported Bloomberg News</a>. Reporters on the national security and economic policy teams, including some who write about China, were among those who were targeted, the Journal added.</p><p data-block-key=\"54o8a\">The night after the hacking, the Post required all staff to reset their login credentials. And while email is often the primary entry point for hackers, reporters at the Post are said to use encrypted messaging platforms like Signal to communicate with sources, according to the Journal.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc0ru\">Microsoft and the Washington Post did not reply to queries from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Staff affected by the hacking were instructed not to discuss the cyberattack, the Journal reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qagj\">“Although our investigation is ongoing, we believe the incident affected a limited number of Post journalists’ accounts, and we have contacted those whose accounts have been impacted,” Murray said in the memo, which was also <a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/15/media/washington-post-cyberback-emails\">obtained by CNN</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"97a7e\">The Bloomberg report on the breach cited a source who said Chinese state-backed hackers had repeatedly probed a part of the Post’s IT infrastructure in April and May, although it wasn’t clear if that was related to the latest attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"52p7c\">The Post had <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/chinese-hackers-suspected-in-attack-on-the-posts-computers/2013/02/01/d5a44fde-6cb1-11e2-bd36-c0fe61a205f6_story.html\">previously reported</a> that it was targeted by hackers in multiple breaches that were discovered in 2011. At that time, hackers targeted its main IT server, compromising sensitive administrative passwords and potentially giving hackers broad access to the organization’s systems. Some of the attacks have been linked to groups based in China, the paper said.</p><p data-block-key=\"991qp\">Journalists are <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=cyberattack\">frequently targets of cyberattacks</a>, as their emails often contain sensitive and confidential information — particularly related to their sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"deas1\">In 2022, for instance, the Journal was also reported to have been hit by a cyberattack where the intruders had access to its reporters’ emails and documents. The hackers <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/cyberattack-on-news-corp-believed-linked-to-china-targeted-emails-of-journalists-others-11643979328?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAhAbPmil3SG201BGktXW1y9aJfvRjzwDxoAF0NHHr8u6zFxyfyHvwpq9amjtb8%3D&amp;gaa_ts=686d7944&amp;gaa_sig=xqfwwfQC2Ye9HbjLpd_VVI0oUzFkxHBSL52Dc8JcopLFr4d2W-Y6iYjR1kmzaFPTHM4s0aTt9eZbwtv5Gf2qOQ%3D%3D\">appeared to be interested</a> in issues of importance to the Chinese government, the paper said.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25125751773962.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hvo60\">The Washington Post newspaper, whose headquarters are shown above, was hit with a cyberattack targeting journalists’ email accounts on June 12, 2025.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": null, "was_journalist_targeted": null, "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "District of Columbia", "abbreviation": "DC" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [ "The Washington Post" ], "tags": [ "cyberattack" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Other Incident" ], "targeted_journalists": [], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Australian writer deported after interrogation over reporting, phone search", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/australian-writer-deported-after-interrogation-over-reporting-phone-search/", "first_published_at": "2025-08-08T19:03:58.219538Z", "last_published_at": "2025-08-08T19:03:58.219538Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-08T18:57:04.438541Z", "date": "2025-06-12", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p5ewa\">Moments after Australian writer and journalist Alistair Kitchen stepped off a plane in Los Angeles, California, on June 12, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained him, and later searched his phone and deported him.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dn9s\">After he was pulled from the customs line, one federal officer told him exactly why: “It’s because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3qbbs\">Columbia’s response to campus protests over the Israel-Gaza war has been under <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/columbia-trump-deal-00eef5dca9f003e593d2cb151f5cce17\">increased federal scrutiny</a> since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Kitchen, who attended Columbia on a student visa from 2022 to 2024 for a Master of Fine Arts program, had documented the April 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment at the university on his <a href=\"https://substack.com/@alistair?\">Substack</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"84evf\">While preparing for a two-week trip from Australia to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program — which allows people from certain countries to travel to the U.S. for less than 90 days — Kitchen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he deleted sensitive content from his phone, including the Signal app, pictures and various texts.