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{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with chemical irritants amid Illinois immigration protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-chemical-irritants-amid-illinois-immigration-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-20T19:29:43.684928Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-03T21:00:40.653283Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-03T21:00:40.556549Z",
"date": "2025-09-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z7440\">Freelance photojournalist Audrey Richardson was shot with crowd-control munitions and tear-gassed while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"63l9a\">The facility, where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation, has drawn escalating protests and federal response since early September, following the Department of Homeland Security’s <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/08/ice-launches-operation-midway-blitz-honor-katie-abraham-target-criminal-illegal\">launch</a> of Operation Midway Blitz.</p><p data-block-key=\"fr9eu\">Richardson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was on assignment for nonprofit newsroom Block Club Chicago that day, and arrived at the facility shortly before 5 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"8fe59\">“It was calm at first,” she said. “Then, they would bring the detainees in and protesters would try to block the car, and that’s what would incite the pushback from ICE. It kept happening, and each time I feel like ICE got more aggressive.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6fl46\">Increasing numbers of officers would advance out of the facility to push back protesters, Richardson said. During one such rush, as officers were shoving everyone, she said that she was pushed into a large rock near the road, causing her to fall over.</p><p data-block-key=\"80aj3\">As evening arrived, Richardson said the federal officers deployed stun grenades and tear gas, while others stationed on the roof shot a barrage of pepper balls toward the crowd. That’s when she believes a munition hit her.</p><p data-block-key=\"1860k\">“I was shot in my left calf. It hurt really bad and there was a massive bruise for a few weeks,” Richardson told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"786p1\">She added that she doesn’t know whether she was deliberately targeted, noting that she was identifiable as press, or if she was caught in their indiscriminate spray of the crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kb44\">“It seems to have gone from zero to 100 so quickly,” Richardson said. “That one time they decided to come out in full force was just really scary. They were just throwing explosives at protesters. Afterward, they didn’t do it again, because people were injured and throwing up.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pei6\">“I think people were like, ‘OK, I don’t really want to go through that again,’” she added, noting that that was probably the officers’ goal.</p><p data-block-key=\"f08nq\">An array of Chicago-area journalists and others — including Block Club —<a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71559589/chicago-headline-club-v-noem/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=asc#entry-21\"> sued</a> President Donald Trump and various U.S. agencies Oct. 6 over federal law enforcement’s violent response to ongoing anti-deportation protests outside the ICE facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"8stbv\">In an<a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/07/block-club-chicago-news-organizations-sue-feds-over-first-amendment-violations/\"> article</a> announcing the lawsuit, Block Club wrote that it decided to pursue the case after <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Broadview&targeted_institutions=Block+Club+Chicago\">four of its journalists</a>, including Richardson, were shot with pepper balls and tear-gassed.</p><p data-block-key=\"405jg\">“We intend to continue to report on the protests, but our ability to do so, to the standards that we hold ourselves to, continues to be impacted by our fears of violence and arrests of our employees and contractors,” said Stephanie Lulay, Block Club executive editor and co-founder. “We’re taking this step to protect our journalists and to assert our First Amendment right to report.”</p><p data-block-key=\"25rr3\">The journalists won a temporary restraining order Oct. 9, forbidding federal agents from dispersing, arresting, threatening or using physical force against journalists without probable cause of a crime. It says agents can order journalists to change locations if they give them time to comply.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mebo\">It also forbids the use of riot-control weapons and chemical munitions on those not posing an immediate threat to law enforcement; firing projectiles at the head, neck, groin, spine or female breast; or striking anyone with a vehicle. And it mandates that federal agents wear visible identification and body cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qguc\">Hayden Johnson, counsel at Protect Democracy, part of the legal team for the plaintiffs, said, “Over the last weeks and months, Chicagoans have bravely sought to express and protect these freedoms in the face of severe government abuse. Today’s ruling recognizes that those efforts—peacefully opposing a federal incursion into your city and reporting the events—require the utmost constitutional protection.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-09-19T171837Z_835203697_RC20.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"w6aqk\">Federal agents stand guard on top of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025. Photojournalist Audrey Richardson was caught in chemical irritant and shot with pepper balls by officers that day.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-11-19 19:19:00+00:00) Court suspends journalist injunction limiting federal policing at Chicago",
"(2025-11-06 21:33:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win injunction against federal government",
"(2025-12-02 21:00:00+00:00) Chicago journalists drop suit against federal government over protest policing"
],
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"withdrawn"
],
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
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"Audrey Richardson (Block Club Chicago)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Freelancer struck by projectiles at Illinois anti-deportation protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelancer-struck-by-projectiles-at-illinois-anti-deportation-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-10T17:12:38.076398Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-03T21:06:50.615215Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-03T21:06:50.506445Z",
