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{
"title": "Police push correspondent on live TV during immigration protest in downtown LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-push-correspondent-on-live-tv-during-immigration-protest-in-downtown-la/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-16T17:26:30.503428Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-16T17:26:30.503428Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-16T17:26:30.406217Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e76z7\">CNN anchor Erin Burnett was pushed on live TV by an officer while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025, <a href=\"https://x.com/OutFrontCNN/status/1932277470075486409\">the outlet reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbfss\">The protests began June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"cr9as\">During the live shot, Burnett is holding a microphone and speaking to the camera as police order protesters to leave the area behind her.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ErinBurnett?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ErinBurnett</a> experiences firsthand the tension between police and protesters.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LAProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CNN</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/kBT5FA5LbK\">pic.twitter.com/kBT5FA5LbK</a></p>— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OutFrontCNN/status/1932277470075486409?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\"><p data-block-key=\"e76z7\">“They’re just saying move the area,” she said, as an armed officer wearing a helmet pushes her forward by the arm.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ca9q\">“You can just see the tension there,” she said. “They knew we’re media. They were just as happy to push me as to push anybody else.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2bafc\">Burnett and CNN did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0j0ls\">CNN anchor Erin Burnett, at left, was pushed by a police officer during a live TV shot while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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{
"title": "LA Times reporter detained in kettle at anti-deportation protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-reporter-detained-in-kettle-at-anti-deportation-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T16:54:37.568094Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-18T18:16:52.922742Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-18T18:16:52.782801Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"15tb2\">Rebecca Ellis, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, was detained in a kettle by police while documenting an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"ih59\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"gut\">Ellis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and her colleague, photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-photojournalist-detained-in-police-kettle-released-without-charges\">Jason Armond</a>, had been documenting protests throughout the night of June 9. The protests were centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA’s Little Tokyo neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"44kfa\">After the Los Angeles Police Department declared the protests an unlawful assembly, Ellis said she and Armond were following the remaining demonstrators when officers began herding the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"2vv0d\">“They’d been pushing protesters from downtown into Little Tokyo and then through the streets,” Ellis said. “Then at one point, we saw that they were also coming from behind and we were in a kettle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4oaie\">Ellis told the Tracker that many journalists were caught in the kettle alongside a few dozen protesters. She was one of the first journalists escorted out, but noted that it wasn’t clear what was happening to them.</p><p data-block-key=\"aorba\">“I was confused, and Jason, who was there and was my photographer, was confused,” Ellis said. “I would say there was one minute of concern and fear, but then it was pretty clear that we were going to be let out.</p><p data-block-key=\"bnbnh\">“They were having everyone come one by one to detain them and cite them for failure to disperse. They would include press and would have you put your hands behind your back. They’d hold your hands back, walk you over to a different location and then get your name and walk you away from the kettle, about a block down, and then just had us leave.”</p><p data-block-key=\"elvbs\">She estimated that she was held in the kettle for 20 to 25 minutes before she was escorted out. Armond was also released without charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2iok\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/DSC01739.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rwvnf\">Los Angeles Times reporter Rebecca Ellis, center right, was among the journalists detained in a police kettle while documenting anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. She was released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"detention_date": "2025-06-09",
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"name": "California",
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"kettle",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with rubber bullets by federal officers at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-rubber-bullets-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-02T14:02:55.549286Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-02T14:02:55.549286Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-02T13:59:18.233992Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"35sug\">Freelance photojournalist Ted Soqui was shot in the back with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3o8i\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"co4a6\">On June 9, Soqui, who has covered protests throughout his decades-long career, was covering demonstrations at LA’s Federal Building, according to a June 18 <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70581520/1/los-angeles-press-club-v-kristi-noem/\">lawsuit</a> filed by the Los Angeles Press Club against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.</p><p data-block-key=\"5lg53\">The photojournalist had been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-head-leg-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-la-protest\">struck with crowd-control munitions</a> the previous day while covering the protests, so he wore personal protective equipment, positioned himself 50 to 100 feet from the officers and protesters, and only used his long lens to take photos from afar.</p><p data-block-key=\"hld4\">When Soqui prepared to leave for the day, federal officers shot him in the back with three rubber bullets in rapid succession, according to the lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"batcl\">“Mr. Soqui is certain that the officers who shot him were either ICE or DHS because he saw department patches identifying their departments on their arms, chests, and backs,” the suit said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a53\">The shooting of Soqui was a “misuse of militarized weapons,” it continued. “The way federal agents used rubber bullets here can cause significant and serious harm.”</p><p data-block-key=\"77fel\">Soqui did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. While his experiences were detailed in the LA Press Club’s lawsuit, he is not listed as a plaintiff.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4742\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"82axw\">Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers guard the Los Angeles Federal building during a protest against immigration enforcement raids on June 9, 2025. Photojournalist Ted Soqui was shot with rubber bullets that day while documenting the protest.</p>",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist detained in police kettle amid LA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-detained-in-police-kettle-amid-la-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-17T15:09:40.875359Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-17T15:09:40.875359Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"y9ddm\">Freelance documentary photographer Philip Cheung was detained in a kettle by police while covering an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bv7jo\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"cg96b\">Cheung was on assignment for The New York Times, documenting protests centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA’s Little Tokyo neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bb47\">After the Los Angeles Police Department declared the protests an unlawful assembly, officers began herding the crowd and ultimately surrounded them using a technique called kettling.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ot7\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-09&date_upper=2025-06-09&city=Los+Angeles&tags=kettle&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">Multiple journalists</a> caught in the kettle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police were removing journalists and demonstrators one by one, and did not make it clear whether members of the press were under arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"fsn6e\">When each of the journalists was removed from the kettle, officers directed them to place their hands behind their back and then held their arms in place while walking them out of the area. Once the members of the press provided their names and basic information, officers allowed them to leave with a warning that, if they returned, they would be subject to arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"tsqb\">Cheung confirmed that he was among the media members kettled, detained and escorted out of the protest area, but declined to comment further.</p><p data-block-key=\"20se5\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"y8hbx\">Police stand guard during an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Philip Cheung was documenting the demonstrations for The New York Times that day when he was detained in a police kettle.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
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{