</p><p data-block-key=\"392il\">He also removed the Columbia protest Substack posts at least three days before departure, but, he said, “It turns out they had already read them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c76cc\">When he arrived in the U.S., he expected a brief secondary check, but instead faced a pre-planned, intensive search.</p><p data-block-key=\"ftpjm\">“I was not prepared for what actually happened,” Kitchen said. “Which was them having pre-prepared for my arrival in the country and for my denial of entry.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-video\">\n\n<figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n <div style=\"padding-bottom: 56.49999999999999%;\" class=\"responsive-object\">\n <iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/NFeNaz2jDlU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen title=\"Deported journalist says he was targeted at border for reporting on Columbia protest\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n \n <p data-block-key=\"g9be7\">Australian writer and journalist Alistair Kitchen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was deported after Customs and Border Protection officers targeted him for his reporting on the Columbia University student protests.</p>\n \n \n <p>USPFT</p>\n \n </figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p5ewa\">Tired from a 15-hour flight, Kitchen was immediately placed in secondary processing. CBP officers seized his laptop and demanded the passcode for his cell phone under threat of deportation. He told the Tracker he reluctantly complied.</p><p data-block-key=\"9lddi\">“This targeted, deliberate and quite intimidating approach really threw me,” he said. “It’s a high stress situation, and I was fatigued and fearful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30god\">Over several hours, officers pressed him for contacts in the student protest movement and began a detailed interrogation: Who had he spoken to at the protests? Where did he get his information? Which WhatsApp groups did he belong to? What was his take on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and how would he fix it?</p><p data-block-key=\"6424t\">“I was certainly present at many protests, but I saw myself there, first and foremost, as a journalist and as a writer,” Kitchen said. “I did not see myself as an activist. That distinction was not of interest to Customs and Border Protection.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1cl24\">The lack of divisiveness in Kitchen’s responses did not seem to placate the officers, Kitchen recalled. He told the Tracker that they continued to dig for evidence that he was unfit to enter the country. Officers ran a forensic search of his phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"c80vd\">After some time, a guard claimed they had found evidence of drug use on his phone but never showed it. Under pressure, Kitchen admitted to having used marijuana in New York, legal at the state level but illegal federally, which he had not declared on his visa application.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcc1i\">After 12 hours of detention — eight of which were spent in a basement holding cell at the airport — he was placed on a plane back to Australia without explanation or paperwork. The airline withheld his cell phone and passport from him until he landed in Melbourne.</p><p data-block-key=\"cct9t\">“The drug use was used as a pretext to deny me entry for having views and having expressed views that the U.S. government does not want to hear,” said Kitchen, who asserts that his deportation has had the opposite effect. He added that he now feels emboldened to write “ferociously” about the protest movement and what is happening in Gaza.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7rel\">“It’s pretty clear to me that the First Amendment protections of journalists and non-citizens are not nearly as firm as we’d like to believe,” Kitchen said. “It is only through a vibrant and loud public space in which journalists and non-journalists are able to express their views freely without the threat of intimidation that a democracy can survive.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3g6m\">In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/30/dhs-debunks-fake-news-media-narratives-june\">statement</a> posted to its website, DHS said Kitchen was denied entry to the U.S. because he gave false information on his Electronic System for Travel Authorization application regarding drug use.</p><p data-block-key=\"aok9o\">“Using the ESTA is a privilege, not a right, and only those who respect our laws and follow the proper procedures will be welcomed,” the statement said.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Landscape_videoblog_Covers_390_x_.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ccm69\">Australian writer and journalist Alistair Kitchen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Customs and Border Protection officers detained, searched and deported him on June 12, 2025, in Los Angeles.