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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in face by crowd-control munition at LA-area protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-face-by-crowd-control-munition-at-la-area-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-22T18:07:50.183264Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-22T18:07:50.183264Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-22T17:35:24.966927Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ugk9y\">A freelance photographer was struck by impact projectiles in the leg and face, suffering a hematoma in one eye and requiring stitches in his left temple, while covering an anti-deportation protest in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1mi89\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around 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=\"aq3jc\">The photographer, who asked not to be named due to fear of legal trouble when traveling abroad, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had clearly identified himself as press while photographing demonstrators. The protesters were confronting the LA County Sheriff’s Department after an immigration raid earlier that day at a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles connected by a bridge to Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"9f8q8\">He documented protesters waving flags as deputies formed a skirmish line to block their advance. Without warning, the deputies began firing impact projectiles into the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhjea\">“It’s disturbing, and it’s terrifying,” he told the Tracker. “I’m wearing everything I can to identify myself as a member of the press. And it doesn’t really matter.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f7is6\">He watched as another journalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/munition-strikes-photojournalist-at-la-protest-shrapnel-surgically-removed/\">Nick Stern</a>, got hit in the leg, an injury that later required the surgical removal of shrapnel. The freelance photographer himself was hit by munitions, one striking him in the leg and another, which he believes was a heavy metal projectile, just above his left temple.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ukot\">“It felt like someone punched me in the face,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"aquvt\">The blow left him bleeding from his head, and blood splattered onto his press badge. After getting ice at a nearby gas station to apply to the wound, he said he continued photographing the protest, even as bandages applied by a street medic kept bleeding through.</p><p data-block-key=\"auhj7\">The journalist said he stayed at the scene until sheriff’s deputies deployed tear gas, affecting him and others, and then he was taken to the hospital, where doctors gave him two stitches in his left temple. A few days later, a hematoma formed in his eye.</p><p data-block-key=\"puou\">“It was hard to miss,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l0jg\">He stayed home for several days to recover, unable to sleep on his left side or put pressure on his face. A scar remains from the injury. The photographer said the experience has had a lasting effect on him. He now wears a helmet, ballistic goggles and a gas mask while in the field.</p><p data-block-key=\"1c7q0\">“It feels like they just fire on anybody because they feel like they have the authority to do so,” he said. “And nobody is going to hold them accountable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"62cbi\">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=\"cm30j\">“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": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f21z9\">A demonstrator waves an American and Mexican flag during a protest in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. A photographer was struck in the face and leg with impact projectiles while covering the demonstration.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Anonymous photojournalist 8 (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Deputy targets photojournalist with stun grenade at California protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/deputy-targets-photojournalist-with-stun-grenade-at-california-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-05T21:31:34.614473Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-05T21:44:43.714727Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-05T21:44:43.616649Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Paramount",
"longitude": -118.15979,
"latitude": 33.88946,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3afut\">Ethan Noah Roy, a freelance photojournalist, was nearly hit by a crowd-control munition targeting him as he documented an immigration enforcement protest in Paramount, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"edh3v\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2mse\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bo4q\">Roy arrived in Paramount around 5 p.m., as LA County Sheriff’s Department deputies had cordoned off a bridge that led to the Home Depot and connected Paramount to the adjacent city of Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9mmi\">Roy recounted to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he identified himself as press and asked deputies if he could cross the line to continue photographing the demonstration — which they agreed to.</p><p data-block-key=\"apacm\">“They knew that I was press. They knew I was going to cross,” he said. “They told me, ‘Just be careful.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"3dhva\">But as soon as he stepped past the line, Roy said one of the deputies deployed a crowd-control munition, known as a stun grenade, rolling it in his direction. He felt shrapnel fall on his helmet from the device, which is meant to disorient people with an ear-piercing bang and bright light.</p><p data-block-key=\"61epv\">What struck Roy most was the empty stretch of pavement between him and the crowd; no protesters were nearby, and he was the only one in the path of the device.</p><p data-block-key=\"4560m\">“That one felt more targeted at me,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4b5b\">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=\"89idi\">“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=\"ikbm\">At other protests over the summer, Roy was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-at-la-protest/\">shot at with pepper balls</a>, struck in the shoulder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-ball-at-no-kings-protest-in-la/\">with a projectile</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-officer-shoves-freelance-photojournalist-at-la-immigration-protest/\">shoved by police officers.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25159165838231.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"p8oec\">Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies at a protest in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. A deputy targeted freelance photojournalist Ethan Noah Roy with a crowd-control munition while he was covering the demonstration from adjacent Paramount.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ethan Noah Roy (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Freelance journalist shot twice in the back with crowd-control munitions",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-shot-twice-in-the-back-with-crowd-control-munitions/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-28T19:37:16.793566Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-28T19:37:16.793566Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-28T19:30:52.927852Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5w124\">Freelance journalist Abraham Márquez was shot in the back with multiple crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while documenting anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"9aebp\">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=\"ek64i\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"50onc\">Márquez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived to cover the protest at around 2 p.m., by which point California Highway Patrol had already blocked off the freeway exit to the Home Depot. The detour he was forced to take took him to the Compton side of the river, where he said hundreds of demonstrators were in a standoff with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I’m here in Paramount where the community is facing the Los Angeles Sheriff’s <a href=\"https://t.co/FEjrKC5aQd\">pic.twitter.com/FEjrKC5aQd</a></p>— Abraham Márquez (@abemarquez3) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/abemarquez3/status/1931483015743689015?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 7, 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=\"5w124\">“It got into a pretty extreme standoff where the sheriffs with armed vehicles were slowly moving west and just shooting indiscriminately into the crowd and telling people to leave,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0irp\">Márquez told the Tracker that while he was documenting the skirmish, he found himself trapped against a wall between protesters and law enforcement. He said he waited until he believed it would be safe, held up his press credential and verbally identified himself as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gag5\">“When I found a moment where they were reloading, I just put my phone down and started running so I can get out of that area,” he said. “While I was running with my back facing them is when I got shot in my buttocks. It was a fiery, stinging feeling, and I was able to find coverage next to a car to kind of get myself together, like ‘What the hell just happened?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"9csfn\">He added that his ears were ringing, too, from the volume of stun grenades deputies were deploying.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmkg5\">The Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-11/lapd-treatment-journalists\">reported</a> that he was struck with a second round to his back. Márquez told the Tracker he believes he was deliberately targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"44vhv\">“When they were moving slowly, trying to clear out the street, it was the same three or four officers that I had been documenting up close,” he said. “I had my badge out, and I was the only person on that side that had credentials, and I was kind of following them along for 20 feet.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7b550\">Márquez was also struck later on by a crowd-control munition that ricocheted off a KTLA news vehicle, which a few individuals were using for cover from the deputies.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">here is LASD shooting at media with paint ball bullets <a href=\"https://t.co/D84lceOSOM\">pic.twitter.com/D84lceOSOM</a></p>— Abraham Márquez (@abemarquez3) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/abemarquez3/status/1931506425223881194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 8, 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=\"5w124\">He said he wasn’t seriously injured and did not seek medical treatment, adding that he had also been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munitions-at-la-protest\">struck in the ankle</a> with a pepper ball during protests in downtown LA the previous day.</p><p data-block-key=\"2e5f5\">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=\"5gsho\">“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=\"1mjd5\">The Los Angeles Press Club, the outlet 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 federal 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. According to the suit, Márquez was freelancing for The Southlander during the June 7 protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"enap1\">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><p data-block-key=\"63j3e\">In its <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/thesouthlander.com/post/3lrvwlpsnlt2i\">announcement</a> of the suit on social media, The Southlander wrote that the Sheriff’s Department “must be held accountable,” and that the work of the press is crucial to spotlighting the actions of federal immigration enforcement.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8fevi\">Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies deploy crowd-control munitions to push back anti-deportation protesters in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. Freelance journalist Abraham Márquez was shot with multiple munitions while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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{
"title": "Officer pushes reporter in press vest at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-pushes-reporter-in-press-vest-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T20:32:40.594582Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:31:22.210749Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:31:22.122719Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4t5wi\">Mekahlo Medina, a reporter for KNBC, was pushed by a federal agent while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025, according to videos posted by the <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKoMRBzSay1/\">outlet</a> and the <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKp4fugB0Am/?igsh=aGxzbmFzbXo2Zm5p\">journalist</a> on social media.</p><p data-block-key=\"fi7k7\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"2sir0\">In the <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKp4fugB0Am/?igsh=aGxzbmFzbXo2Zm5p\">video</a> posted by Medina, the reporter said that at 8:30 p.m. on June 7, a mix of Los Angeles Police Department officers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents pushed through crowds of protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. Medina — who was wearing a press vest — and his crew were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-pepper-pellets-and-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/\">shot by pepper pellets and tear gas</a>, and later took cover behind a news truck, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"et2ku\">The video shows police officers and federal agents in tactical gear moving forward, shouting “Move!” and “Get out!”</p><p data-block-key=\"h0pc\">Medina can be heard shouting “We’re all press. Press, press!” as one CBP agent aggressively pushes him.</p><p data-block-key=\"djo1l\">In the video, Medina told his audience that local journalism organizations have met with the LAPD in the past on how to cover protests and allow the media to exercise its First Amendment right for freedom of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"fo17r\">“But as we rewatched the video of officers pushing journalists through, you can see this wasn’t LAPD, those were federal agents,” Medina said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8r36i\">In an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, wrote: “We remind members of the media and journalists to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots. We have seen rioters throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails, setting fires, and other violent acts. President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles."</p><p data-block-key=\"jh0\">Medina did not immediately return a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wduo9\">Mekahlo Medina, while wearing a press vest and identifying himself as a member of the media, was shoved by a federal agent during a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mekahlo Medina (KNBC)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Photographer injured as federal agents use tear gas at LA-area protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-injured-as-federal-agents-use-tear-gas-at-la-area-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-27T20:42:26.675534Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:34:09.443012Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:34:09.348420Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Paramount",
"longitude": -118.15979,