"title": "TV news van vandalized at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-news-van-vandalized-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T19:29:19.419707Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x5u78\">A news van shared by KNBC and KVEA was defaced and vandalized during an immigration enforcement protest on June 9, 2025, in Los Angeles, California, according to videos posted on social media by multiple accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"13t9h\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and later the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"9meeb\">In a video posted to <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKucXSPADj7/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D\">Instagram</a>, a person is seen attempting to smash the van’s passenger-side window with a skateboard as a car alarm beeps in the background. The van, covered in graffiti, has a shattered front windshield.</p><p data-block-key=\"74urf\">In a separate video <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWKKnIXVgIA\">posted to YouTube by FreedomNewsTV</a> on June 10, one of the defaced van’s tires is shown slashed, hissing loudly as it rapidly deflates.</p><p data-block-key=\"2vj2i\">KNBC and KVEA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gljbm\">A news van shared by KNBC and KVEA was vandalized during an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist detained in police kettle amid LA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-detained-in-police-kettle-amid-la-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-18T18:41:19.669648Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sohyp\">Reporter Cam Higby was detained in a kettle by police while covering an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"60i74\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"779l6\">Higby told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the Los Angeles Police Department declared the protests an unlawful assembly. They then began herding the crowd, pushing demonstrators down Alameda Street, a major thoroughfare.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hoe0\">He said officers ultimately surrounded them using a technique called kettling. Higby, who is a journalist and personality for digital news media and commentary site Today Is America, reported live from the kettle <a href=\"https://x.com/camhigby/status/1932543594742579704/photo/1\">on Fox News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk1jv\">Officers gave them conflicting information, Higby said, adding that they said “somebody would be around to kind of collect media in a little while, but that person didn’t come.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4e5hc\">Higby and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-09&date_upper=2025-06-09&city=Los+Angeles&tags=kettle&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">other journalists</a> caught in the kettle told the Tracker that police were removing journalists and demonstrators one by one, and did not make it clear whether members of the press were under arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"132k2\">When each of the journalists was removed from the kettle, officers directed them to place their hands behind their back and then held their arms in place while walking them out of the area. Once members of the press provided their names and basic information, officers allowed them to leave with a warning that, if they returned, they would be subject to arrest.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨🚨 Everyone in this circle of police is under arrest <br><br>Police will decide what media is legitimate and let those who are go <a href=\"https://t.co/YsLIz8yEgR\">pic.twitter.com/YsLIz8yEgR</a></p>— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1932286431705358439?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\"><p data-block-key=\"sohyp\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p><p data-block-key=\"71du0\">Higby told the Tracker he was also caught in a kettle while documenting protests the following night, but that he and members of the press were quickly directed to an officer who verified their press credentials and allowed them to leave without further incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f7112\">Reporter Cam Higby recorded and reported live from inside a police kettle after he was detained amid protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. He and other members of the press were later released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
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},
{
"title": "CNN photographer detained in kettle, removed from LA protest area",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-photographer-detained-in-kettle-removed-from-la-protest-area/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T20:22:32.253838Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-23T20:58:35.171952Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-23T20:58:35.071087Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xrcvm\">An unidentified CNN photographer was shoved by police and later detained in a kettle while broadcasting from anti-deportation demonstrations in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. A correspondent and another team member for the outlet were escorted out while still on air, before the photographer was also removed.</p><p data-block-key=\"duofd\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with 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=\"3hmfu\">CNN national correspondent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-correspondent-detained-removed-from-protest-zone-in-la/\">Jason Carroll</a> and his reporting team were covering demonstrations in downtown LA on June 9, and were caught in a rush by police at approximately 6:30 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"121h2\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/MrOlmos/status/1932250194344845537\">footage</a> captured by CalMatters reporter Sergio Olmos, Los Angeles Police Department officers can be seen running directly into Carroll and members of his news crew, shoving them while shouting, “Move! Get out of the way!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD officers bull rush protesters and press, hitting them along the way indiscriminately <a href=\"https://t.co/hQdA3Wdjze\">pic.twitter.com/hQdA3Wdjze</a></p>— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1932250194344845537?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\"><p data-block-key=\"7yvmh\">Approximately two hours later, the news crew had just concluded a live report for the news program “Laura Coates Live” when they were approached by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"1jbu7\">The unidentified photographer recorded as Los Angeles Police Department officers told Carroll that he needed to leave the area, directing him to place his arms behind his back as two officers escorted him outside the perimeter by the elbow.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CNN’s reporter on scene in Los Angeles: I’m being detained.. <a href=\"https://t.co/DANNms8ZZj\">pic.twitter.com/DANNms8ZZj</a></p>— Acyn (@Acyn) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1932290084164051406?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\"><p data-block-key=\"xrcvm\">“I said, ‘Am I being arrested?’ He said, ‘No, you’re not being arrested, you’re being detained,’” Carroll <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/10/us/video/jason-carroll-escorted-la-protest-digvid\">recounted</a>. “You take a lot of risks as press. This is low on that sort of scale of risks, but it is something that I wasn’t expecting, simply because we’ve been out here all day.”</p><p data-block-key=\"43ve4\">The photographer and a third team member were escorted out of the area in the same manner.</p><p data-block-key=\"2j36m\">Carroll reported that officers took down his name and other basic information before releasing him. He did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ev7p3\">In an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, CNN said it was “pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3c5gg\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p><p data-block-key=\"49dg6\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include details about assaults suffered by the news crew earlier on June 9.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ti73c\">CNN correspondent Jason Carroll, left, points toward an unidentified CNN photographer detained alongside Carroll in a police kettle while documenting anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p>",
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},
{
"title": "LA Times photojournalist detained in police kettle, released without charges",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-photojournalist-detained-in-police-kettle-released-without-charges/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T16:51:03.548514Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-13T16:53:13.399369Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pkv6a\">Jason Armond, a photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times, was detained in a kettle by police while documenting an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bet6j\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3g6id\">Armond told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and his colleague, reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-reporter-detained-in-kettle-at-anti-deportation-protest\">Rebecca Ellis</a>, had been documenting protests throughout the night of June 9. The protests were centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA’s Little Tokyo neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"18haq\">After the Los Angeles Police Department declared the protests an unlawful assembly, Armond said he and Ellis were following the remaining demonstrators when officers began herding the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"20kk\">“We got to a point where the police were able to surround the area and kind of kettle us in,” he said. “Once they surrounded us, they started picking people out one by one to then arrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a8an1\">While officers started with the demonstrators, Armond said, one then called Ellis over.</p><p data-block-key=\"7auel\">“She was talking to them for a minute and then all of a sudden they had her turn around,” he said. “She was just panicking.” Ellis later confirmed to the Tracker that she was not cuffed, just had her hands held behind her back.</p><p data-block-key=\"b48bv\">“I thought that they were going to let press out, because The New York Times was there — basically all the press was there — and we were in talks with them,” Armond said. “But one side wasn’t communicating with the other.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dbu3j\">He said that the lack of communication left them no choice but to assume they were also under arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qt1u\">“It was stressful,” Armond said. “When you’re in the kettle and then you’re initially talking with them, and then they have you put your hands behind your back: It’s like, what? Am I being arrested or am I being let out?”</p><p data-block-key=\"33t1o\">Armond told the Tracker he was in the kettle for around 90 minutes, as he wanted to continue photographing the arrests of demonstrators. When he left the kettle, officers directed him to place his arms behind his back. Two officers escorted him out, each holding him by the wrist. After they confirmed his press credentials, Armond said he was released.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1krp\">“My only gripe is that they could have just been up front and been like, ‘Hey, for our safety, we need to have you put your hands behind your back. We want to make sure you don’t have anything in your hands as we walk you back, and then we’ll let you out,’” Armond said. “They didn’t say any of that until they basically scared us in the process.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4esbv\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"unxpq\">Los Angeles Times photojournalist Jason Armond, center, was detained in a police kettle and escorted out of the area of an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. He was released without charges.</p>",