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full", "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": "Los Angeles International Airport", "target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. non-resident", "denial_of_entry": true, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "yes", "did_authorities_ask_about_work": "yes", "assailant": null, "was_journalist_targeted": null, "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [ { "quantity": 1, "equipment": "cellphone" }, { "quantity": 1, "equipment": "computer" } ], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [ "Australia" ], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "Israel-Gaza war" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Border Stop", "Equipment Search or Seizure" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Alistair Kitchen (Independent)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Journalist nearly trampled, shot with munition at LA immigration protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-nearly-trampled-shot-with-munition-at-la-immigration-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-29T16:33:33.538802Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-29T16:33:33.538802Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-29T16:33:29.933234Z", "date": "2025-06-11", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xdr49\">Status Coup journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shot with a crowd-control munition by law enforcement and nearly trampled by a mounted officer while reporting on anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d45a7\">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=\"f8fe6\">Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and a photojournalist were covering the demonstrations together, livestreaming their reporting to YouTube starting at approximately 5:30 p.m. She said that she was wearing her LA Press Club credential and was clearly identifiable as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"3fpmg\">A little over an hour into the livestream, Los Angeles Police Department officers are seen allowing horse-mounted officers to pass through and toward the crowd. “All right, they’ve now brought out the cavalry again, which is never a good sign,” Berg says. “These horses get very spooked when they start hearing munitions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e5p14\">As the mounted officers advance, Berg tells her cameraman to step back further from the street. A minute later, she is <a href=\"https://youtu.be/WYRTqhAzZyg?t=4387\">describing</a> how officers have begun firing crowd-control munitions when an officer walking nearby spots her and starts yelling at her that police had told her to leave the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"3dn8l\">Berg can be heard shouting, “Hey, no! Stop!” before the audio suddenly cuts out and she is seen running down the sidewalk, closely pursued by a mounted officer. A few minutes later, she <a href=\"https://youtu.be/WYRTqhAzZyg?t=4649\">tells</a> the photojournalist with her, “I almost got trampled by horses.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6c1df\">Around half an hour later, at approximately 7:30 p.m. — shortly before a <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-11/downtown-los-angeles-curfew-explainer\">curfew</a> was to go into effect — Berg told the Tracker she observed an individual shouting at a line of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3u8m\">Moments later, an officer fired a pepper ball at the man at point-blank range. The individual then throws a can at the deputy who shot him and is in turn fired upon multiple additional times. Moments later, deputies turned their attention toward a gaggle of journalists nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tqf3\">“They just started shooting less-lethals and I got hit,” Berg told the Tracker. In the <a href=\"https://youtu.be/WYRTqhAzZyg?t=6715\">livestream</a> of that moment, Berg can be heard saying, “Whoa, stop! Jesus, you just hit me!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨&quot;Jesus you just hit me!&quot; our reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TinaDesireeBerg</a> shouts as LA County Sheriff officers hit her with &quot;less lethal&quot; ammunition. &quot;I got hit by a less lethal, I&#39;m OK, that&#39;s what the Kevlar&#39;s for...it didn&#39;t penetrate anything.&quot; <br><br>LIVESTREAM link below <a href=\"https://t.co/HHaoInpK20\">pic.twitter.com/HHaoInpK20</a></p>&mdash; Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1932988098041860161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 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=\"xdr49\">She told the Tracker, “I don’t think they were aiming at me. I think they just shoot these things without care. I mean, they just really never stop firing this shit, it’s awful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cm1ud\">Berg added that she was wearing Kevlar leggings under her pants, so she was only bruised when the munition struck her leg. “These Kevlar leggings are a godsend. If I did not have those on, I would have had a pretty severe injury, probably,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tsab\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 12 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press or the impact of mounted officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"27bt8\">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=\"94n98\">“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=\"4m8en\">The Los Angeles Press Club, Status Coup and news cooperative The Southlander <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974976/gov.uscourts.cacd.974976.1.0_1.pdf\">filed a lawsuit</a> June 18 seeking an injunction to prevent law enforcement from using excessive force against journalists or otherwise hampering their ability to cover protests. Berg’s injury was cited in the complaint, which names Los Angeles County and Sheriff Robert Luna as defendants.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6ada\">The suit alleges that deputies’ actions violated the First and Fourteenth amendments, the state constitution and a <a href=\"https://california.public.law/codes/penal_code_section_409.7\">2021 addition to the state penal code</a> that established protections for press at protests — revealing “a brazen refusal to abide by the Constitution and state law” and “the need for judicial intervention to prevent future abuses.”