"latitude": 33.88946,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vdfmg\">Photojournalist Jonathan Alcorn was struck with a tear gas canister after federal agents fired the crowd-control munition during an anti-deportation protest in Paramount, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ul7e\"><a href=\"https://jalcornphoto.photoshelter.com/index\">Alcorn</a>, on assignment for Zuma Press, was covering one of the Los Angeles-area protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around the city at workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmnjg\">According to <a href=\"https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/lapressclubvnoem_complaint.pdf\">a complaint</a> filed in a federal court by the LA Press Club, the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America and others, Alcorn was wearing a press pass and carrying his camera gear while covering the suspected U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid of a Home Depot in Paramount on June 7.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q4cs\">Alcorn, who has been a photojournalist for nearly 40 years, immediately heard and saw U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents firing a large number of crowd-control munitions, including tear gas canisters, at protesters, the court document stated.</p><p data-block-key=\"ethgk\">Soon after, he was barraged by the munitions and took cover behind an SUV.</p><p data-block-key=\"8bm59\">“When he peeked above the SUV, Mr. Alcorn was targeted by CBP officers, who fired tear gas canisters that rolled under the vehicle,” according to the complaint. “Officers were targeting him because he was the only person behind the vehicle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aolar\">While fleeing the area due to the intensity of the gas, a federal agent shot Alcorn near his elbow. He was later diagnosed with a hematoma and burn on his arm, added the complaint.</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/Screenshot_2025-06-27_at_1.32.44PM.width-828.png\" width=\"318\" height=\"239\" alt=\"SCREENSHOT\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"rxlhx\">An image from court records shows injuries suffered by photographer Jonathan Alcorn. He was struck by a tear gas canister shot at the car he was taking shelter behind while covering a protest in Paramount, California.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — SCREENSHOT\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=\"vdfmg\">“Despite his injury, Alcorn continued taking pictures because he believed it was important to cover the unfolding events,” the document stated, before alleging he was targeted by an agent because he was a clearly identifiable photojournalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"420vt\">“Even though he posed no threat to officers, they nonetheless shot multiple tear gas canisters at him,” the complaint said. “Although he is afraid of again being targeted and injured by federal officials, Mr. Alcorn will continue to cover what is happening in Los Angeles.”</p><p data-block-key=\"20bdi\">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><p data-block-key=\"eefv8\">When contacted by the Tracker, Alcorn declined to comment about his experience. But in a comment posted to the social platform Facebook, he confirmed he was struck in the arm while fleeing federal agents firing off crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"ego6s\">“I’m a little sore but fine otherwise. Numerous other journalists have been struck as well,” he wrote. “Be safe my fellow journalists and everybody else out on the streets. Times have changed out in the field for journalists in the states.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/504284613_10231491800612739_90637.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6cuqu\">Law enforcement personnel fire crowd-control munitions during an immigration protest on June 7, 2025, in Paramount, California. Photojournalist Jonathan Alcorn was struck and injured by a tear gas canister while covering the demonstration.</p>",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jonathan Alcorn (Zuma Press)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter struck with pepper ball by federal officers at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-ball-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-02T20:35:00.645401Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:39:39.116243Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:39:39.021873Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xrx3h\">Ryanne Mena, a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, was shot by federal officers with a pepper ball while documenting anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bus4c\">A series of protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> that day 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=\"7marb\">Mena told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel had covered the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the fashion district downtown and the resulting protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9bcq\">She said that by 6 p.m., protesters had made their way to the Metropolitan Detention Center, where detainees were being held. Mena said that the protest was growing but the majority of demonstrators were doing so peacefully, until an individual threw a desk chair toward an entrance to the MDC.</p><p data-block-key=\"6g8dm\">“Moments later, federal agents came out and began shooting pepper ball bullets at the crowd,” she told the Tracker. “Once I heard that going off, I backed up because I didn’t want to get hit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1pr29\">As she tried to find somewhere safe to continue reporting, Mena said she was <a href=\"https://x.com/ryannemena/status/1931396162726314106\">shot on her left upper thigh</a> with one of the crowd-control munitions.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mena_assault_66_bruise.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"520\" alt=\"COURTESY RYANNE MENA\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"fmy84\">Los Angeles Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena was shot by federal officers with a pepper ball while covering anti-deportation protests in downtown LA on June 6, 2025. The impact left a large bruise on her upper left thigh.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY RYANNE MENA\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xrx3h\">“I screamed out profanity because it really hurt,” Mena said. “After being hit with that pepper ball bullet, I called my editor and notified her about what happened and continued on.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1t13l\">She said that she was wearing two press credentials — one issued by her news outlet and one by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department — and was carrying a notebook and pen.</p><p data-block-key=\"67d0p\">“It was very clear what I was doing there,” Mena added.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a2bc\">She told the Tracker that the following day, following an ICE raid at a Home Depot in nearby Paramount, she was shot again by federal agents while covering protests, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-in-head-with-munition-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest\">struck in the head with a rubber bullet</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6oqg0\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xnsc8\">Los Angeles Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena photographed the chemical residue left on her pants after federal officers shot her with a pepper ball while she was covering anti-deportation protests in downtown LA on June 6, 2025.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"(2025-06-18 04:00:00+00:00) LA journalist sues DHS over protest assault"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Ryanne Mena ([Los Angeles] Daily News)"
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shot at with pepper balls at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-05T21:20:21.475336Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-12T17:54:12.175514Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-12T17:53:02.480806Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z3r6y\">Freelance photojournalist Ethan Noah Roy was shot at with pepper balls by federal officers while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"6faq0\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"8o4t4\">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. Trump’s deployment of federal troops to LA was <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/176/newsom-v-trump/\">ruled illegal</a> by a federal judge on Sept. 2.</p><p data-block-key=\"82qr6\">Roy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. Tensions escalated when protesters tried to move into the parking structure, prompting federal officers to fire pepper balls and pepper spray into the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"5v56g\">Roy, who was clearly identified as press throughout the day, said he was shot at, including while he was holding his hands up and identifying himself as press. The pepper-ball residue and some tear gas got into his eyes, and a colleague photographed a protester helping Roy flush the chemical irritant out.</p><p data-block-key=\"c54b6\">Amid the chaos, he was also shoved by an officer while trying to regain his footing near a curb, but said he did not believe it was targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpg9k\">At other protests over the summer, Roy was targeted <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/deputy-targets-photojournalist-with-stun-grenade-at-california-protest/\">with a stun grenade</a>, struck in the shoulder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-ball-at-no-kings-protest-in-la/\">with a projectile</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-officer-shoves-freelance-photojournalist-at-la-immigration-protest/\">shoved by police officers.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"ekfd3\">“It’s made me more cautious and aware of how I can distinguish myself professionally as a member of the press,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rua1\">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><p data-block-key=\"dcd69\"><i>Correction: The photo caption has been updated to refer to police officers, as shown in the image.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-06-07T204705Z_1581468023_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xp4j2\">Police officers fire crowd-control munitions at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025. Photojournalist Ethan Noah Roy was shot at with pepper balls by federal officers while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist pepper-sprayed at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-pepper-sprayed-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-05T19:43:43.934427Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:40:49.879246Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:40:49.793372Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kui15\">Jake Crandall, a student photojournalist for Santa Monica College’s The Corsair, was pepper-sprayed by a federal officer while documenting an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"2r2a2\">It was the first of a series of <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">protests</a> in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered in and around LA, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines, despite objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"5evg3\">Crandall told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that two groups of demonstrators initially gathered separately, one outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, the other near the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, just a short distance away. The groups eventually converged, and tensions with Department of Homeland Security officers began to rise. On the side facing the detention center, people began vandalizing a toll booth at a nearby parking structure. In response, DHS officers fired crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"6oes2\">As Crandall photographed the scene, a DHS officer pepper-sprayed him and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-by-federal-agent-at-la-immigration-protest/\">another photojournalist</a>, hitting them directly. He captured the moment with his camera and continued working. At the time, Crandall was clearly identified as a member of the press, wearing a hat and displaying a badge and patch on his backpack.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media left\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/9E5AA5EA-B30E-45E3-87C0-B9FF3AAE838B.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1242\" alt=\"COURTESY JAKE CRANDALL\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"hdny8\">Jake Crandall pictured while photographing the anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 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 JAKE CRANDALL\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=\"kui15\">Later, Crandall was accidentally sprayed a second time — this time by someone using bear mace. He said the individual was aiming at law enforcement officers behind him, and Crandall was caught in the crossfire. That blast, he recalled, was the most painful he experienced all day.</p><p data-block-key=\"979er\">Shortly afterward, Crandall was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-hit-by-pepper-ball-at-la-immigration-protest/\">hit</a> by a pepper ball, which was likely fired by law enforcement. It’s unclear whether he was deliberately targeted in that instance. In the days that followed, Crandall was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-hit-by-crowd-control-rounds-at-la-protest/\">detained by police</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-struck-by-crowd-control-munitions-amid-compton-protest/\">struck by a stinger grenade</a>, a device that releases rubber pellets.</p><p data-block-key=\"2q85a\">“I definitely feel like I’m a target when I’m out there — on both sides of things now — and it is very concerning,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"froju\">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": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"u3k18\">Federal officers equipped themselves with crowd-control devices during an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025. Student photojournalist Jake Crandall was pepper-sprayed by a federal officer while documenting the event.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jake Crandall (The [Santa Monica College] Corsair)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Flash bang strikes TV crew at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/flash-bang-strikes-tv-crew-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-16T20:16:14.959328Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:39:50.787419Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:39:50.691081Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0miss\">KTLA photographer Ken Koller was struck with a flash-bang grenade while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"124vb\">It was the start 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=\"98dun\">Koller told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a protest that followed a federal raid on a downtown garment factory. Chaos ensued when demonstrators surrounded a convoy of federal officers leaving the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"ajuhq\">The officers “just started throwing flash bangs out windows, and everybody went scattering,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"e049b\">Wearing his press badge, Koller stood in the crowd, capturing the scene with his cellphone instead of a traditional broadcast camera, a choice he said gives him more situational awareness during intense encounters.