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"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist detained in police kettle amid LA immigration protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-detained-in-police-kettle-amid-la-immigration-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-24T19:19:38.187801Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-24T19:19:38.187801Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-24T19:11:42.251824Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mjb4h\">Independent photojournalist John Rudoff was detained in a kettle by police while covering an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"90tqh\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mffu\">Rudoff told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting protests throughout the night of June 9. The protests were centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA’s Little Tokyo neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lohp\">After the Los Angeles Police Department declared the protests an unlawful assembly, Rudoff said he followed as 50 to 100 demonstrators were pushed back by “a wall of cops” on South Alameda Street, a major thoroughfare. He added that the officers were heavily armed, carrying 40 mm crowd-control munitions, pepper balls and shields.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9a2h\">Officers herded the crowd and by approximately 8:30 p.m. had surrounded them using a technique called kettling.</p><p data-block-key=\"73r3f\">“The usual tactic is to have a wall of cops — mostly armored with helmets and face shields and batons — advancing toward a group of protesters,” Rudoff said. “They would advance 10 or 20 feet and stop and form up their line again and then yell ‘Move!’ or ‘Move back!’ and push forward another distance.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b7fr0\">Rudoff told the Tracker he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-09&date_upper=2025-06-09&city=Los+Angeles&tags=kettle&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">among the journalists</a> and demonstrators caught in the kettle and told they were under arrest for failure to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"71oh2\">“I basically sat down and made a few pictures and twiddled my thumbs for an hour as several of the protesters, one by one, were lined up and taken away by the cops,” he said. “About 45 minutes to an hour later, a sergeant pointed his finger at me and beckoned me toward him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"633q1\">The photojournalist said he complied and was told to put his hands behind his back. The officer asked Rudoff if he was with the press and noticed the National Press Photographers Association credential around his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1014\">“He said, ‘Let me take a look at that,’ and I think he photographed it with a cellphone, but I’m not sure,” Rudoff said. “And then he said, ‘I’m going to walk you out of here with your hands behind your back. I don’t want the activists to see that we’re letting you go.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"fb4it\">Rudoff told the Tracker he was able to then reconnect with a colleague who had avoided the kettle and leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"70olk\">“I was not physically injured and I’ve got psychological skin like an alligator,” he said. “But I was out of business for an hour, and I know perfectly well that the California Penal Code says that police are not allowed to disperse, detain, beat or arrest journalists doing their jobs, and that is precisely what they did.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c6tr2\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"igovc\">Police officers surround a crowd of demonstrators and press in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. Independent photojournalist John Rudoff was among those detained and later released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
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{
"title": "Journalist hit by foam round while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-by-foam-round-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-30T21:22:06.182300Z",
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"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2r916\">Jeremy Lindenfeld, a journalist reporting for news nonprofit Capital & Main, was struck in the abdomen by a foam baton round while covering an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct022\">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> June 6, following federal immigration raids across the LA area amid a larger immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard and U.S. Marines, despite objections from state and local officials.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s20a\">Lindenfeld said the scene was “incredibly chaotic” as Los Angeles Police Department officers advanced a skirmish line and began detaining protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu4rm\">“I was moving back as instructed,” he said. “I also was not at the front of the line until they forcibly detained somebody right in front of me, which is all on camera. Right after that, I got hit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"417oi\">In a video Lindenfeld posted to social platform X, a loud shot is heard, followed by his pained response. The impact of what Lindenfeld described as a foam baton round, similar to a rubber bullet, caused a small bruise on his abdomen.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Incredibly chaotic scene in downtown Los Angeles. LAPD pushing forward a skirmish line and violently arresting anti-ICE protesters. You can also hear me grunt when police shoot me in the abdomen with some kind of projectile. <a href=\"https://t.co/5AZ5a4Wm2P\">pic.twitter.com/5AZ5a4Wm2P</a></p>— Jeremy Lindenfeld (@jeremotographs) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jeremotographs/status/1932265306342490507?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\"><p data-block-key=\"2r916\">Lindenfeld said he was clearly identifiable as a journalist when he was struck, wearing both a press badge and helmet marked “PRESS” in all caps. While he couldn’t speak to the officer’s intent, he said it was clear no effort was made to avoid hitting him.</p><p data-block-key=\"8c18g\">“He definitely knew I was a member of the media,” Lindenfeld said. “I don’t know if he wanted to hit a journalist, or if he just didn’t care.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5h1ra\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted to X, the department said it was responding to “significant acts of violence, vandalism, and looting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2p7f\">“Multiple deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property,” the statement read, before adding that its professional standards bureau would be investigating allegations of excessive force.</p><p data-block-key=\"4s63e\">Lindenfeld described a pattern of police aggression toward both protesters and journalists throughout the days of protests. Previously, he had been exposed to tear gas and pepper balls near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA and during an immigration raid in Paramount. Later, on June 14, at a “No Kings Day” anti-Trump protest, he said he was exposed to tear gas again despite wearing protective gear.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gras\">While he said such tactics make it feel unsafe to report, Lindenfeld emphasized that the experience hasn’t deterred him.</p><p data-block-key=\"4b50u\">“For me and others, it has strengthened our resolve,” he said. “We’re going to keep covering this.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lindenfeld.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yt56i\">Jeremy Lindenfeld displaying press identification, left, alongside a screenshot of video he captured when hit by a crowd-control munition during a June 9, 2025, protest in Los Angeles.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Jeremy Lindenfeld (Capital & Main)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Australian reporter shot with munition at LA protest during live broadcast",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/australian-reporter-shot-with-munition-at-la-protest-during-live-broadcast/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T21:17:59.247562Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T21:17:59.247562Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T21:02:01.682788Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u3p6o\">Lauren Tomasi, a correspondent for Australia’s 9News, was struck by a crowd-control munition while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1g57u\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and other local law enforcement units as well as federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"abbbf\">On June 8, the protests were focused around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA, where detainees from prior immigration raids were being held, 9News <a href=\"https://www.9news.com.au/world/los-angeles-protests-national-guard-troops-arrive-in-la-on-donald-trumps-orders-to-quell-immigration-protests/0e451581-493c-46fc-b426-ee220f6a29fc?ocid=Social-9News\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"egu6m\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1931885297203347706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1931885297203347706%7Ctwgr%5Ec5b80e43bb48ff30622cf28a88afdf2236acbe70%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmedia%2F2025%2Fjun%2F09%2Faustralian-reporter-shot-with-rubber-bullet-while-covering-anti-ice-protests-in-los-angeles\">live broadcast</a> moments before Tomasi was hit, she reported that, “After hours of standing off, this situation has now rapidly deteriorated. The LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of LA.”</p><p data-block-key=\"213lo\">Tomasi is seen turning to show the line of law enforcement officers behind her when the Los Angeles Police officer at the end closest to her abruptly turns and fires a crowd-control munition into her leg.