</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Berg_assault_CA_611.8ceb53ed.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"n6zko\">Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg, center, reports amid anti-deportation protests in downtown LA on June 11, 2025, after she was shot with a crowd-control munition and nearly trampled by a mounted police officer.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": "2:25-cv-05541", "case_type": "CIVIL", "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "no", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [ "ongoing" ], "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": [ "Tina-Desiree Berg (Status Coup)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photojournalist shot with pepper balls at LA immigration protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-la-immigration-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-08-08T17:43:27.034065Z", "last_published_at": "2025-08-08T17:43:27.034065Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-08T17:40:34.455328Z", "date": "2025-06-11", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5hndh\">Freelance photojournalist Jen Golbeck was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions by sheriff’s deputies while reporting on anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"3uuu3\">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=\"75heu\">Golbeck told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the June 11 protest was “pretty typical.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2rhcq\">“Flags and signs, people marching entirely peacefully,” she said. “They had marched to the front of City Hall and there were a million police and sheriff’s officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2rrsc\">At approximately 7:30 p.m. — shortly before a <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-11/downtown-los-angeles-curfew-explainer\">curfew</a> was to go into effect — Golbeck told the Tracker she observed an individual shouting at a line of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies.</p><p data-block-key=\"2v1s2\">Moments later, an officer fired a pepper ball at the man at point-blank range. The individual then threw a can at the deputy who shot him, and was in turn fired upon several more times. Deputies then turned their attention toward a gaggle of journalists nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"3379e\">“One of them had that gun with pepper balls in it, in a little hopper on the top, and he just started shooting at us,” Golbeck said. “Some of the balls were hitting the ground, some were hitting our feet and ankles, and it took a second to realize that he was shooting at us.</p><p data-block-key=\"119b3\">“They didn’t give us any orders. They didn’t tell us to move. There were no protesters around.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">They also shot me and a group of photographers with those pepper balls, which was weird because they had not given us orders and we weren&#39;t by any demonstrators🤷‍♀️ <a href=\"https://t.co/iH2dZ0aXB6\">pic.twitter.com/iH2dZ0aXB6</a></p>&mdash; Dr. Jen Golbeck (@jengolbeck) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jengolbeck/status/1933052456222798003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 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=\"5hndh\">She told the Tracker that the group of journalists quickly jogged about 10 feet away down the street, but the officer fired a second volley at them and they were forced to keep running.</p><p data-block-key=\"cb7st\">Golbeck recounted the incident in an <a href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/journalists-los-angeles-ice-protests-police-attack_n_68529febe4b038d013e30fd2\">article for HuffPost</a>, writing, “Because we were part of the press, bearing witness to what was happening, we initially assumed that we couldn’t possibly be the intended targets. I looked at the photographer to my right, and we laughed at the absurdity when we realized what was happening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cnese\">She added that she was wearing bright blue “Press” patches on her helmet and body armor, a National Press Photographers Association credential around her neck and held professional cameras in each hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"adf6k\">When asked how many pepper balls struck her, Golbeck estimated three or four and noted that the rounds didn’t injure her. “I definitely didn’t get it as bad as some of those photojournalists who got shot with rubber bullets,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qtii\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ue0o\">“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/Golbeck_CA_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"au9z2\">Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies form a line as they respond to protests in downtown LA on June 11, 2025. Moments after capturing this photo, photojournalist Jen Golbeck was shot with multiple pepper ball munitions.