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ljq7\">Amid the commotion, Koller noticed a flash-bang grenade being tossed from a federal vehicle and rolling toward him and a bystander. He instinctively threw himself over the woman to shield her from the blast, Koller said.</p><p data-block-key=\"chr27\">“The shock wave from the explosion basically hit me like a punch,” he later wrote on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ken.koller.3/posts/pfbid0mC5iDDg81t4eyLSBN2VurjDY3vCirGVPr7N6R17K4r4ASFJ3XuZwedW3AWPuSJ57l\">Facebook</a>. Koller told the Tracker that he instantly felt pain in his ear, which developed swelling but suffered no permanent damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhbbt\">He said he used to believe that law enforcement would avoid targeting members of the press, but he no longer feels confident that officers will distinguish between journalists and protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"1loe0\">Still, he says it’s a risk he’s willing to take, not just for the public but to ensure accountability on all sides.</p><p data-block-key=\"84f4a\">“If there’s nobody there to document it, nobody knows what really happened,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"33l85\"><i>Editor’s Note: This report has been updated to include comments from Ken Koller.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25158058663145.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4iqjc\">Department of Homeland Security police after a federal immigration operation on June 6, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. KTLA photographer Ken Koller said he got hit by a flash bang that day while covering a protest over the operation.</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": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ken Koller (KTLA)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist pepper-sprayed by federal agent at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-by-federal-agent-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-26T17:27:37.987233Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:33:47.703192Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:33:47.610405Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ghuzk\">A freelance photographer was pepper-sprayed by a federal agent while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bce2l\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After 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=\"493i8\">The photographer, who asked not to be named due to concerns about legal trouble when traveling abroad, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was clearly identified as a journalist while covering the protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffplc\">While photographing demonstrators, a Department of Homeland Security agent pepper-sprayed both him and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-pepper-sprayed-at-la-immigration-protest/\">another photographer.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"6k3uv\">“I think they were deliberately targeting journalists,” he told the Tracker. “They knew we were press, and they fired their pepper spray.”</p><p data-block-key=\"67l9p\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 11, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b1oud\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-face-by-crowd-control-munition-at-la-area-protest/\">On June 7,</a> while covering a protest in Compton, the photographer was struck in the leg and face by impact projectiles fired by the LA County Sheriff’s Department. He sustained a hematoma in one eye and required stitches in his left temple.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Gs0H37pbAAAiQFa.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8eckr\">Department of Homeland Security police line up during an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025. A freelance photojournalist was pepper-sprayed while documenting 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": 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",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anonymous photojournalist 8 (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Freelance journalist shot with crowd-control munitions at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munitions-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-28T19:34:40.054891Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:33:59.474698Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:33:59.389149Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ypxcr\">Freelance journalist Abraham Márquez was shot in the ankle with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while documenting anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e24ul\">A series of protests<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\"> began</a> that day 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=\"c60bp\">Márquez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that multiple news conferences were taking place at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA. Protesters had gathered outside in opposition to the detainments that day, and federal officers began responding to the crowd with force.</p><p data-block-key=\"f4n96\">“I think it was the officers that protect that federal building, and they were shooting at protesters,” he said. “They’re supposed to shoot at the ground, and they did, but they hit my ankle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7rp4f\">Márquez said <a href=\"https://x.com/abemarquez3/status/1931161690093363261\">he also captured</a> the moment another individual wearing press credentials and markings was struck in the upper body with multiple pepper balls.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dg5v\">In the footage, posted on the social platform X that evening, Márquez is heard saying moments after the other journalist is struck, “I just got hit,” as he pulls down the sock on his left foot to show the white powder residue visible on his ankle.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Officers started shooting at protesters with rubber bullets. I was hit on the ankle <a href=\"https://t.co/wb3JS8nESL\">pic.twitter.com/wb3JS8nESL</a></p>— Abraham Márquez (@abemarquez3) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/abemarquez3/status/1931161690093363261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 7, 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=\"ypxcr\">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/AP25158096219958.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"d2vmd\">Protesters gather at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles following an immigration enforcement operation on June 6, 2025. Freelance journalist Abraham Márquez was struck in the ankle with a crowd-control munition while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Abraham Márquez (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Florida newspaper receives cease and desist letter from state agency",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-newspaper-receives-cease-and-desist-letter-from-state-agency/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-23T15:21:12.360432Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-23T15:21:12.360432Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-23T15:21:12.276085Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Orlando",
"longitude": -81.37924,
"latitude": 28.53834,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lgmbe\">The Orlando Sentinel received a cease and desist order from a Florida state agency on June 6, 2025, over journalist Jeffrey Schweers’ reporting on a welfare assistance program overseen by first lady Casey DeSantis.</p><p data-block-key=\"4urav\">The program, Hope Florida, is the subject of a Florida House of Representatives investigation involving funding irregularities, <a href=\"https://archive.ph/cGb9Y\">according to the Sentinel</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"b7tru\">The state’s Department of Children and Families <a href=\"https://x.com/MyFLFamilies/status/1931026303047684539\">posted</a> the order on social platform X, alleging a reporter for the Sentinel tried to threaten or coerce foster families into criticizing the foundation.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rbo7\">“Reporter Jeff Schweers has been contacting Florida foster families and both falsely and with malicious intent asserting that the families are implicated in fraudulent activity by accepting financial assistance from Hope Florida Foundation,” the letter stated.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ifsg\">The social media message was <a href=\"https://x.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1931031721706688920\">reposted</a> by Gov. Ron DeSantis on his official X account with the comment, “Bottom feeders gonna bottom feed…”</p><p data-block-key=\"e2k39\">Sentinel Executive Editor Roger Simmons defended the paper in a statement shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, writing, “We stand by our stories and reject the state’s attempt to chill free speech and encroach on our First Amendment right to report on an important issue.”</p><p data-block-key=\"12lg0\">A Sentinel <a href=\"https://archive.ph/nTU3e#selection-1397.4-1397.83\">editorial</a> about the incident said that the DeSantis administration has been hostile toward the press but called the letter “a new low” and said it was the first time it had heard of the state government trying to shut down reporting for a story.</p><p data-block-key=\"8m93g\">“Schweers is a reporter, and he is doing what all of our reporters do — he’s looking for facts. But at no point did Schweers attempt any of the deeds ascribed to him in the letter, and he certainly hasn’t harassed or threatened any of Florida’s foster families,” the editorial wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"7vt8s\">First Amendment attorney Larry Walters told the <a href=\"https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2025/06/10/reporting-on-desantis-hope-florida-triggers-clash-over-press-freedom/84114090007/\">Tallahassee Democrat</a> that the letter “appears to be designed to instill a chilling effect on the reporter’s investigation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9n2vh\">PEN America also <a href=\"https://pen.org/press-release/cease-and-desist-letter-sent-to-orlando-sentinel-newspaper-by-state-agency-is-unconstitutional-prior-restraint-says-pen-america/\">weighed in</a> on the incident. “This is a textbook case of prior restraint: an unconstitutional attempt by the state of Florida to stop news reporting before a story is published,” said its journalism program director, Tim Richardson.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3qpn\">It <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=desantis\">isn’t the first time</a> the DeSantis administration has been accused of violating press freedoms. In October, state officials <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-broadcasters-threatened-with-criminal-charges-by-state-agency/\">sent cease and desist letters</a> to local TV stations threatening to criminally prosecute them over the airing of an abortion rights ad.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Orlando.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sqn23\">A portion of the cease and desist letter addressed to the Orlando Sentinel by a Florida state agency on June 6, 2025. The notice targets the paper’s reporting on a statewide welfare assistance program overseen by Florida’s first lady.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"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,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Orlando Sentinel"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jeffrey Schweers (Orlando Sentinel)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist shot in the face with pepper balls by federal officers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-the-face-with-pepper-balls-by-federal-officers/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-24T19:54:53.053788Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:33:35.344831Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:33:35.261936Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6zusf\">Independent journalist Anthony Cabassa was shot twice in the face with pepper balls by federal law enforcement agents while documenting anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bac8t\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> that day 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. Demonstrators clashed with both local law enforcement officers and federal agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vjab\">Cabassa <a href=\"https://x.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1931159815947985222\">posted</a> at around 6:30 p.m. on the social platform X that he had been struck near his left eye with a crowd-control munition containing a chemical irritant. “I’m also bleeding,” he added. “Things got violent.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just got a police tear gas pellet straight into my left eye . I’m also bleeding. Things got violent. Video to come <a href=\"https://t.co/qIWKhIoOpi\">pic.twitter.com/qIWKhIoOpi</a></p>— Anthony (@AnthonyCabassa_) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1931159815947985222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 7, 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=\"6zusf\">The following morning, Cabassa <a href=\"https://x.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1931354604429771209\">posted the footage</a> he captured before he was shot by Department of Homeland Security officers. He wrote that he was caught in the crossfire after something was thrown at the agents, noting that two pepper balls struck him in the face.</p><p data-block-key=\"346er\">Cabassa, who did not respond to requests for comment, emphasized in a <a href=\"https://x.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1931398124687552660\">later post</a> that he was only present to cover the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"ml1\">“I am a journalist, I have been documenting protests in LA since 2017. I had a tripod with one camera in my left hand, and another camera recording on my right,” he wrote. “All I was doing was filming. Journalism is not a crime.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1rus9\">In an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on June 11, Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, wrote: “We remind members of the media and journalists to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots. We have seen rioters throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails, setting fires, and other violent acts. President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25158095400959.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"uazpx\">Protesters gather at the Federal Building in LA on June 6, 2025, after immigration raids at workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gather. Federal officers shot journalist Anthony Cabassa in the face with pepper balls amid 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": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anthony Cabassa (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist shot with pepper balls by federal officers at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-11T17:23:50.680217Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:39:25.127330Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:39:25.051718Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7eoat\">Freelance journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was shot with pepper balls and pepper-sprayed by federal officers while documenting anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6tb3\">A series of protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> that day 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=\"e0j8t\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Los Angeles Public Press covering Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and the protests that followed in the neighborhoods of <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lqxfu3z5r222\">Westlake</a> and the <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lqxoefupvk2p\">Fashion District</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4dotu\">After <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lqxzv5xmuk2f\">protesters</a> and the <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lqxv2c452s2g\">family members of the detained</a> gathered at the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown, demonstrators’ standoff with federal officers escalated and agents with the Department of Homeland Security began deploying crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0c30\">“Lots of stun grenades, pepper balls, chemical munitions. Rocks, chairs, water bottles in return,” Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lqycidrchs23\">wrote</a> on the social platform Bluesky.</p><p data-block-key=\"87df0\">He told the Tracker that he and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&date_upper=2025-06-06\">other members of the press</a> were caught in the crossfire, if not deliberately targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d02o\">“Myself and pretty much every journalist were hit with OC spray, pepper balls and, again, the tear gas,” Beckner-Carmitchel said, referring to a type of pepper spray, along with other chemical irritants. He specified that he was hit with multiple pepper balls and pepper-sprayed in the face.</p><p data-block-key=\"ev5g2\">While covering demonstrations <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&date_upper=2025-06-14&targeted_journalists=Sean+Beckner-Carmitchel\">over subsequent days</a>, Beckner-Carmitchel was shot with other crowd-control munitions, shoved by law enforcement and exposed to chemical irritants.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kuve\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fbk2n\">Freelancer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was struck with pepper balls and pepper-sprayed by federal officers while documenting a standoff with anti-deportation protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on June 6, 2025.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