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">U.S. Correspondent Lauren Tomasi has been caught in the crossfire as the LAPD fired rubber bullets at protesters in the heart of Los Angeles. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/9News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#9News</a><br><br>LATEST: <a href=\"https://t.co/l5w7JxixxB\">https://t.co/l5w7JxixxB</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/nvQ7m9TGLj\">pic.twitter.com/nvQ7m9TGLj</a></p>— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1931885297203347706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u3p6o\">A bystander can be heard telling the officer, “You just fucking shot the reporter!”</p><p data-block-key=\"14cfq\">When reached for comment, the Los Angeles Police Department directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning the shooting of Tomasi.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ic3i\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.9news.com.au/national/lauren-tomasi-shot-in-los-angeles-protests-anthony-albanese-responds/428fdfbe-4358-4ba0-8414-40cc4e0254dd\">told 9News</a> that he was aware of the incident and that an investigation had been launched.</p><p data-block-key=\"883jk\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LaurenTomasi/status/1932129000358642126\">post</a> on the social platform X the following day, Tomasi wrote, “Hey there. Thanks for all your messages - I’m a bit sore, but I’m okay. Important we keep on telling the stories that need to be told.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hey there. Thanks for all your messages - I'm a bit sore, but I'm okay. Important we keep on telling the stories that need to be told. Here's our report on what unfolded in Los Angeles. <a href=\"https://t.co/S8AvjQuFA7\">pic.twitter.com/S8AvjQuFA7</a></p>— Lauren Tomasi (@LaurenTomasi) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LaurenTomasi/status/1932129000358642126?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u3p6o\">Tomasi did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0njd\">Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called footage of Tomasi being shot “horrific,” adding that it had already been raised with the U.S. government, 9News <a href=\"https://www.9news.com.au/national/lauren-tomasi-shot-in-los-angeles-protests-anthony-albanese-responds/428fdfbe-4358-4ba0-8414-40cc4e0254dd\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4afg2\">“She was clearly identified. There was no ambiguity,” Albanese said. “We don’t find it acceptable that it occurred, and we think that the role of the media is particularly important.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Tomasi_CA_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"5oht3\">Lauren Tomasi, a reporter for Australia’s 9News, was reporting live on protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025, when an officer suddenly turned and shot her in the leg with a crowd-control munition.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"tags": [
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"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
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],
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],
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{
"title": "Reporter’s bag searched while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-bag-searched-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-10T19:01:00.054007Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-10T20:45:27.168200Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-10T20:45:27.083940Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1iaw9\">Freelance journalist Joey Scott had his equipment bag searched by a sheriff’s deputy while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bl9tt\">The weekend protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"b55ea\">Scott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and another reporter, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputy-searches-journalists-bag-during-la-immigration-protest/\">Lexis-Olivier Ray</a> of L.A. Taco, were attempting to cross a law enforcement skirmish line to escape tear gas and flash-bang grenades when they were stopped by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy. Although other journalists were allowed to pass, the deputy insisted on searching their bags, Scott said.</p><p data-block-key=\"erafo\">Scott said both he and Ray displayed their press badges — Scott’s issued by the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union — but still had to show the contents of their bags to cross. In <a href=\"https://x.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699\">videos</a> the pair posted to the social platform X, the deputy, who identified himself as a sergeant, can be seen shining a light into Ray’s bag.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In order for us to leave the tear gas we had to move pass the LASD skirmish line. LASD told us to they had to search our bags in order for us to leave. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ShotOn35mm</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/xY4YLwUKF5\">pic.twitter.com/xY4YLwUKF5</a></p>— Joey (@joeyneverjoe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1iaw9\">He told the Tracker he feared refusing the search would have resulted in being forced back into the tear gas, his devices being seized or his detention or arrest. Scott, who has covered numerous protests over the past five years, said this experience was among the most intense.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4uk0\">The trauma of these encounters builds over time, he said. “You go out and the thing that goes through your mind is: Is this the night that I get arrested? Is this the night that I get severely hurt?”</p><p data-block-key=\"96h29\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cj343\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25159739066258.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sogfe\">Law enforcement at a immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Freelance journalist Joey Scott had his equipment bag searched while covering the protest.</p>",
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "equipment bag"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joey Scott (Freelance)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter pushed by police officers at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-officers-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T17:00:12.432886Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-13T17:00:12.432886Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-13T17:00:12.344826Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2gcz\">E. Tammy Kim, a contributing writer at The New Yorker, was pushed by officers while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025, <a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/immigration-protests-threaten-to-boil-over-in-los-angeles\">she reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lc2n\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"47g7a\">In her piece for The New Yorker, Kim wrote that she encountered around 20 National Guard members — “in camouflage, armed, helmeted, clutching shields” —outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. Behind them were a half-dozen tactical vehicles.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbt0t\">“The scene did more to provoke than soothe,” she wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"am0mi\">More than 100 officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, outfitted in black riot gear, shot off tear gas, Kim reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6br4\">“A pair of officers shoved me repeatedly and pushed me forward on the sidewalk with their batons,” Kim wrote. “When I identified as press, one said, ‘I don’t care.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"1f5ll\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932838116722982997/photo/2\">to social platform X</a>, the department said it had worked through the night to restore public safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"1s6rl\">Kim could not immediately be reached for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25159739073979.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cnwn4\">Authorities stand outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. A New Yorker reporter said she was shoved repeatedly by a pair of police officers that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "NY Times reporter hit by crowd-control munition during LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ny-times-reporter-hit-by-crowd-control-munition-during-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T19:06:49.875275Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T19:06:49.875275Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T19:06:49.786695Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ogxed\">Livia Albeck-Ripka, a reporter for The New York Times, was struck by a round of crowd-control munitions while covering an immigration enforcement protest on June 8, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles, California, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000010217680/a-look-at-the-crackdown-on-the-la-protests.html\">the newspaper reported.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"449ml\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3m84v\">In a video posted to the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000010217680/a-look-at-the-crackdown-on-the-la-protests.html\">Times website</a>, Albeck-Ripka said that around midnight, she saw a line of officers, who very quickly began firing crowd-control munitions in her direction.</p><p data-block-key=\"49cnd\">“I was hit below my rib cage. It was a pretty intense, instant pain. I felt winded,” she said. “I was really lucky because I was not seriously injured. I just have a nasty bruise.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ksru\">Albeck-Ripka acknowledged in the video that there had been some incidents of violence by individuals who lit cars on fire and threw rocks and scooters, but said that the majority of protesters were peaceful.