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "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" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Jen Golbeck (Freelance)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Reporter shoved, notebook damaged at Washington state protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shoved-notebook-damaged-at-washington-state-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-08-08T18:04:31.374543Z", "last_published_at": "2025-08-08T18:04:31.374543Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-08T18:04:26.709218Z", "date": "2025-06-11", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Spokane", "longitude": -117.42908, "latitude": 47.65966, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hh3ah\">A reporter for a local news outlet was shoved multiple times by federal officers while reporting on an anti-deportation protest in Spokane, Washington, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e5oe5\">Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart called for the community to gather in protest following the detention of two Venezuelan immigrants living in the city, local broadcast station KREM <a href=\"https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/protests/spokane-police-reports-reveal-new-details-from-june-ice-protest/293-c81a6728-e348-47dc-9239-9f72acbff8af\">reported</a>. Stuckart was considered the legal guardian of one of the individuals, a young man who had aged out of a program that allowed certain immigrant children to seek lawful permanent residency the day before he was detained, <a href=\"https://rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/\">according to Range Media</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"98i6o\">The local reporter, who asked to remain anonymous because they had not been authorized to speak about their experiences, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they arrived to start covering the protests at approximately 1:45 p.m. The demonstration was centered around the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Spokane.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a2nn\">“For hours, protesters had blocked an ICE transport van with their bodies but things had been relatively calm,” the reporter said. “Then, a few hours in, I heard shouting from around the other side of the building and I sprinted around the corner where a gate had been opened and ICE were attempting to leave. Protesters were linking arms to try and stop the vehicle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"73bcn\">The reporter told the Tracker they had a bright yellow press credential clipped to their shirt and filmed using their cellphone, being careful to stand on public property to the side of the gate and separate from the gathering protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"fuagr\">“Then, ICE agents also came around the back corner and started forcefully shoving protesters,” they said. “I declared verbally, ‘I’m press!’ multiple times. I had my notebook in one hand and my phone, recording, in the other.</p><p data-block-key=\"vmlb\">“An agent shoved me hard. I again declared I was press and got shoved again, and my notebook ripped out of my hand and tossed on the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dr3dq\">They told the Tracker that a page containing reporting notes about the day’s events had been ripped out of the notebook and, by the time they found it later, it was too torn, dirty and trampled to read.</p><p data-block-key=\"egsqr\">The reporter said that their editor has spoken with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is determining whether to file an official complaint or civil case against the federal agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"fdq2\">The ICE Office of Public Affairs did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Anon_reporter_WA_assult__ED.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ex6n4\">Protesters gather outside a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Spokane, Washington, on June 11, 2025. A reporter for a local news outlet was shoved by ICE agents and their reporting notebook damaged while covering the protest.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": "law enforcement", "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [ { "quantity": 1, "equipment": "work product" } ], "state": { "name": "Washington", "abbreviation": "WA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault", "Equipment Damage" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Anonymous reporter 7" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Journalist shoved to the ground by police at immigration protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-to-the-ground-by-police-at-immigration-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-11T17:36:05.321738Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-11T17:36:05.321738Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-11T17:17:11.325521Z", "date": "2025-06-11", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Whittier", "longitude": -118.03284, "latitude": 33.97918, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"28kcs\">Freelance journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was knocked to the ground by police and then struck in the back with a baton in Whittier, California, while documenting immigration protests on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"597ep\">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=\"e1249\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was freelancing for the Los Angeles Public Press, reporting on demonstrations at the DoubleTree Hotel in Whittier, where protesters believed federal immigration officials were staying as they carried out raids throughout Los Angeles County.</p><p data-block-key=\"49dq1\">In a post on the social platform Bluesky, Beckner-Carmitchel wrote that Whittier Police Department officers <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lrf6vo54js22\">arrived</a> after a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lrf6hatw5222\">window was broken</a>. In photos and footage he posted, the officers appear to be positioned to prevent protesters from entering the hotel.