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"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Los Angeles Public Press)"
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},
{
"title": "At LA-area protests in June, press denied access, exposed to chemical irritants, more",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-la-area-protests-in-june-press-denied-access-exposed-to-chemical-irritants-more/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-17T16:15:24.247830Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-19T15:52:40.765717Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-19T15:52:40.540862Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Multiple",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"aijtm\"><i>Federal immigration raids in early June 2025 in Los Angeles, California, sparked large and sometimes chaotic protests in and around the city. Journalists covering the demonstrations faced serious disruptions to their reporting — exposure to chemical irritants like tear gas or restricted access to certain areas.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"e9j7m\"><i>Protests continued through September in LA’s downtown, near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being detained, and surrounding suburbs like Compton and Paramount. But the sweeping use of chemical irritants that marked the June demonstrations — including the June 14 protest criticizing Trump’s broader policies — subsided, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s analysis of press freedom violations. By September, most chemical-irritant deployments occurred at </i><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-chicago-area-protests-in-september-journalists-caught-in-tear-gas-more/\"><i>similar protests in Illinois</i></a><i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"bguig\"><i>While these June incidents do not fall under the 11 types of press freedom violations formally cataloged for the Tracker database, we’ve provided a roundup of them below, organized by date and location. This roundup will be updated as additional incidents are verified.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"1cmhk\"><i>Meanwhile, legal challenges stemming from law enforcement actions during the protests have yielded results for journalists. On Sept. 10, a federal judge issued</i> <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/09/15/lapd-dhs-la-press-club-court-wins/86112156007/\"><i>two separate rulings</i></a><i> — one against the Department of Homeland Security and one against the city of LA — granting preliminary injunctions in favor of journalists and the</i> <a href=\"https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/case/los-angeles-press-club-v-city-of-los-angeles/\"><i>LA Press Club</i></a><i>, declaring in one order: “The First Amendment deserves better.”</i></p><p data-block-key=\"1ieh5\"><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/us/politics/national-guard-los-angeles-trump.html\"><i>In December,</i></a><i> a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to immediately end its current deployment of the California National Guard, ruling the federal government had illegally kept them in the city long after the protests ended.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"b4c1b\"><i>A separate accounting of press freedom violations in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/california-press-protections-undermined-as-violations-surged-at-la-protests/\"><i>here</i></a><i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"bsi2q\"><i>To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit our</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>FAQ page</i></a><i>.</i></p><hr/><h3 data-block-key=\"b58de\">June 6, 2025</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"e3uet\"><b>In Los Angeles</b></h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"djkk6\">Independent reporter <b>Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</b> told the Tracker he and other members of the press were caught in the crossfire of police actions, including tear gas. He said he was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest/\">shot with pepper balls and pepper-sprayed by federal officers</a> that day.</li><li data-block-key=\"fkga5\"><b>Jeremy Lindenfeld,</b> a journalist reporting for news nonprofit Capital & Main, told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas while reporting. The air was thick with it as federal agents advanced, he said, adding, “It was an incredibly chaotic scene.” He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/\">hit with multiple pepper balls</a> that day.</li><li data-block-key=\"b4j72\">Freelance photographer <b>Ethan Noah Roy</b> told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas. Federal officers also shot at him with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-at-la-protest/\">pepper balls</a> that day, including while he was holding his hands up and identifying himself as press.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"71ns0\">June 7, 2025</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"95sdc\">In Los Angeles</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"aai7s\">Reporter <b>Mekahlo Medina</b> and his <b>KNBC television crew</b> were affected by tear gas in a crowd mixed with Los Angeles police and federal officers, the outlet reported. They were also struck that day with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-pepper-pellets-and-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/\">pepper balls</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"2k0fb\"><b>Lauren Pozen,</b> a reporter for KCBS-TV/KCAL-TV, was <a href=\"https://www.thewrap.com/cbs-reporter-tear-gas-ice-raids-los-angeles-video/\">hit with tear gas</a> and temporarily blinded while reporting on protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. While on air, she reported: “We have tear gas, we have fireworks going off, tear gas is in the air, people are dispersing. I can’t see anything. I’m sorry, I can’t see anything.” Pozen kept coughing until the broadcast switched to aerial footage from a helicopter. She came back on air about three and a half minutes later. “My back was turned to the camera and all of a sudden, we heard that big boom. And, of course, that was a massive amount of tear gas,” she said.</li><li data-block-key=\"6qjvt\">Videographer <b>Rocky Romano</b> of Winters Rock Entertainment said he was hit with tear gas deployed by federal agents. In footage he shared with the Tracker, he can be heard coughing violently as tear gas fills the air. “It was almost impossible to stay out and keep filming because the gas was insanely bad,” he said. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-hit-with-pepper-balls-tear-gas-at-la-immigration-protest/\">That day</a>, he was also struck with pepper balls.</li><li data-block-key=\"9df2h\">Freelance journalist <b>Joey Scott</b> told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas when a canister landed at his feet. “It was just all over the place, and it’s just hard to report in those moments,” he said. He was also nearly struck by a flash-bang grenade fired by federal officers that day.</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"3dv35\">In Paramount/Compton</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"6hkjt\">Photojournalist <b>Jonathan Alcorn</b> said in court records that he was exposed to intense tear gas. A federal agent also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-injured-as-federal-agents-use-tear-gas-at-la-area-protest/\">shot him near the elbow</a> that day, causing a hematoma and burn on his arm, according to a court complaint.</li><li data-block-key=\"c7loo\"><b>Jon Baird,</b> a reporter at KNX-FM, was affected by tear gas fired by law enforcement. In a Facebook <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2414520955582808\">video</a> posted by KNX News, Baird describes the moment officers fired it into the crowd. “I could hear the pop pop pop from the tear gas canisters going off,” Baird said. “When I first got there, people came running back and the tear gas formed this big cloud. And then it would dissipate, and they would all go back. My eyes were really burning; somebody stopped to help me wash them out.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Authorities are using tear gas at a # protest outside <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/HomeDepot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HomeDepot</a> in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paramount?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Paramount</a> where <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ICE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ICE</a> was reportedly conducting enforcement actions earlier <a href=\"https://twitter.com/knxnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@knxnews</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/pes3vfQjE9\">pic.twitter.com/pes3vfQjE9</a></p>— Jon Baird (@KNXBaird) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KNXBaird/status/1931444992381477249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 7, 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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"c7be8\">Independent journalist <b>Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</b> and <b>Ryanne Mena,</b> a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, were surrounded by tear gas. Mena told the Tracker it was particularly debilitating because she has asthma. Mena and Beckner-Carmitchel later sued the Department of Homeland Security after Mena was assaulted by federal agents on <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-ball-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest\">June 6</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-in-head-with-munition-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest/\">June 7</a>, and Beckner-Carmitchel was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-in-head-with-tear-gas-canister-at-immigration-protest/\">struck in the head</a> with a tear gas canister.</li><li data-block-key=\"13hfd\">Journalist <b>Ben Camacho</b>, co-founder of The Southlander, told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas deployed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munitions-at-immigration-protest-near-la/\">shot twice</a> with crowd-control munitions that day and later sued the department and its sheriff.</li><li data-block-key=\"fgvrp\">An unmarked <b>KTTV</b> news vehicle was damaged and vandalized, journalist Matthew Seedorff reported in an Instagram <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKpfs_YxY83/\">video</a>. Seedorff said the tires were slashed, the windshield and windows broken, and personal belongings were stolen. In the footage, the words “FUCK ICE” can be seen spray-painted across the side of the vehicle.</li><li data-block-key=\"ekp6s\"><b>Jeremy Lindenfeld,</b> a journalist with the news nonprofit Capital & Main, told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas fired by federal agents. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-projectile-while-covering-la-area-protest/\">struck with a projectile</a> that day.</li><li data-block-key=\"c5iek\">A <b>freelance photographer,</b> who asked not to be named due to fear of legal trouble when traveling abroad, told the Tracker he was affected by tear gas fired by the LA County Sheriff’s Department. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-face-by-crowd-control-munition-at-la-area-protest/\">struck in the face</a> with projectiles at the protest, suffering a hematoma and requiring stitches.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"fk7ai\">June 8, 2025</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"bunfn\">In Los Angeles</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"fq5bt\">An unidentified photojournalist from The <b>Associated Press</b> ducked for cover just before a police crowd-control munition landed nearby, according to <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/YF5yTOWzdB4?si=OKAha3rNnV7FROGM&t=5473\">video footage posted to YouTube.</a> The Tracker was unable to identify the journalist or determine whether or not they were deliberately targeted.</li><li data-block-key=\"6fe8k\"><b>Gabriela Bhaskar</b>, a photojournalist for The New York Times based in LA, was affected by tear gas fired by federal officers, according to the Los Angeles Times and as shown in a <a href=\"https://boyleheightsbeat.com/boyle-heights-peaceful-protest-los-angeles/\">photo</a> in the Boyle Heights Beat.</li><li data-block-key=\"a4bh5\">LA Police Department officers explicitly ordered members of the press to leave the area during a protest, in violation of a California law that, in part, largely shields them from dispersal orders. In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lr4ubmg2nc22\">video</a> shared by journalist <b>Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</b>, armed officers, some wielding batons, can be heard shouting, “Leave the area!” “Media, go!” and “Get out of here!” as they patrolled the scene. In another <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lr4pe5iq2k22\">video</a> posted by Beckner-Carmitchel, National Guard troops fire crowd-control munitions and spray what appears to be a chemical irritant toward a group of both demonstrators and press.</li><li data-block-key=\"3vgn3\">Reporter <b>Constanza Eliana Chinea</b> <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKp_9HZBtUp/\">posted to Instagram</a> a video showing her and other members of the press sequestered behind a skirmish line of LAPD officers, unable to cover the protest happening in front of them. She said the press was pushed and threatened with arrest for not complying, and that she came “incredibly close” to being struck by crowd-control munitions.</li><li data-block-key=\"6090l\">Reporter <b>Jeremy Cuenca</b> told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas fired by the LAPD. As he tried to move away from the gas, he was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-fingertip-nearly-severed-by-projectiles-at-la-protest/\">struck in the leg and hand</a> with police projectiles, nearly severing the tip of his pinkie.