</p><p data-block-key=\"afl7f\">“In the instance that munitions were fired at myself and my colleagues, there were very few people on the street,” she said. “It was very late at night, and we were standing quite some distance from the officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dln68\">Albeck-Ripka did not specify which law enforcement agency deployed the shots, or whether she and her colleagues were targeted by the officers for being media members. Albeck-Ripka did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"eo6l8\">In statements issued to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, some of the local and federal agencies at the protest urged caution for journalists covering these events, defended their actions against threats of violence and emphasized training officers to respect the rights of clearly identified press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hceen\">In this image montage, New York Times reporter Livia Albeck-Ripka recounts her experience getting hit by a crowd-control munition while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "Radio reporter hit with crowd-control munition, tear-gassed at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-reporter-hit-with-crowd-control-munition-tear-gassed-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-30T18:04:51.276920Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-30T18:04:51.276920Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-30T18:04:51.166299Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xv9nw\">Pete Demetriou, a reporter for radio station KNX, was hit in the leg with a crowd-control munition and tear-gassed while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddrc6\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"8fm2d\">In a June 9 interview with <a href=\"https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/local/reporter-recounts-being-shot-by-rubber-bullet-during-protest\">KNX</a>, Demetriou recalled that he and his security detail, Jose Aceves, were caught up in two separate incidents the previous day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ij3g\">In the first incident, Demetriou said the situation escalated when a few protesters threw full water bottles and soda cans at National Guard troops and Department of Homeland Security agents near the rear entrance of the Federal Building, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was bringing detainees.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rhvu\">Within seconds, the federal officers responded with pepper spray and tear gas to push the crowd back.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc9sk\">“You’ve got a mist and then all of a sudden, you got a white cloud of smoke coming at you,” Demetriou recalled, “Your eyes close, your nose shuts down, your throat locks up. You can’t do anything but try to struggle to breathe.”</p><p data-block-key=\"96d8f\">Demetriou and Aceves got into their car, grabbed bottles of water and turned on recycled air to recover.</p><p data-block-key=\"50pct\">Demetriou said at that point, his main objective was to regroup and get back on the air. “I can’t do my job if I can’t tell people what’s going on.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b9djp\">They soon went back out to continue covering the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qf4i\">In the second incident, Demetriou told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Los Angeles Police Department officers had formed a skirmish line to try to prevent protesters from going onto a street leading to the U.S. 101 freeway. Police fired dispersal rounds and impact rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"2sku9\">Demetriou was struck with a 40 mm impact round. He was broadcasting live when he was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"fsqel\">“Sorry, got a little bit dicey here, folks. I just took a hit to the leg with a 40-millimeter impact round. It’s blue, hard rubber,” Demetriou said during the broadcast.</p><p data-block-key=\"fitkh\">When anchor Rob Archer asked how he could stay on the air after getting hit, Demetriou replied, “You stay on the air because you have to. It’s your job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4t8qo\">Asked in the KNX interview whether the officer deliberately aimed at him, Demetriou said “Probably not.” He added that he received only minor irritation from the impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"44htq\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning Demetriou or <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-08&date_upper=2025-06-08&assailant=LAW_ENFORCEMENT&categories=Assault\">multiple other journalists assaulted</a> while documenting protests that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"90uge\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"26di0\">Protesters confront a line of police near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. KNX radio reporter Pete Demetriou was hit with a crowd-control munition and tear-gassed while covering the protest.</p>",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Sheriff’s deputy searches journalist’s bag during LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputy-searches-journalists-bag-during-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-10T20:43:52.603461Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-10T21:40:05.228651Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-10T21:40:05.127348Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"271ck\">A sheriff’s deputy searched L.A. Taco investigative journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray’s bag while he was reporting on an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"19bod\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l1hp\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-bag-searched-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">another reporter, Joey Scott,</a> were trying to leave the protest and because of the excessive tear gas being deployed nearby, determined that the best course of action was to cross the law enforcement skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b1ki\">“I saw two other journalists pass through just by showing their press passes,” Ray said.</p><p data-block-key=\"600lf\">But despite seeing their press badges, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy, who identified himself as a sergeant in a <a href=\"https://x.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699\">video Scott posted</a> to the social platform X, insisted the pair stop to have their bags searched.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In order for us to leave the tear gas we had to move pass the LASD skirmish line. LASD told us to they had to search our bags in order for us to leave. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ShotOn35mm</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/xY4YLwUKF5\">pic.twitter.com/xY4YLwUKF5</a></p>— Joey (@joeyneverjoe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1931921864504590699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"271ck\">“If you’d like to go this way, I want to inspect your backpack,” the deputy said. “If not, you can go that way. It’s up to you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"92kbc\">Shining his flashlight into Ray’s bag, the deputy directed him to continue opening the pockets of his backpack, according to <a href=\"https://x.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1931924134356984146\">another video of the incident,</a> posted by Ray. At one point, the deputy acknowledged that the pair were journalists, but said the request was reasonable and for the sake of other law enforcement officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7036\">“I’ve never been searched,” Ray is heard telling the deputy in the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lqhl\">“Nobody is asking to search you. I’m asking you to open your backpack to make sure you don’t have a bomb in there. Do you have a bomb in there?” the deputy asked.</p><p data-block-key=\"4nm6f\">Ray told the officer that he had no weapons.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u8h9\">“Journalists cross police lines all the time, they don’t get searched. It’s not practical to,” Ray told the deputy in the video Scott posted.</p><p data-block-key=\"bftp3\">“It is in this instance,” the deputy replied.</p><p data-block-key=\"dn5a9\">Ray told the Tracker that police don’t have the capability to search every journalist that goes through a skirmish line, and expressed concern that this could have a chilling effect on reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ado2\">“I could see law enforcement agencies potentially using these bag searches as a way to gain information about journalists or just to intimidate them or discourage them from crossing their lines,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"44n7u\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9qb45\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"13f6u\">Ray was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">struck by pepper balls fired by federal law enforcement</a> while covering another protest in downtown Los Angeles the previous day.</p><p data-block-key=\"c96mb\">The Tracker has documented other incidents in which Ray was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-repeatedly-shoved-while-covering-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">shoved,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-taco-reporter-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/\">detained,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-equipment-damaged-while-covering-dodgers-celebrations/\">tackled</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multiple-journalists-covering-protests-los-angeles-assaulted/\">struck with a baton</a> while covering protests in Los Angeles since 2020.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q5t30\">People console a man suffering from the effects of tear gas during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. Lexis-Olivier Ray, who took the photo, had his bag searched while covering the protest.</p>",
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}
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},
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{
"title": "TV news vehicle vandalized during LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-news-vehicle-vandalized-during-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-11T20:34:01.150422Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T18:37:18.920285Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T18:37:18.821506Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0bm3z\">At least one news van belonging to KTLA was seen being tagged with graffiti live on air during a news broadcast of an immigration enforcement protest on June 8, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles, California, the outlet <a href=\"https://ktla.com/news/local-news/waymos-lit-on-fire-ktla-van-defaced-as-los-angeles-protests-spin-out-of-control/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7mcr\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"5b99c\">During the live broadcast, reporter Rachel Menitoff addresses viewers while someone spray paints the KTLA news van behind her.</p><p data-block-key=\"b3jss\">“Discouraging to see this, people painting over our van,” Menitoff said. She then detailed the fear and anger felt by protesters over the immigration raids that sparked the public demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"4aihv\">“This is the reason for these protests, but over the last couple of hours it’s kind of devolved into violence and chaos, and people have shared with us that their message is kind of getting lost as a result,” she said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As KTLA 5 reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RachelMenitoff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RachelMenitoff</a> reported on the unrest near the federal building amid the ICE raids, our cameras caught a vandal spray painting our news van. This is among the many vehicles and property being damaged: <a href=\"https://t.co/PS0jAlUPdC\">https://t.co/PS0jAlUPdC</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/nCdCSUt0jK\">pic.twitter.com/nCdCSUt0jK</a></p>— KTLA (@KTLA) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KTLA/status/1931902521423036803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0bm3z\">Neither Menitoff nor KTLA immediately responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qhrco\">In this image montage, KTLA reporter Rachel Menitoff delivers a live broadcast as the station’s van is vandalized behind her during an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.</p>",