</p><p data-block-key=\"783qf\">He told the Tracker that officers then came rushing out of the hotel to push back the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahqn3\">“When Whittier PD surged out of the hotel, an officer pushed me with his baton and I lost my balance and fell,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “While I was on the ground, I also had an officer put his hand on me. I don’t necessarily want to call it a punch, but there was force.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ducul\">In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lrf7fsathk26\">footage</a> he posted to Bluesky, officers can be seen charging forward, pushing the crowd with their batons and shouting “Back! Get the fuck back!” It appears that two officers pushed Beckner-Carmitchel, knocking him to the ground. As he begins to get up, another officer seems to rush toward him, striking and pushing the journalist back down despite him shouting, “Press! Press! Press!”</p><p data-block-key=\"a4jfu\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker he was able to get up once the officers had moved past him, but he was left with bruises on his left arm and hip.</p><p data-block-key=\"61f0d\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKz6vXoy1Un/?img_index=1\">statement</a> posted on Instagram, the city of Whittier and the Whittier Police Department said that the claims that federal agents were staying at the hotel were incorrect.</p><p data-block-key=\"477gg\">“In response to an urgent plea from hotel management, a regional law enforcement response, led by the Whittier Police Department, was activated to help restore safety,” the statement said. “The crowd was safely dispersed around 2:00 a.m., with no injuries reported and no arrests made.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a5fqe\">Whittier police did not respond to a request for further comment.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Beckner-Carmitchel_CA_assault_611.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"o1b92\">Officers push back anti-deportation protesters from a hotel entrance in Whittier, California, on June 11, 2025. Police knocked journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel to the ground seconds later, and another officer struck him before he was able to get up.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "yes", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [], "target_nationality": [], "targeted_institutions": [], "tags": [ "immigration", "protest" ], "politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [], "authors": [], "categories": [ "Assault" ], "targeted_journalists": [ "Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Los Angeles Public Press)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Photographer struck by police horse, crowd-control munition while covering LA protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-struck-by-police-horse-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:17:39.822838Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:17:39.822838Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-10T19:17:39.743191Z", "date": "2025-06-11", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o073f\">Freelance photographer Montez Harris was charged repeatedly by a police horse and shot with a crowd-control munition while reporting on anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2bbp\">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=\"101s0\">At the time of the incident, Harris was filming at Grand Park in front of Los Angeles City Hall with a large camera and long lens, and had a camera bag, according to a <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/f80d5239-5017-4e63-bb95-ab1e84210301.pdf\">lawsuit</a> filed by the Los Angeles Press Club and others against the Los Angeles Police Department earlier this month over alleged attacks against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"296fd\">An LAPD officer on horseback then charged his horse into Harris at least two times, according to the lawsuit and a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKyS2XzRXSo/\">video</a> of the incident. “Leave the area,” officers screamed at Harris, who was already walking away.</p><p data-block-key=\"desn1\">“Get out of here or you’re gonna get shot,” said another officer, who was on foot. Harris was later shot with a crowd-control munition, according to Adam Rose, chair of the L.A. Press Club’s press rights committee.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ul6f\">Soon after that, a third officer, also on foot, can be seen in the video shoving Harris.</p><p data-block-key=\"flffj\">Harris declined to comment when contacted by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ael9b\">The LAPD, when reached for comment, 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 incident involving Harris.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfj3e\">Two days before this incident, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/10/albanese-says-footage-of-nine-journalist-lauren-tomasi-being-shot-by-police-with-rubber-bullet-is-horrific\">said</a> in a press conference that he was “very concerned” about reports that journalists were being hit by crowd-control munitions.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25163201292892.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xts4m\">Police outside Los Angeles City Hall during a protest over federal immigration raids on June 11, 2025. Photographer Montez Harris was charged by a police horse and shot with a crowd-control munition while documenting the demonstration.