</li><li data-block-key=\"bbnf0\"><b>Pete Demetriou</b>, a reporter for radio station KNX-FM, was tear-gassed by National Guard troops while covering a demonstration downtown. “You’ve got a mist and then all of a sudden, you got a white cloud of smoke coming at you,” Demetriou <a href=\"https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/local/reporter-recounts-being-shot-by-rubber-bullet-during-protest\">told KNX News</a>. “Your eyes close, your nose shuts down, your throat locks up. You can’t do anything but try to struggle to breathe.” He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-reporter-hit-with-crowd-control-munition-tear-gassed-at-la-protest/\">struck in the leg</a> with a crowd-control munition that day.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Also, at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/knxnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@knxnews</a>, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/knxpete?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@knxpete</a> was also subjected to the tear gas amid his report on the protests. <a href=\"https://t.co/DPOnvftcJ4\">pic.twitter.com/DPOnvftcJ4</a></p>— Garrett Searight (@GarrettSearight) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GarrettSearight/status/1932085694475985349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"c7be8\">Photojournalist <b>Benjamin Hanson</b>, on assignment for Middle East Images and Royol News, was tear-gassed by California Highway Patrol while covering an ICE protest on the freeway. “I was able to get out before it harmed me,” he told the Tracker. “I was just part of the large crowd.”</li></ul></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/Screenshot_2025-11-25_at_5.35.48PM.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"466\" alt=\"SCREENSHOT VIA BENJAMIN HANSON\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"zgkvv\">A video still captures the moment California Highway Patrol released tear gas into the crowd during a protest on June 8, 2025. Photographer Benjamin Hanson was among those affected by the chemical irritant.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — SCREENSHOT VIA BENJAMIN HANSON\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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"c7be8\">Photographer <b>J.W. Hendricks,</b> while on assignment for CalMatters, told the Tracker he and two other journalists found themselves caught between two LAPD skirmish lines as officers tried to push back protesters. Hendricks said he and his colleagues identified themselves as press, but officers repeatedly refused to lower their projectile launchers and warned them not to cross certain areas, even when they went the direction they were told to go. “They wouldn’t lower their weapon,” he said. “I was screaming, ‘Do not shoot us. We are press.’”</li><li data-block-key=\"nahm\">Reporter <b>Michael Monks</b>, of local AM station KFI, was live on the air while caught by tear gas in a crowd that included National Guard troops, and said in a broadcast that his eyes were burning and he was coughing. He lost signal later that day and reported through his cellphone to convey the scene in the streets to the studio. “All of us got tear-gassed,” he said of media members, who were temporarily blinded and choking.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When the tear gas hit on Sunday in DTLA as heard live on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KFIAM640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KFIAM640</a>: <a href=\"https://t.co/ObZqiAtzYx\">pic.twitter.com/ObZqiAtzYx</a></p>— Michael A. Monks (@MicMonksLA) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MicMonksLA/status/1932228854397206872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"rcj2m\"><b>James Queally</b>, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, filmed as federal officers began deploying tear gas and smoke grenades into the crowd around the Metropolitan Detention Center. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/JamesQueallyLAT/status/1931809345429540889\">post</a> on social media, Queally wrote that the use of force was an apparent effort to make a “clear path for a convoy of DHS/Border Patrol vehicles.” He noted that he was affected by the chemical irritants, but was fine after rinsing his eyes.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nat Guard/DHS threw tear gas canisters and smoke grenades into the crowd. Protesters and media hit. Pellet rounds deployed. All to seemingly clear path for a convoy of DHS/Border Patrol vehicles. I got hit but fine after an eye rinse. <a href=\"https://t.co/DYN5NnuXjn\">pic.twitter.com/DYN5NnuXjn</a></p>— James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JamesQueallyLAT/status/1931809345429540889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 8, 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\"><h3 data-block-key=\"c7be8\">June 9, 2025</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"1ff0d\">In Los Angeles</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"8r47k\">Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s North American correspondent<b> Lauren Day</b> told The Guardian that she had been impacted by police actions while reporting on the protests. Day said she “felt the unmistakable burn of tear gas - first in my eyes, then in my nose, lips and throat,” <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\">the outlet reported</a>.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">After the horrible incident involving <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LaurenTomasi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LaurenTomasi</a>, our crew was tear-gassed and my camera operator shot in the chest with either a rubber or foam bullet. We're both safe but this shouldn't happen to members of the press just trying to do their jobs - <a href=\"https://t.co/fKcVBmxV2J\">https://t.co/fKcVBmxV2J</a></p>— Lauren Day (@L_Day) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/L_Day/status/1932480415157399852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"c7be8\">Photographer <b>J.W. Hendricks</b>, on assignment for CalMatters, told the Tracker an LAPD officer wrongly identified him as a protester and ordered him to leave. When Hendricks told him that press was exempt from dispersal orders, the officer insisted Hendricks was with two protesters who had briefly walked beside him, despite him clearly wearing press identifiers and gear. “Did you just assume that I was with them because I was standing next to them?” Hendricks asked. “Yes,” the officer replied.</li><li data-block-key=\"5oeou\">During a <a href=\"https://youtu.be/oXodGUK0HiA?si=54zkA6LUWQa98PTK&t=429\">Fox News broadcast</a>, journalist <b>Jonathan Hunt</b> reported that law enforcement fired flash-bang grenades at his crew’s vehicle — which may have been unmarked — as it approached a police roadblock around 3 a.m., even though a member of their security team flashed a law-enforcement-issued press badge. One of the crowd-control munitions landed a few yards away. “These guys were not playing around this morning,” Hunt said. “The simple answer to us approaching that roadblock was: ‘Don’t even dare. Get back.’ That’s how tense the situation is in LA today.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"c7be8\">June 10, 2025</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"dsshi\">In Los Angeles</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"amvk5\">A LAPD officer forcibly removed journalist <b>Tina-Desiree Berg</b> of Status Coup from reporting in an area she had a legal right to be. In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/NPG9zIxMUKc?si=_JTYvoF1-3m4WBnH&t=6985\">video posted by Status Coup</a>, Berg pushed back against the order. “They don’t abide by the state law, and they’re police,” she said.</li><li data-block-key=\"3c8lt\">Reporter <b>Lauren Day</b> and an <b>anonymous photojournalist</b> who was part of her crew were both exposed to tear gas while filming a standoff between law enforcement and demonstrators. They suddenly heard bangs and “were overcome with the impacts of tear gas,” Day told the Tracker. The photojournalist was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-hit-with-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/\">struck with munitions</a> that day.</li><li data-block-key=\"aq0l2\">In a <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/11/us/video/la-protests-lapd-pull-kyung-lah-vrtc\">CNN live broadcast</a>, senior correspondent <b>Kyung Lah</b> was separated from part of her crew as LAPD officers cleared the street near the detention center. An officer said, “He doesn’t come through. You do.”</li><li data-block-key=\"93u5o\"><b>Gabriel Ovalle,</b> an editor and camera operator for digital media outlet Channel 5, told the Tracker he had “temporary discomfort” from tear gas that was fired by the LAPD during a protest downtown. Ovalle was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-hit-by-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/\">struck with a crowd-control munition</a> that day.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"apt00\">June 11, 2025</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"8tpna\">In Los Angeles</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"cu59f\">Journalist <b>Kate Burns</b> of Left Coast Right Watch told the Tracker that law enforcement officers said they didn’t care if she was a member of the press, and that she was exposed to tear gas and pepper spray but not deliberately targeted.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"1a2ab\">June 14, 2025</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"ikjs\">In Los Angeles</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"3na74\">Journalist <b>Kate Burns</b> of Left Coast Right Watch told the Tracker she was exposed to tear gas and pepper spray fired by law enforcement.</li><li data-block-key=\"2gq3v\"><b>Ethan Cohen,</b> a student photojournalist for California State University’s Long Beach Current, told the Tracker that he was affected when LA County Sheriff’s deputies fired tear gas and other chemical irritants, such as pepper spray and pepper-ball canisters, at him and other journalists. “There were many spots where you couldn’t really escape,” he said. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-hit-with-flash-bang-shrapnel-at-la-protest/\">struck in the arm</a> by a piece of shrapnel from a flash-bang grenade at protests that day.</li><li data-block-key=\"k6mg\">KNX radio reporter <b>Craig Fiegener</b> was exposed to police tear gas, the <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1376380450310903\">outlet reported on Facebook</a>. In a video posted to the platform, Fiegener said his throat was impacted by the chemical irritant.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD deployed tear gas on protestors around the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/LosAngeles?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LosAngeles</a> federal building on Los Angeles Street/Temple. <br><br>Before this hundreds of protestors were up the federal building’s steps… standing a foot away from Guard troops. <br><br>I saw one person throw a plastic water bottle at LAPD… <a href=\"https://t.co/AlUZkAx7Al\">pic.twitter.com/AlUZkAx7Al</a></p>— Craig Fiegener (@CraigFiegener) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CraigFiegener/status/1934044446183792672?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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"c7be8\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Benjamin Hanson</b> told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas in a crowd that included both sheriff’s deputies and police officers. “I don’t think I was targeted, just happened to be in the crossfire,” he told the Tracker.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-image\">\n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/June_14_-_By_David_Pashaee.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"COURTESY DAVID PASHAEE\">\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"c7be8\">Freelance reporter <b>Eric Levai</b> reported on the <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/ericlevai.bsky.social/post/3lrmat6jb2s2b\">social platform Bluesky</a> that he was caught in tear gas fired by law enforcement near the downtown courthouse. “I was covering the protest in LA wearing clearly marked press credentials,” he wrote.</li><li data-block-key=\"8kdef\"><b>Jeremy Lindenfeld,</b> a journalist reporting for news nonprofit Capital & Main, told the Tracker he was pushed by an LAPD officer on horseback as police moved the crowd. Lindenfeld said, “It definitely wasn’t a gentle suggestion,” but wasn’t sure whether it constituted an assault.</li><li data-block-key=\"7c87o\"><b>Kayjel Mairena,</b> a student journalist for Santa Monica College’s The Corsair, told the Tracker he was twice exposed to tear gas deployed by the LA County Sheriff’s Department.</li><li data-block-key=\"3kj63\">Videographer <b>Rocky Romano</b> of Winters Rock Entertainment told the Tracker he was inundated with tear gas fired by law enforcement. He said the chemical irritant had burned his skin, and he had difficulty breathing in the moments afterward.</li><li data-block-key=\"ddm1l\">Freelance photographer <b>Ethan Noah Roy</b> told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas in a crowd that included both sheriff’s deputies and police officers, and had to flush his eyes of the chemical irritant. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-ball-at-no-kings-protest-in-la/\">shot with a pepper ball</a> in the midst of the chaos that day.</li><li data-block-key=\"249ol\"><b>Tod Seelie,</b> a freelance photojournalist, told the Tracker he was affected by tear gas while documenting a protest in an area with sheriff’s deputies, demonstrators and other members of the media. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-by-projectile-shoved-by-officers-while-covering-la-protest/\">That day</a>, he was also shoved by police, attacked by a group of people at the protest and struck by a crowd-control projectile.</li><li data-block-key=\"b1tti\">Freelance journalist <b>Solomon O. Smith</b> told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas fired by sheriff’s deputies. “It makes you, as a reporter, reevaluate how much danger you want to put yourself in,” he said. That day, he was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-targeted-with-crowd-control-munitions-at-la-immigration-protest/\">struck with crowd-control munitions</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"36s1h\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Madison Swart</b> told the Tracker she was exposed to police-fired tear gas and became separated from other members of the press while reporting. Also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/\">that day,</a> she was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions, including a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-munition-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/\">tear gas canister</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"bl2li\"><b>Michelle Zacarias,</b> a reporter for Caló News, told the Tracker she was exposed to tear gas and dodged police crowd-control munitions after officers on horseback deployed them into the crowd without a clear dispersal order. “I managed to get out of the line of scrimmage but was pushed and shoved as people began to panic,” said Zacarias, who fled on foot.</li><li data-block-key=\"btko6\">A <b>freelance photographer,</b> who asked not to be named due to fear of legal trouble when traveling abroad, told the Tracker he was tear-gassed by law enforcement.