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],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter pushed, mic lost while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-mic-lost-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-24T16:23:12.151599Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-24T16:23:12.151599Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-24T16:23:12.048399Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"82szv\">Michelle Zacarias, a reporter for Caló News, was pushed by a Los Angeles Police Department officer and her microphone knocked off and lost while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1dq5c\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and later the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"1gatf\">Zacarias told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that around 3 p.m. on June 8, she was following a protest march that started near the City Hall and was moving toward the nearby Federal Building. She was near the front of the march, wearing a press pass around her neck, and holding her camera and cellphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"di3fp\">As the crowd approached the Federal Building, Zacarias said she could see and smell tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"armli\">The LAPD created a line of scrimmage to meet the marchers on the sidewalk and started to push them back with their batons, yelling at them to clear the area. Zacarias, who said she is an amputee and visibly wears a prosthetic right leg, identified herself as media but the police continued to push her and others.</p><p data-block-key=\"8qr1c\">“I was pushed back by a police officer and kettled into a large crowd,” said Zacarias, “despite being both a reporter and disabled.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6bs6i\">As she was pushed back, the marchers became squashed together. At that point, she had to push her way out of the crowd to escape the confrontation. She said she sustained a minor lip injury from being pushed by an officer’s baton but felt well enough to continue reporting the rest of the day.</p><p data-block-key=\"5l00t\">Zacarias added that when she was pushed by police, an officer hit the microphone that was clipped to her chest, knocking it off. She said the microphone was lost and she had to buy a replacement.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk49s\">The incident was captured in footage filmed by Zacarias and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKqGqKoSdXS/\">posted</a> on Instagram by Caló News. She <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKqEo8shkjh/\">described the incident</a> in a separate Instagram post.</p><p data-block-key=\"fq6vr\">“I can say with certainty there was a clear disregard for media personnel and our rights to document,” she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"b555c\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning Zacarias’ assault.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zfcmh\">In this image montage, Caló News reporter Michelle Zacarias, left, describes being pushed by Los Angeles Police Department officers, right, while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown LA on June 8, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "Reporter hit by crowd-control munition while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-hit-by-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-25T18:36:18.514385Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-25T18:36:18.514385Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-25T18:36:18.392663Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jaisp\">Sergio Olmos, an investigative reporter for CalMatters, was struck in the chest by a crowd-control munition fired by police officers while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkqk9\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2dqt\">Olmos told <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2025/06/09/journalists-injured-la-protests/\">The Washington Post</a> that he was wearing a press pass and <a href=\"https://x.com/MrOlmos/status/1931816889992573095\">shooting</a> video of a protest a few blocks from a complex of federal buildings when Los Angeles Police Department officers shot crowd-control munitions at demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e60f\">In a video of the incident <a href=\"https://x.com/mrolmos/status/1931881207073264118\">posted</a> by the reporter on the social platform X, police can be seen firing into the crowd, and then the camera angle moves to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"55qh3\">Olmos told the Post that he was hit with what he believed was a 40 mm sponge grenade. “I got hit in the chest and it’s a moment of, ‘What the f---?’” He said he put his camera down momentarily to check that he was OK.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A less lethal round hits this reporter in the chest <a href=\"https://t.co/7fQWGOcihp\">pic.twitter.com/7fQWGOcihp</a></p>— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1931881207073264118?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jaisp\">In an <a href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-legislature-news-roundup-2025-newsletter/\">interview</a> in CalMatters, Olmos said that on the day he was hit, police fired more less-lethal rounds in a single day of protests than he’d ever seen.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekm9t\">“California law enforcements are trained not to shoot these less-lethal rounds at the head and neck area because they can cause severe injuries. And you’re not supposed to use them to disperse people. But the LAPD is using them to move crowds back, which goes against their training,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l1ns\">Olmos did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3s0ra\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning Olmos’ assault.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dmu6q\">A Los Angeles Police Department officer fires a crowd-control munition near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA on June 8, 2025. CalMatters reporter Sergio Olmos was struck with a round while covering an immigration protest that day.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in head, leg with crowd-control munitions amid LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-head-leg-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-02T14:01:29.843029Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-02T14:01:29.843029Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-02T14:01:29.659355Z",
"date": "2025-06-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uvxq9\">Freelance photojournalist Ted Soqui was shot by federal officers in the face and shin with a pepper ball and rubber bullet while covering anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e41ko\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"as83l\">According to a June 18 <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70581520/1/los-angeles-press-club-v-kristi-noem/\">lawsuit</a> filed by the Los Angeles Press Club against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Soqui had been documenting the protests at LA’s Federal Building each day from around 11 a.m. until early evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"3pipv\">On June 8, Soqui was reporting alongside other journalists, standing approximately 15 feet from both demonstrators and federal officers, according to the suit. The photojournalist, who has covered protests throughout his decades-long career, said the protest was tense but that escalation did not seem imminent.</p><p data-block-key=\"ud5n\">As DHS officers pushed back protesters, Soqui was struck in the left cheekbone with a pepper ball and in the right shin with a rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"alclp\">There was no marked perimeter, audible dispersal order or warning that DHS agents would use force, according to the lawsuit, and the shootings of Soqui were “misuses of militarized weapons.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3fhgh\">“The way federal agents used pepper balls here can cause significant and serious harm,” it continued.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l6ov\">Although the incident left Soqui feeling “shaken and upset,” according to the lawsuit, he still returned the following day to continue reporting and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-rubber-bullets-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest\">was struck again</a> with multiple crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"b9qac\">Soqui did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. While his experiences were detailed in the LA Press Club’s lawsuit, he is not listed as a plaintiff.</p><p data-block-key=\"2in1i\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ayig7\">Protesters face off with police in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Ted Soqui was shot with crowd-control munitions that day while covering the protests against immigration enforcement raids.</p>",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck by pepper pellets, tear-gassed while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-by-pepper-pellets-tear-gassed-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T21:26:51.738360Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-13T21:26:51.738360Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-13T21:26:51.645435Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1ue4w\">An unidentified photojournalist was part of the KNBC television crew struck with pepper balls and caught in tear gas while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"793p6\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"c64hr\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKp4fugB0Am/?igsh=aGxzbmFzbXo2Zm5p\">video</a> posted by KNBC TV’s Mekahlo Medina on social media, the reporter said that at about 8:30 p.m. on June 7, a mix of Los Angeles Police Department officers and federal agents pushed through crowds of protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-pepper-pellets-and-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/\">Medina said he and his crew were shot by pepper pellets</a> and affected by tear gas, and later took cover behind a news truck.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbi1k\">“A rough night in downtown LA as journalists, along with protesters, shot at with pepper pellets and tear gas,” Medina said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddg6t\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKoDXJguulB/?igsh=ejdmeG80eHZiMnd6\">another video</a>, he said that one of the station’s photographers was also hit by the projectiles, which he said were deployed by the LAPD. Medina did not return the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"brv5o\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted to X, the department said it was responding to “significant acts of violence, vandalism, and looting” and worked through the night to restore public safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"fls9a\">“Multiple deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property,” the statement read, before adding that its professional standards bureau would be investigating allegations of excessive force used during the protests.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"085sb\">Police outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. At a protest the night before, an unidentified KNBC photographer was struck with pepper balls.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