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "unknown", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "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": [ "Montez Harris (Freelance)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] }, { "title": "Korea Daily photojournalist shot with projectile while covering LA immigration protest", "url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/korea-daily-photojournalist-shot-with-projectile-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/", "first_published_at": "2025-07-14T20:23:42.641294Z", "last_published_at": "2025-07-14T20:23:42.641294Z", "latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-14T20:23:42.556412Z", "date": "2025-06-11", "exact_date_unknown": false, "city": "Los Angeles", "longitude": -118.24368, "latitude": 34.05223, "body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lmewy\">Sangjin Kim, a photojournalist for The Korea Daily, was shot in the back with an impact projectile while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on the night of June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"84on0\">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> in response to federal immigration raids targeting day laborers across LA. As clashes escalated, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard and later the U.S. Marines, actions condemned by Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s3c4\">Kim <a href=\"https://www.koreadailyus.com/koreatown-protest-police-response/\">documented</a> the June 11 protest as demonstrators marched through Koreatown. When tensions escalated into a standoff with police, around 10 p.m., officers with the Los Angeles Police Department opened fire with crowd-control munitions. As projectiles flew, Kim turned to run.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hl0q\">“As I attempted to move away for safety — turning my back and running — I was shot in the back,” Kim told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email. “Despite the injury, I remained at the scene and continued photographing.”</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/KakaoTalk_Photo_2025-06-19-08-53-30_004.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"621\" alt=\"The Korea Daily/Sangjin Kim\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"zz9lz\">A bruise on the back of The Korea Daily photojournalist Sangjin Kim, who was struck by an impact projectile while covering a protest in Koreatown in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 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> — The Korea Daily/Sangjin Kim\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=\"lmewy\">Although Kim carried his professional camera gear, he wasn’t wearing a press credential because his LAPD-issued badge had expired. He said he doubts officers recognized him as a journalist amid the turmoil and poor visibility that night. Still, he believes the shot was intentionally aimed at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjokg\">“I believe it was targeted. I was not standing between crowds — I was running away and still got hit. It felt deliberate,” Kim said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dlm8\">The shot left a large bruise on his back that caused him pain for two weeks. “I was fortunate that the injury was not more serious,” Kim said. Undeterred, he returned to work the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"65c85\">“I’ve long believed in the importance of a functioning public authority. Without it, even a country like the U.S. can fall into chaos,” Kim said. “But law enforcement must also operate within reasonable bounds. Recent actions — both by police and immigration officers — seem to exceed that boundary.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2r3u3\">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 social platform <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1933200324829102494\">X,</a> the department said it and other law enforcement agencies responded to protests and criminal activity in the downtown area, using numerous crowd-control munitions.</p></div>", "introduction": "", "teaser": "", "teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/1-65.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png", "primary_video": null, "image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gujty\">A protester holds a U.S. flag during a protest in Koreatown in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025. Sangjin Kim, a photojournalist with The Korea Daily, was shot in the back with a projectile while covering the protest.</p>", "arresting_authority": null, "arrest_status": null, "release_date": null, "detention_date": null, "unnecessary_use_of_force": false, "case_number": null, "case_type": null, "status_of_seized_equipment": null, "is_search_warrant_obtained": false, "actor": null, "border_point": null, "target_us_citizenship_status": null, "denial_of_entry": false, "stopped_previously": false, "did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null, "did_authorities_ask_about_work": null, "assailant": "law enforcement", "was_journalist_targeted": "no", "charged_under_espionage_act": false, "subpoena_type": null, "name_of_business": null, "third_party_business": null, "legal_order_venue": null, "status_of_prior_restraint": null, "mistakenly_released_materials": false, "links": [], "equipment_seized": [], "equipment_broken": [], "state": { "name": "California", "abbreviation": "CA" }, "updates": [], "case_statuses": [], "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": [ "Sangjin Kim (The Korea Daily)" ], "subpoena_statuses": null, "type_of_denial": [] } ]