</li></ul></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r71fx\">Police officers stand guard during an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "Student journalist hit by pepper ball at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-hit-by-pepper-ball-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-05T19:57:58.720984Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:40:30.289194Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:40:30.203902Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g21ii\">Jake Crandall, a student photojournalist for Santa Monica College’s The Corsair, was struck with a pepper ball while documenting an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"cde8s\">It was the first of a series of <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">protests</a> in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered in and around LA , amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines, despite objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"ao786\">Crandall told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that two groups of demonstrators initially gathered separately, one outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, the other near the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, just a short distance away. The groups eventually converged, and tensions with Department of Homeland Security officers began to rise. On the side facing the detention center, people began vandalizing a toll booth at a nearby parking structure. In response, DHS officers fired crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"69eiu\">Crandall was clearly identified as a member of the press, wearing a hat and displaying a badge and patch on his backpack, when he was hit by a pepper ball, which likely came from law enforcement and left a mark on his pants. It’s unclear whether he was deliberately targeted in that instance.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media left\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/9E5AA5EA-B30E-45E3-87C0-B9FF3AAE838B.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1242\" alt=\"COURTESY JAKE CRANDALL\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"w3l01\">Jake Crandall pictured while photographing the anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 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 JAKE CRANDALL\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=\"g21ii\">Earlier in the day, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-pepper-sprayed-at-la-immigration-protest/\">pepper-sprayed</a> by a federal officer while photographing the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"2s3c8\">Crandall was also accidentally pepper-sprayed by someone using bear mace. He said the individual was aiming at law enforcement officers behind him, and Crandall was caught in the crossfire. That blast, he recalled, was the most painful he experienced all day.</p><p data-block-key=\"4epgu\">In the days that followed, Crandall would also be <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-hit-by-crowd-control-rounds-at-la-protest/\">detained by police</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-struck-by-crowd-control-munitions-amid-compton-protest/\">struck by a stinger grenade</a>, a device that releases rubber pellets.</p><p data-block-key=\"39sng\">“I definitely feel like I’m a target when I’m out there — on both sides of things now — and it is very concerning,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2aimk\">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/Lindenfeld_-_Crandall.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vv6w1\">Federal officers gather at an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025. Student photojournalist Jake Crandall was struck with a pepper ball while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"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",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jake Crandall (The [Santa Monica College] Corsair)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist hit with pepper balls, tear gas while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-03T17:10:20.540898Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:40:07.434952Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:40:07.335493Z",
"date": "2025-06-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"c01vf\">Jeremy Lindenfeld, a journalist reporting for news nonprofit Capital & Main, was struck by multiple pepper balls and exposed to tear gas while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vqur\">The protest was part of a wave of demonstrations that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> that day, following federal immigration raids across the LA area amid a larger immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard and U.S. Marines, despite objections from state and local officials.</p><p data-block-key=\"6epqg\">Lindenfeld, who was wearing press identifiers at the time, said the air was thick with tear gas as Department of Homeland Security police advanced on demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"4cauo\">“It was an incredibly chaotic scene,” Lindenfeld told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “The law enforcement agencies that have been out there interfacing with protesters and press have done very little in the way of discerning proper use of force.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5ugt0\">Lindenfeld said he was reporting on the protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center when federal law enforcement deployed the pepper balls indiscriminately into the crowd, striking him and others.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">DHS in downtown Los Angeles is deploying flash bangs, tear-gas and pepper balls against anti-ICE protesters and anyone else in the crowd including press. <a href=\"https://t.co/wPK7MuIBfP\">https://t.co/wPK7MuIBfP</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/83Yyyas6KD\">pic.twitter.com/83Yyyas6KD</a></p>— Jeremy Lindenfeld (@jeremotographs) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jeremotographs/status/1931177602104066365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 7, 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=\"c01vf\">He continued reporting at multiple protests in the days that followed, getting hit by a canister <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-projectile-while-covering-la-area-protest/\">on June 7</a> and struck in the abdomen by a foam baton round <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-by-foam-round-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">on June 9.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"a2jau\">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/Lindenfeld.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880_nOVTgiX.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"l05mf\">Department of Homeland Security police clash with protesters during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025. Journalist Jeremy Lindenfeld was hit with pepper balls and tear gas while covering the protest that day.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Jeremy Lindenfeld (Capital & Main)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Egyptian former journalist jailed in Ohio after U.S. revokes asylum",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/egyptian-former-journalist-jailed-in-ohio-after-us-revokes-asylum/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-30T20:16:02.936289Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T20:28:36.290500Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T20:28:36.191452Z",
"date": "2025-06-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Hamilton",
"longitude": -84.56134,
"latitude": 39.3995,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8cwhi\">Former journalist Ayman Soliman, who was granted asylum in the United States after being persecuted in Egypt for his work as a field producer during the Arab Spring uprising there, was jailed in Hamilton, Ohio, weeks after his asylum was revoked on June 3, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"643uu\">Soliman began his journalism career documenting student protests in Egypt and was jailed, beaten and tortured by the Egyptian authorities as a result, according to Marium Uddin, legal director at the Muslim Legal Fund of America, who is part of his legal team. He fled to the United States in 2014 and applied for asylum, which was granted in 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"9up89\">In early 2021, Soliman was hired as a prison chaplain in Oregon, but a background check revealed that the FBI had flagged his profile without explanation, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/cincinnati-protest-arrests-soliman-chaplain-861006bcd5f723f02d024809363927e0\">reported</a>. The job offer was then rescinded.</p><p data-block-key=\"3fp5q\">In response, Soliman <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/62331173/1/soliman-v-mayorkas/\">sued</a> the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the Terrorist Screening Center, as well as then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, for violations of due process and the Privacy Act, arguing that an FBI flag and various designations on his boarding passes when traveling indicated that he had been included in the Terrorist Screening Database.</p><p data-block-key=\"4uiph\">A November 2024 court ruling dismissed most of his suit but allowed a due process violation claim to proceed. The next month, Soliman received a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services <a href=\"https://mlfa.org/local-chaplain-detained-by-ice-after-asylum-revoked-amid-decade-long-immigration-battle/\">notifying</a> him that the agency was considering revoking his asylum status.</p><p data-block-key=\"enhrj\">In June 2025, Soliman’s asylum was <a href=\"https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/cincinnati-childrens-chaplain-previously-granted-asylum-detained-by-ice-local-organization-says\">officially revoked</a> and, on July 9, at the first Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in he was required to attend, his lawyers said he was <a href=\"https://mlfa.org/local-chaplain-detained-by-ice-after-asylum-revoked-amid-decade-long-immigration-battle/\">detained</a> and put in Butler County jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"chfm1\">The government claims that Soliman served on the board of a nongovernmental organization that provides support to the Muslim Brotherhood, WCPO-TV <a href=\"https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/why-was-ayman-solimans-asylum-status-revoked-attorneys-for-cincinnati-chaplain-provide-more-details\">reported</a>. Soliman’s lawyers told the outlet that the government knew about the board membership when it granted asylum but that last year, an asylum officer newly labeled both the NGO and the Muslim Brotherhood as <a href=\"https://www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/other-resources/terrorism-related-inadmissibility-grounds-trig\">terrorist organizations</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"amd6e\">The lawyers claim the government did so to retaliate against Soliman for his lawsuit, relying only on the asylum officer’s new interpretations rather than the persecution he experienced in Egypt, another of Soliman’s attorneys, Robert Ratliff, told WCPO-TV.</p><p data-block-key=\"csfb3\">Those interpretations, the Ohio Immigrant Alliance <a href=\"https://ohioimmigrant.org/2025/07/25/new-soliman-files-new-lawsuit/\">said</a>, are based on academic reports whose authors have since refuted the asylum officer’s conclusions.</p><p data-block-key=\"3e9k5\">On July 11, Soliman filed an emergency habeas corpus petition, requesting a temporary restraining order to keep DHS from transferring him outside the jurisdiction of Cleveland Immigration Court. The order was <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70764545/5/soliman-v-lyons/\">granted</a> on July 15 and <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70764545/10/soliman-v-lyons/\">extended</a> to July 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"1kl0f\">On July 24, Soliman filed an <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70905499/1/soliman-v-edlow/\">additional request</a> for a restraining order and preliminary injunction in a separate case against the heads of USCIS, its Chicago Asylum Office and the DHS. That case seeks to reinstate his asylum status and calls the revocation a violation of federal law, including the Fifth Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"146rf\">Multiple protests in Cincinnati, where Soliman had worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital <a href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ayman-soliman-detained-muslim-chaplain-supporters-arrested-123870405\">since 2021</a>, have called for Soliman’s release, including one on a bridge into Kentucky, where <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-07-17&date_upper=2025-07-17&city=Covington&state=Kentucky\">two journalists were arrested</a> and charged with an array of felonies and misdemeanors.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3b2d\">“Going back to Egypt for me is a death sentence,” Soliman said. “I didn't come to America seeking a better life. It was escaping death.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ira1\"><i>Editor’s note: This article has been updated with information from Ayman Soliman’s legal team.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Soliman_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"15jta\">Butler County Correctional Center in Hamilton, Ohio, where Egyptian former journalist Ayman Soliman was jailed after his asylum was revoked on June 3, 2025.</p>",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-09-19 19:23:00+00:00) Egyptian former journalist released from Ohio jail"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"ICE detention"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ayman Soliman (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Judge rules ‘Cop City’ foundation must comply with news outlet’s records request",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-rules-cop-city-foundation-must-comply-with-news-outlets-records-request/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-07T20:00:29.410810Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-07T20:00:29.410810Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-07T20:00:29.320236Z",