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"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Reporter struck by pepper pellets and tear gas while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-pepper-pellets-and-tear-gas-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-13T18:07:05.550562Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-13T21:27:50.630858Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-13T21:27:50.546176Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"267cz\">Reporter Mekahlo Medina and his KNBC television crew were struck with pepper balls and tear gas while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"bq3bq\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hg9i\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKp4fugB0Am/?igsh=aGxzbmFzbXo2Zm5p\">video</a> posted on social media by Medina, the reporter said that at about 8:30 p.m. on June 7, a mix of Los Angeles Police Department officers and federal agents pushed through crowds of protesters outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"dedfo\">Medina — who was wearing a press vest — said approximately 20 minutes later he and his crew were shot by pepper pellets and affected by tear gas, and later took cover behind a news truck.</p><p data-block-key=\"eo3ni\">“A rough night in downtown LA as journalists, along with protesters, shot at with pepper pellets and tear gas,” Medina said, showing white powder on his press vest, as well as on the back of a man he identified as his security guard.</p><p data-block-key=\"9todd\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKoDXJguulB/?igsh=ejdmeG80eHZiMnd6\">another video</a>, Medina said that one of his photographers was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-by-pepper-pellets-tear-gassed-while-covering-la-protest/\">also hit by the projectiles</a>, which he said were deployed by the LAPD.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1o5b\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted to X, the department said it was responding to “significant acts of violence, vandalism, and looting” and worked through the night to restore public safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"crslm\">“Multiple deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property,” the statement read, before adding that its professional standards bureau would be investigating allegations of excessive force used during the protests.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD Releases Information Related to Recent Protests <a href=\"https://t.co/XDNnngM5ty\">pic.twitter.com/XDNnngM5ty</a></p>— LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932838116722982997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"267cz\">Also on June 7, Medina was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-pushes-reporter-in-press-vest-at-la-immigration-protest/\">pushed by a federal agent</a> with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He did not immediately return a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/combined.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sqwdo\">KNBC TV reporter Mekahlo Medina was struck with pepper balls and tear gas during a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Reporter struck in head with munition by federal officers at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-in-head-with-munition-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-02T20:39:44.087317Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-02T20:39:44.087317Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-02T20:19:25.022279Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0lsrk\">Ryanne Mena, a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by federal officers while documenting anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"comqe\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6khgm\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times<a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\"> reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7t2f9\">Mena told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. and began interviewing a few individuals who had been injured by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies, who had fired crowd-control munitions at the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"qorf\">“Then 4:30 p.m. rolls by and I’m like, ‘OK, things are relatively mellow. I think I’m going to get ready to head out,” she said. “Then I see three to four dozen federal officers emerge from this warehouse area across the street from the Home Depot that was raided earlier in the morning.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8r3af\">Mena noted that there weren’t many protesters around and she hadn’t observed any antagonistic behavior from the protesters, but officers began firing crowd-control munitions at the crowd without issuing a warning, sending her and independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel running for safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"do35h\">“We’re kind of just trying to find a place to go where we won’t get hit, but we didn’t have a lot of time,” Mena told the Tracker. “So they began shooting at the crowd and I think we were both shot in the head at almost the exact same time: I’m hit with a rubber ball bullet to my head an inch above my right ear.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mena_assault_67.width-828.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"1280\" alt=\"COURTESY RYANNE MENA\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"2hrmn\">Los Angeles Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena was photographed moments after she was struck in the head with a rubber bullet fired by federal officers responding to anti-deportation protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY RYANNE MENA\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0lsrk\">She added that the munition hit the thick edge of her baseball cap, which may have lessened the impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"p7hg\">Beckner-Carmitchel was struck in the forehead with some type of canister, he told the Tracker. The journalists were almost immediately surrounded by tear gas, Mena said, which was particularly debilitating because she has asthma.</p><p data-block-key=\"54tvc\">“I just kind of grab Sean’s arm and he leads us around the corner so we can get away from all the tear gas and the firing,” she told the Tracker. “And then we wash our eyes out and document each other’s injuries.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8k0eo\">She said that she was wearing two press credentials — one issued by her news outlet and one by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. “It was very clear I was there working as a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sesl\">Mena, who had also been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-ball-by-federal-officers-at-la-protest\">shot with a pepper ball</a> by federal officers the previous day, said that she got a severe headache later that day and threw up that evening. She ultimately went to an urgent care center two days later and was diagnosed with a concussion.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ang1\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1r8c8\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-07&date_upper=2025-06-07&city=Compton&state=California\">Multiple journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the demonstrations in Compton and Paramount that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"dm66c\">Mena told the Tracker that she had been cleared by her newsroom to go back out to cover protests June 12, and her willingness to cover demonstrations and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids was in no way diminished.</p><p data-block-key=\"24u7s\">“This is not going to turn me at all from this coverage,” she said. “It’s motivating me to go even harder with my reporting, because it is so important what’s going on and they’re not going to silence the press.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q46q1\">In this skewed screenshot from footage taken at a June 7, 2025, anti-deportation protest in Compton, California, Los Angeles Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena is seen ducking for cover after she was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by federal officers.</p>",
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{