"date": "2025-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k63kb\">A Georgia court on May 30, 2025, ruled in favor of a local news outlet in its lawsuit to access records related to an Atlanta-area public safety training center.</p><p data-block-key=\"85ru0\">A Fulton County Superior Court judge sided with the Atlanta Community Press Collective and Lucy Parsons Lab — a Chicago-based think tank that advocates for government transparency — in their <a href=\"https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/04/07/cop-city-investigation-puts-atlanta-police-foundation-secrecy-on-trial/\">suit</a> against the Atlanta Police Foundation, which alleged that the foundation illegally withheld records about the training center, referred to by critics as “Cop City.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c6i9j\">The <a href=\"https://gfaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ACPC-v-APF_FinalOrder_5-30-25.pdf\">decision</a> marked the culmination of a long-running legal fight over records access in Georgia that centered around the question of whether a private foundation engaged in public business can selectively withhold records based on the identity of the requester.</p><p data-block-key=\"98ip1\">Filed in January 2024, the lawsuit was related to 15 records requests filed by the groups that sought emails about the training center’s construction on city-owned land, as well as board meeting minutes. Citing its status as a private nonprofit, the foundation refused to hand over most of the records.</p><p data-block-key=\"eglu4\">In April 2025, Dave Wilkinson, the foundation’s CEO, <a href=\"https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/copy-city-fight-future-of-journalism.html\">testified</a> in court that the news outlet had no right to request the organization’s records. He argued that the foundation was not subject to the Open Records Act and that media coverage might turn the public against the project and “terrorize” the companies building it.</p><p data-block-key=\"5isj0\">But the ACPC <a href=\"https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/04/07/cop-city-investigation-puts-atlanta-police-foundation-secrecy-on-trial/\">argued</a> that the foundation isn’t just another nonprofit, because it exclusively supports the Atlanta Police Department. Cop City, meanwhile, received a significant amount of public money: The Atlanta City Council approved $67 million in public funding for the $115 million training center, which opened in April 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnbo1\">Since the foundation led a development that relied on taxpayer funds and city land, the news outlet argued the public should be able to review that spending and other decisions. The ACPC also noted that the foundation had released the documents to other news outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebe7g\">In May 2025, Judge Jane Barwick <a href=\"https://atlpresscollective.com/2025/06/02/acpc-lpl-open-records-apf/\">decided</a> in favor of the ACPC and Lucy Parsons Lab. “This Court concludes that APF was under a duty to provide records to ACPC and Lucy Parsons Labs pursuant to the Open Records Act,” Barwick wrote in her ruling. “Let the record also be clear that the identity of the requester does not determine whether records are characterized as public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bpcgg\">ACPC welcomed the decision. “We believe in the importance of transparency and look forward to a thorough review of the documents that APF has fought so hard to keep hidden,” it <a href=\"https://atlpresscollective.com/2025/06/02/acpc-lpl-open-records-apf/\">said</a> in June.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a189\">ACPC’s Executive Director Matt Scott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the foundation turned over the documents in July. Some of the emails were redacted, but the APF released the unredacted emails after the ACPC pushed back. ACPC <a href=\"https://www.wabe.org/atlanta-community-press-collective-publishes-open-records-from-police-foundation-lawsuit/\">subsequently published</a> the documents.</p><p data-block-key=\"69fk3\">The foundation did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/ACPC.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"08o7w\">A portion of a May 30, 2025, ruling by a Georgia judge that an Atlanta-based nonprofit news outlet is entitled, under the state’s Open Records Act, to documents from the foundation behind the controversial “Cop City” facility.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "24CV001116",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [
"verdict issued"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Atlanta Community Press Collective"
],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"public records"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
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},
{
"title": "Pete Hegseth restricts journalists’ access inside Pentagon",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pete-hegseth-restricts-journalists-access-inside-pentagon/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-09T18:26:52.644672Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-04T17:37:58.823392Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-04T17:37:58.615891Z",
"date": "2025-05-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Arlington",
"longitude": -77.10428,
"latitude": 38.88101,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"y20kh\">Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced new restrictions on journalists’ access while inside the Pentagon complex in Arlington, Virginia, on May 23, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1b34s\">In a <a href=\"https://media.defense.gov/2025/May/23/2003721693/-1/-1/1/UPDATED-PHYSICAL-CONTROL-MEASURES-FOR-PRESS-MEDIA-ACCESS-WITHIN-THE-PENTAGON.PDF\">memo</a>, Hegseth said journalists would now be required to have official approval and escorts from the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs to enter certain areas, including the offices of the secretary, his top aides and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Those areas had previously been freely accessible to credentialed reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3ru7\">Hegseth cited the protection of national security and classified national intelligence information as the justification for the changes. “While the Department remains committed to transparency, the Department is equally obligated to protect CNSI and sensitive information — the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of U.S. Service members in danger.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1hthd\">The Pentagon Press Association in a <a href=\"https://x.com/idreesali114/status/1926070207333740620\">statement</a> condemned the changes, saying it “is extremely concerned by the decision to restrict movement of accredited journalists within the Pentagon through non-secured, unclassified hallways.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8edfd\">It noted that its members have “had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the Pentagon for decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks,” without any security issues arising.</p><p data-block-key=\"7s3q6\">“This decision eliminates the media’s freedom to freely access press officers for the military services who are specifically hired to respond to press queries,” the association added.</p><p data-block-key=\"87ci2\">On Jan. 31, the Defense Department had <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/31/media/pentagon-press-rotation-defense-department\">announced</a> a new media “rotation” policy that removed major news outlets — including The New York Times and Politico — from their dedicated office space in the Pentagon and replaced them with primarily conservative outlets, such as One America News Network and Breitbart.</p><p data-block-key=\"9v68t\">The White House has also sought to restrict press access by <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-wrests-control-of-presidential-press-pool-from-correspondents/\">taking over</a> the presidential press pool and attempting to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-reporters-barred-from-white-house-events-over-editorial-style-policy/\">ban the Associated Press</a> from covering the president in retaliation for its editorial policy.</p><p data-block-key=\"7p3ci\">Since taking office, Hegseth has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pete-hegseth-targets-news-outlets-leakers-as-defense-secretary/\">joined</a> President Donald Trump and other members of his administration in taking steps to intimidate leakers and news outlets that have produced critical coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"28da5\">The Defense Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP17268664061269.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ufyd9\">The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, is seen from above. On May 23, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth restricted journalists’ access while inside the building.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:25-cv-04218",
"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,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-10-15 15:12:00+00:00) Journalists depart Pentagon after refusing to comply with new press restrictions",
"(2025-09-19 19:55:00+00:00) Pete Hegseth further restricts journalists’ newsgathering inside Pentagon",
"(2025-12-04 17:13:00+00:00) New York Times sues Pentagon over press restrictions"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"Department of Defense"
],
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"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice"
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},
{
"title": "South Carolina court clerk pleads guilty to sharing sealed photos with press",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/south-carolina-court-clerk-pleads-guilty-to-sharing-sealed-photos-with-press/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-15T14:39:30.194592Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-15T14:39:30.194592Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-15T14:39:30.109499Z",
"date": "2025-05-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Walterboro",
"longitude": -80.66677,
"latitude": 32.90517,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r1pwp\">Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, a former court clerk who helped manage the high-profile murder trial of prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh, was arrested and charged in Walterboro, South Carolina, on May 14, 2025, with sharing court information under seal with a reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"ftep0\">Hill was also charged with two counts of misconduct in office and one count, in nearby Richland County, of lying under oath about sharing the sealed photos. On Dec. 8, Hill pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcsqo\">Hill had served as the clerk of court for Colleton County, where Murdaugh was tried and <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-murder-trial-sentence-0ad6d424877e0dcd433864d777545cd2\">convicted</a> in 2023 for murdering his wife and son. Her role included managing the media, witnesses, attorneys and jurors for a case that drew widespread attention.</p><p data-block-key=\"21oni\">Hill published a book about the trial months after its conclusion. This drew scrutiny from state officials and Murdaugh’s attorneys, who alleged that she engaged in improper behavior, including tampering with the jury and using her position for personal gain.</p><p data-block-key=\"ceudc\">South Carolina’s attorney general appointed a special prosecutor, Rick Hubbard, to probe Hill’s actions in connection with the Murdaugh trial, local news outlet The State <a href=\"https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article306320151.html\">reported</a>. She was also <a href=\"https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article288854860.html\">investigated</a> by the state’s ethics commission.</p><p data-block-key=\"9dq6p\">According to <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/becky-hill-charges-clerk-court-murdaugh-trial-9abb328682b3476e63835ae70e2683c1\">news</a> <a href=\"https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article306320151.html\">reports</a> and court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Hill was charged with obstruction of justice for sharing “sealed evidence” photographs with a third party or parties, in violation of a court order. The reporter was not identified in court documents or in the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"37gkj\">In addition, she was charged with two counts of misconduct in office related to allegations that she awarded herself nearly $12,000 in unapproved bonuses and used her office to promote her book. She resigned as clerk of court in March 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"385si\">Hill’s perjury charge stemmed from allegations that she lied under oath at a January 2024 <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-appeal-jury-tampering-south-carolina-bb952382dfb1dff5bc655d1a7982e52e\">hearing</a> in Columbia, S.C., where she denied sharing the sealed photos with the press. In that hearing, a judge denied Murdaugh’s request for a new trial based on allegations that Hill had tampered with the jury, finding that Hill’s actions did not affect the jury’s decision.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qmvf\">Hill was released on bail after her May court appearances.</p><p data-block-key=\"di3h\">At Hill’s Dec. 8 sentencing hearing, Hubbard, the special prosecutor, said that a journalist told investigators that the former clerk showed graphic crime scene photos to several media members, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/becky-hill-alex-murdaugh-court-clerk-5e25491cb1dc802f9a0a8e1c0151dda8\">reported</a>. He did not identify the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"23rdq\">Hubbard added that the photos briefly appeared online, and that the images’ metadata matched with a time when Hill was in the locked room they were stored in, according to records from Hill’s courthouse key card.</p><p data-block-key=\"59k90\">At that hearing, South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Heath Taylor sentenced Hill to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service, according to court records and <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/becky-hill-alex-murdaugh-court-clerk-5e25491cb1dc802f9a0a8e1c0151dda8\">media</a> <a href=\"https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article313498614.html\">reports</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ps5h\">Hill also paid $11,880 as restitution for bonuses in state and federal money she had given herself.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3f97\">“There is no excuse for my mistakes. I am ashamed of them, and I will carry that shame with me for the rest of my life,” Hill said.</p><p data-block-key=\"qq83\">Will Lewis, Hill’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25342571321529.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"17v66\">Mary Rebecca Hill, the former court clerk of South Carolina’s Colleton County, appeared in a court in St. Matthews on Dec. 8, 2025, where she pleaded guilty to charges including sharing sealed court information with a reporter.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"state": {
"name": "South Carolina",
"abbreviation": "SC"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [
"Unknown"
],
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"Leak Case"
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{
"title": "Multimedia journalist held for an hour by US border officers at LA airport",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multimedia-journalist-held-for-an-hour-by-us-border-officers-at-la-airport/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-12T16:00:40.267359Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T18:44:44.467907Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T18:44:44.376230Z",
"date": "2025-05-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8s1qi\">A freelance multimedia journalist was held in secondary screening for an hour and told that officers couldn’t find them in “the system,” while passing through U.S. customs in Los Angeles, California, on May 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"68n6g\">The journalist, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for further issues while traversing the border for ongoing reporting, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they have been traveling extensively between Mexico City and LA for work on “a lot of immigration stories.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fj2cr\">Two months prior, they were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multimedia-journalist-questioned-at-lax-about-immigration-reporting\">questioned</a> about their immigration reporting when arriving at LA International Airport. Following that experience, they said they took precautionary steps ahead of their next flight to the U.S.</p><p data-block-key=\"68is2\">“I had deleted a lot of sensitive apps and contacts off my phone, powered off my phone, powered off my computer. I’d written down the Reporters hotline on a piece of paper,” they said, referring to the <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/legal-hotline/\">legal hotline</a> of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4gc0\">When they arrived and passed through U.S. customs at LAX, the newly implemented facial recognition cameras failed to confirm their identity. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer asked them a standard array of questions and then directed them to a secondary screening room.</p><p data-block-key=\"33m9c\">“At that point, I just thought, I don’t really know what’s going on, but it just all felt a little uncomfortable because I am a U.S. citizen. I do have a passport, it’s up to date, no expiration,” they told the Tracker. “But then again, since the situation was kind of intimidating, I didn’t want to question them too much. When you’re in those screening rooms, that’s it. You’re in a different area, and what you say or what you do, it’s not going to have much power there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6tjch\">After approximately an hour waiting, a CBP officer returned their passport and told them, “We couldn’t find you in the system for a while. You have a very common last name, but don’t worry, you’re an American citizen, so you can go ahead and leave.”</p><p data-block-key=\"31kt6\">The journalist said they had never had an issue before, with years of international travel, and it was particularly concerning that it happened on the heels of being questioned about their reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"8asqm\">“It just seems odd that in this year there’s been that slight escalation of asking these questions initially and then the second time around, they kind of just stopped me for no good reason,” they said. “The whole thing just put me a little on edge, because I don’t know what sort of internal documentation or tabs that they keep on people.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6s8n\">“My main takeaway was just that none of this really adds up. And I just want to be prepared for the next time I go across the border."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25157725077719.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xb3r6\">A freelance multimedia journalist was taken into secondary screening and held for an hour on May 11, 2025, while passing through customs at California’s Los Angeles International Airport, pictured above.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": "Los Angeles International Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. citizen",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": true,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "no",
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"assailant": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [
"Mexico",
"United States"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anonymous reporter 8 (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed by reporters arrested at 2021 California protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-by-reporters-arrested-at-2021-california-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-04T19:58:38.140365Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-29T17:53:24.646696Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-29T17:53:24.377219Z",
"date": "2025-05-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0xy36\">Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally was subpoenaed on May 9, 2025, by two Knock LA journalists for testimony at the trial of their civil case against the city of Los Angeles, California, and multiple police officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"cao3n\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-reporter-among-multiple-journalists-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/\">Queally</a> and the two reporters were among the nearly <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-03-25&date_upper=2021-03-25&state=California&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">20 journalists detained</a> while documenting protests near LA’s Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, after police surrounded and arrested everyone using a tactic called “kettling.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9at4g\">Queally was released after approximately 30 minutes, with help from attorneys and a managing editor for the Times. Other journalists, including the two reporters for nonprofit community journalism outlet Knock LA, were charged with failure to disperse. The charges were quickly dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddf8v\">The Knock LA reporters, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/knock-la-reporter-arrested-while-covering-echo-park-protest-charged-with-failure-to-disperse/\">Jonathan Peltz</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-for-knock-la-arrested-with-colleague-while-covering-echo-park-protest-in-la/\">Kate Gallagher</a>, then <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.851533/gov.uscourts.cacd.851533.1.0.pdf\">filed a lawsuit</a> against the city, as well as then-Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore and 10 police officers. The reporters alleged that their arrests violated both their constitutional rights and California’s <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=52.1.&lawCode=CIV\">Tom Bane Civil Rights Act</a>, which protects journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"96ik8\">“This is a civil rights action challenging the Los Angeles Police Department’s longstanding policy, custom and practice of obstructing, targeting, and retaliating against members of the press for exercising their First Amendment rights to gather news regarding police officer activity in public places,” the lawsuit states.</p><p data-block-key=\"eme7o\">Three weeks before the case was set to go to trial on May 27, attorneys for Peltz and Gallagher subpoenaed Queally, ordering him to appear as a witness and to testify about “the protest, his coverage of it, and being detained, but ultimately released when the officers identified him as a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ei402\">In a motion to quash the subpoena filed May 23, attorneys representing Queally argued that, in a rush to vindicate their own interests, the Knock LA journalists had infringed on the rights of a fellow reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"agdq\">“The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants use the coercive power of the Court to force journalists to testify in support of parties’ private aims, which undermines reporters’ credibility and hampers their ability to do their job,” the motion said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bvkol\">Dan Laidman, one of the attorneys representing Queally, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the decision to challenge the subpoena doesn’t reflect any position on the merits of the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"vl1g\">“James Queally and the Los Angeles Times have demonstrated histories of supporting press freedom and fellow journalists,” Laidman wrote, but added, “Forcing reporters to testify in court about matters that they cover compromises their ability to gather the news, and under the First Amendment it’s only allowed as a last resort in exceptional circumstances.”</p><p data-block-key=\"46uu6\">A hearing on the motion is scheduled for June 26, and the trial date has been moved to Aug. 5.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Queally_CA_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"onhid\">A portion of a subpoena issued to Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally on May 9, 2025, ordering him to testify in a California civil case filed against police by two Knock LA reporters.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-07-23 16:53:00+00:00) Subpoena for LA journalist’s testimony quashed"
],
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"tags": [
"encampment"
],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"James Queally (Los Angeles Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "CNN journalist deposed in Nexstar lawsuit, questioned about emails",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-journalist-deposed-in-nexstar-lawsuit-questioned-about-emails/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-09T22:27:04.568263Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-09T22:27:04.568263Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-09T21:52:20.885235Z",
"date": "2025-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Grand Rapids",
"longitude": -85.66809,
"latitude": 42.96336,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e94zx\">CNN journalist Liam Reilly was <a href=\"https://thedesk.net/2025/05/liam-reilly-cnn-nexstar-deposition-lawsuit/\">subpoenaed in May 2025</a> to testify as part of a defamation lawsuit filed against Nexstar Media Group by two former news directors at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He sat for a deposition on July 14.</p><p data-block-key=\"9doa\">Reilly’s deposition was limited to questioning about 2023 emails he exchanged with Nexstar’s chief communications officer, Gary Weitman, after internal fallout from a newsroom memo about Pride Month coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"bnh35\">Reilly confirmed under oath that he recognized the emails bearing his signature and that he sent them as part of his reporting duties at CNN, according to a deposition transcript filed in federal court in Michigan. Neither Reilly nor CNN is a party to the lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"42pp7\">Last year, the Nexstar news executives, Stanton Tang and Amy Fox, filed related lawsuits after being fired over an internal memo — written by Fox at Tang’s direction — that urged reporters to limit Pride Month coverage and present “both sides” on LGBTQ+ issues, citing the station’s conservative audience.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mtgr\">Tang and Fox allege they were scapegoated by Nexstar, which <a href=\"https://kesq.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2023/06/16/nexstar-investigates-after-michigan-news-station-told-to-get-both-sides-of-pride-event/\">later issued a public apology</a> for the memo and said it did not reflect the company’s values.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rlnd\">Attorneys for Nexstar filed a motion for a summary judgment on Aug. 22, asking the court to dismiss Tang and Fox’s claims without proceeding to trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ov5v\">Neither Reilly nor his attorney, Katherine Bolger, responded to a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-09-07_at_9.22.15P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wqano\">A portion of the deposition transcript of CNN reporter Liam Reilly, who was ordered to testify on July 14, 2025, in connection with a Grand Rapids, Michigan, defamation lawsuit against Nexstar Media Group.</p>",
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Michigan",
"abbreviation": "MI"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [],
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"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Liam Reilly (CNN)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Town officials in Arizona remove press table from council chamber",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/town-officials-in-arizona-remove-press-table-from-council-chamber/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-24T19:40:57.535745Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-24T19:40:57.535745Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-24T19:40:57.427299Z",
"date": "2025-04-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fountain Hills",
"longitude": -111.71736,
"latitude": 33.61171,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hwmss\">A press table in the council chamber for the town of Fountain Hills, Arizona, was removed in April 2025 in apparent retaliation for reporting by a local newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g09g\">Councilmember Rick Watts requested the removal of the designated press table from the chambers, citing what he described as “partisan” reporting by the Fountain Hills Times Independent.</p><p data-block-key=\"5i35e\">Following a public council meeting about the town’s fire department budget, the Times Independent <a href=\"https://www.fhtimes.com/stories/fountain-hills-town-council-defers-fire-department-budget-plan,575108\">published a story</a> April 9 with a headline that Watts told <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2025/06/02/town-council-retaliates-against-fountain-hills-times-independent-newspaper/83924427007/\">the Arizona Republic</a> was oversimplified.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbcad\">Vice Mayor Hannah Larrabee, who the Republic reported has expressed ongoing concerns about the outlet’s reporting since taking office, also supported the removal of the press table.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4h70\">“Frankly, I am fed up with the Times’ partisan reporting and think it is time to remove the corner ‘reporters’ table,” Watts wrote in an <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25957353-rickwatts05132025/#document/p1\">email</a> to Town Manager Rachael Goodwin.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8nld\">“If the Times personnel cannot act and report in a factual, nonpartisan manner, without resorting to sensational headlines, reporting on the council and various commissions without obvious bias,” she added, “then I see no reason for providing any special seating accommodation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ekjos\">While reporters are not banned from council meetings entirely, the press table commonly reserved for the Times Independent is no longer there, and its reporters are now expected to sit with the audience.</p><p data-block-key=\"2boj2\">Larrabee also <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25957352-hannahtoth05132025/\">wrote</a> to Goodwin, “I do not wish to further encourage unbalanced reporting, and I believe it is best if the Times Independent sits with the audience to allow for more chairs in that corner, making more room for the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5gafl\">But Councilmember Brenda Kalivianakis asked about the missing press table at the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/yAVs0M5uxZE?feature=shared&t=10744\">May 6 council meeting</a>, requesting a discussion about the change be held at a future meeting and added, “We’ve had a media table for as long as I could remember.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bd6le\">Kalivianakis later argued in a May 28 <a href=\"https://www.fhtimes.com/stories/press-table-removed-from-fountain-hills-council-chambers,587238\">op-ed</a> published in the Times Independent, that the decision to remove the press table was a deliberate attempt to retaliate against the paper for what some councilmembers perceived as unfavorable reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"cn2e1\">“Retaliation inherently has a chilling effect, making journalists and citizens hesitant to investigate controversial topics or criticize those in power,” Kalivianakis wrote. “If journalists are reluctant to report on sensitive topics, the people regrettably pay the price.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8e1ve\">Free press advocates and experts also weighed in on the press table removal.</p><p data-block-key=\"d9fg5\">“Local governments don’t have to roll out the red carpet for reporters. A physically designated space also isn’t required for Arizona local journalists to do their jobs,” Chris Kline, president and CEO of the Arizona Media Association and Arizona Local News Foundation, told the <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2025/06/02/town-council-retaliates-against-fountain-hills-times-independent-newspaper/83924427007/\">Arizona Republic</a>. “But small actions like this can send a big message, and when that message is frustration with coverage, it risks eroding openness in government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"af129\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reached out to Watts and Larrabee for comment but did not receive a response. The Times Independent did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-06-23_at_11.23.25.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zztge\">Members of the Fountain Hills, Arizona, Town Council shown meeting on May 6, 2025, shortly after council members had removed the press table from the chamber.</p>",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
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"Local government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"type_of_denial": [
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}
]