"title": "Munition strikes photojournalist at LA protest, shrapnel surgically removed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/munition-strikes-photojournalist-at-la-protest-shrapnel-surgically-removed/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-12T20:52:23.427380Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-12T20:52:23.427380Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-12T20:52:15.369716Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ymu58\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern required surgery after he was struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition while documenting protests in the California cities of Compton and Paramount on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1439m\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3sf9v\">Demonstrations the following day were centered around a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of Los Angeles, after Border Patrol agents were spotted nearby, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/what-actually-happened-at-the-paramount-home-depot\">reported</a>. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies formed a police line blocking the bridge that led to the Home Depot and connected Paramount to the adjacent city of Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"aqj53\">Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he and his colleague Tina-Desiree Berg arrived to document the mounting protest at around 3 p.m., and found a standoff along the skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"ato9p\">“Things went backward and forward,” Stern said. “The Sheriff’s Department firing projectiles, throwing these kinds of stun grenades, firing pepper pellets at people. People responding by throwing things like bottles of water and small bits of concrete.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9r6sn\">He said it continued until night fell, at which point the deputies moved their line back. Meanwhile, some demonstrators had assembled a makeshift barricade to protect themselves from the crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"faeo0\">Shortly before 9 p.m., Stern said, he was documenting protesters holding Mexican flags illuminated by the shining headlights of the deputies’ vehicles in the distance when he felt a sudden, immense pain.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ddpr\">“I felt this incredible, painful impact into my right side. I immediately put my hand down there and in the dark I saw this kind of solid object that appeared to be part of my leg,” Stern told the Tracker. “I hobbled away shouting, ‘I’ve been hit! I’ve been hit!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"dfgaj\">He said a group of protesters carried him to safety and a medic <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKov0doxoEH/?hl=en&img_index=1\">worked to stabilize him</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6trej\">“A medic came over, cut my pants off with some scissors, put a pad onto the wound — which was about a two-inch diameter, circular hole in my leg — and then tightly wrapped a bandage around it,” Stern said. “I was sitting on the pavement and I actually passed out, and the medics brought me back round, which is fucking terrifying, if I’m honest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cmjts\">Berg was then able to transport Stern to the emergency room with him lying in the back seat while his wound continued to gush blood. At the hospital, Stern said, the doctors thoroughly examined him.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs8e\">“They looked over my entire body — from the soles of my feet to the top of my head and under my arms — to see if they could find an exit wound for a bullet, because they figured it may well have been a live round,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ntq5\">In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/tinadesireeberg.com/post/3lr7gxv4fsc25\">post</a> on the social platform Bluesky, Berg later confirmed that doctors surgically removed what appears to be a portion of a stun grenade that was embedded deep in Stern’s leg.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Stern_CA_assult_67.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"512\" alt=\"COURTESY NICK STERN\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"j6ury\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern was struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. A nearly three-inch piece of a stun grenade was surgically removed from his thigh.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY NICK STERN\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ymu58\">Stern, who has documented protests in Los Angeles for at least five years, said that what he witnessed at these demonstrations was different.</p><p data-block-key=\"arhnp\">“I was covering the George Floyd protests in 2020, and law enforcement in Los Angeles was heavily criticized for their use of these devices because they weren’t trained on them,” he said. “But to see what they were doing out on the streets the past few days, last week is absolutely horrific. Effectively — if what we assume is correct, about this device that hit me — they’re firing explosive munitions toward people.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ab9jo\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it was still reviewing footage of Stern’s assault and that “it is not clear at this time whether our department was involved in this incident.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dj8ja\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer added. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"59cqa\">Stern said that while he has been released from the hospital, he has a long road to recovery — including extensive physical therapy — ahead of him.</p><p data-block-key=\"7h2c2\">After police shot Stern with multiple munitions and struck him with batons <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-multiple-projectiles-while-covering-la-protest/\">amid the 2020 protests</a>, the photojournalist filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department and reached a $150,000 settlement in 2024. He told the Tracker he thinks he has no choice but to pursue that same recourse.</p><p data-block-key=\"4inn3\">“This whole kind of lawsuit culture in the U.S. is quite alien for me, as a British person, and is one that I don’t necessarily, deep down, agree with, but there seems to be no other accountability,” Stern said. “I think, as a member of the public, as a citizen, as a journalist, whatever: It has to be a multipronged approach. It has to be done by official complaints, it has to be done by lobbying politicians, it has to be done by lawsuits.</p><p data-block-key=\"272dk\">“The system needs to change by whatever means we can change it.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"701n8\">Protesters help independent photographer Nick Stern after he was struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition while documenting a protest in Compton, California, on June 7, 2025. A portion of a stun grenade was later surgically removed from his thigh.</p>",
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{
"title": "Reporter struck with pepper balls while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-10T21:37:27.667375Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-02T18:13:33.954752Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-02T18:13:33.682442Z",
"date": "2025-06-07",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8eeh9\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter for L.A. Taco, was struck with multiple pepper balls while covering an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rt2n\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"64coj\">On the evening of June 7, protesters <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/08/us/la-immigration-protests-photos-map.html\">gathered</a> <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-aide-calls-los-angeles-anti-ice-protests-an-insurrection-2025-06-07/\">outside</a> the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where immigrants were being held. The Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly, ordering demonstrators to disperse. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was also present, as well as officers from multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.</p><p data-block-key=\"1j6lu\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, where detainees were <a href=\"https://abc7.com/post/immigrant-advocates-demand-investigation-reports-ice-holding-families-downtown-la/16678054/\">allegedly being held,</a> when federal law enforcement began dispersing the crowd using pepper balls. He said he was unsure which agency the officers belonged to.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fol7\">Ray then relocated to a nearby sidewalk on Alameda Street, where reporters had set up tripods and several TV news trucks were parked.</p><p data-block-key=\"dejt1\">Eventually, the federal officers moved up their skirmish line toward Alameda Street, continuing to fire volleys of the projectiles in the direction of the press. Ray was struck multiple times, once in the middle finger and at least once on his back, he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ueo4\">“It seemed so blatant, we weren’t around any protesters, we were clearly media,” Ray said. “They didn’t seem to care that we were media. They treated us like we were protesters and didn’t respect our First Amendment rights as journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hbam\">The gaggle of press continued to back away as officers followed them, eventually establishing another skirmish at Alameda Street and Temple Street, according to Ray, who said his backpack, which was covered in pepper ball residue, served as a shield.</p><p data-block-key=\"3i15l\">“I definitely am worried about the implications of covering other protests like that,” Ray said. “If the media wasn’t there, the public wouldn’t have an understanding of what happened that night.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3odn0\">The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"740o2\"><a href=\"https://x.com/ICEgov/status/1931472857554645294\">In a June 7 post on X,</a> ICE said: “Our officers and agents continued to enforce immigration law in LA, despite the violent protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cg7b4\">On June 8, a sheriff’s deputy searched the bags of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputy-searches-journalists-bag-during-la-immigration-protest/\">Ray</a> and freelance journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-bag-searched-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">Joey Scott</a> while they were reporting on another immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles.</p><p data-block-key=\"6su1a\">The Tracker has documented other incidents in which Ray was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-repeatedly-shoved-while-covering-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">shoved,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-taco-reporter-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/\">detained,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-equipment-damaged-while-covering-dodgers-celebrations/\">tackled</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multiple-journalists-covering-protests-los-angeles-assaulted/\">struck with a baton</a> while covering protests in Los Angeles since 2020.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"v5ira\">Law enforcement officers stand on a freeway in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025, following an immigration protest the previous night. L.A. Taco investigative journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray was struck with pepper balls while reporting on the protest.</p>",
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"(2025-06-18 16:29:00+00:00) LA journalist sues DHS over protest assault"
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