"date": "2025-09-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sh1f4\">Freelance reporter Leigh Giangreco was shot with multiple pepper balls by federal officers while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"frtcs\">In a <a href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@leighgiangreco0/video/7552015223092301070\">report</a> posted on social video platform TikTok, Giangreco said that she was on assignment for nonprofit newsroom Block Club Chicago covering protests that started that morning and stretched throughout the day, with the law enforcement response escalating in the evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"geth\">“Just before 7 o’clock, there were several ICE agents on top of the building, on the corner, who were shooting pepper bullets down at protesters,” Giangreco said. Describing the munitions as “non-lethal bullets,” she added that — from personal experience — they can leave a mark.</p><p data-block-key=\"ellsk\">“They are pretty painful: I got hit with at least two of them tonight,” she said. “They were shooting those down on protesters, really just raining them down.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4ihe7\">Giangreco reported that the federal officers also deployed tear gas into the crowd. “I will say I was also in the middle of these protests and the pepper spray was on the air, was getting in your eyes,” she said, adding, “it’s still in my throat now.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7506o\">An array of Chicago-area journalists and others — including Block Club — <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71559589/chicago-headline-club-v-noem/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=asc#entry-21\">sued</a> President Donald Trump and various federal agencies Oct. 6 over the violent response by federal law enforcement to ongoing anti-deportation protests outside the ICE facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"bm2ic\">In an <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/07/block-club-chicago-news-organizations-sue-feds-over-first-amendment-violations/\">article</a> announcing the lawsuit, Block Club wrote that it decided to pursue the case after <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Broadview&targeted_institutions=Block+Club+Chicago\">four of its journalists</a> were shot with pepper balls and tear-gassed.</p><p data-block-key=\"4i3um\">“We intend to continue to report on the protests, but our ability to do so, to the standards that we hold ourselves to, continues to be impacted by our fears of violence and arrests of our employees and contractors,” said Stephanie Lulay, Block Club executive editor and co-founder. “We’re taking this step to protect our journalists and to assert our First Amendment right to report.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b2i3g\">The journalists won a temporary restraining order Oct. 9, forbidding federal agents from dispersing, arresting, threatening or using physical force against journalists without probable cause of a crime. It says agents can order journalists to change locations if they give them time to comply.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mckd\">It also forbids the use of riot-control weapons and chemical munitions on those not posing an immediate threat to law enforcement; firing projectiles at the head, neck, groin, spine or female breast; or striking anyone with a vehicle. And it mandates that federal agents wear visible identification.</p><p data-block-key=\"53ohc\">Hayden Johnson, counsel at Protect Democracy, part of the legal team for the plaintiffs, said, “Over the last weeks and months, Chicagoans have bravely sought to express and protect these freedoms in the face of severe government abuse. Today’s ruling recognizes that those efforts—peacefully opposing a federal incursion into your city and reporting the events—require the utmost constitutional protection.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25262760688986.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fvib3\">A protester stands in front of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025. Photojournalist Leigh Giangreco was shot with multiple pepper balls while covering the demonstrations.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-12-02 21:06:00+00:00) Chicago journalists drop suit against federal government over protest policing",
"(2025-11-06 21:42:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win injunction against federal government",
"(2025-11-19 19:29:00+00:00) Court suspends journalist injunction limiting federal policing at Chicago protests"
],
"case_statuses": [
"withdrawn"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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{
"title": "Journalist grabbed, hit with pepper ball by federal agents at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-grabbed-hit-with-pepper-ball-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-03T20:59:41.116298Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-03T21:12:33.512715Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-03T21:12:33.386970Z",
"date": "2025-09-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1x8ig\">Journalist Steve Held said a federal agent grabbed him from behind as another shot him in the groin with a pepper ball while Held covered a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdhsd\">Held, co-founder and reporter for the investigative outlet Unraveled Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that demonstrators had gathered for weeks outside the facility, where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"94gb1\">The demonstration that day was relatively calm, and there had been no dispersal order, when agents suddenly advanced on protesters, Held recounted. “It just popped off in that second.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7co7g\">Held watched ICE agents run after somebody near him. Then, one agent grabbed Held’s hoodie and swung him around from behind while another <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/peoplesfabric.com/post/3lza4jrfwis2e\">aimed a pepper ball gun at his crotch.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"fj1vs\">“I wasn’t even really sure what happened,” Held said. “I just knew I got whipped around and shot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ru3h\">Held said he believed at least one of the officers knew who he was, as he has been covering ICE activities since May. He was wearing a press badge at the time, but said the incident prompted him to get a helmet and other gear to mark himself as media.</p><p data-block-key=\"dj6su\">Even with the extra press-labeled apparel, though, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">Held was arrested</a> a week later while covering another protest outside the facility. His Unraveled co-founder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-the-face-with-pepper-ball-at-illinois-ice-facility-protest/\">Raven Geary</a> was also shot in the face with a pepper ball on Sept. 26.</p><p data-block-key=\"123bj\">Held said he believes the encounters are part of a broader effort by immigration and federal agents to intimidate journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"1gfsv\">“They want to dissuade people from being there, from getting close,” he said. “Fewer press out there makes it easier for them to hide what they’re doing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"42ccm\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ari9f\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f41h7\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6q34i\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f4cf8\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Held_pepper_ball.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"brl6u\">Pepper ball residue on Steve Held’s pants after he was grabbed and shot in the groin with the munition by federal agents while covering a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
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"updates": [
"(2025-11-19 19:32:00+00:00) Court suspends journalist injunction limiting federal policing at Chicago protests",
"(2025-10-09 20:57:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win temporary restraining order against federal government",
"(2025-10-06 20:58:00+00:00) Chicago journalists sue over violent federal response to Illinois protests",
"(2025-11-06 21:46:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win injunction against federal government",
"(2025-12-02 21:11:00+00:00) Chicago journalists drop suit against federal government over protest policing"
],
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"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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{
"title": "Journalist shot with pepper balls at Illinois ICE facility protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-ice-facility-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-03T14:31:21.183852Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-03T19:54:00.531333Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-03T19:54:00.287299Z",
"date": "2025-09-19",
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"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0lqri\">Journalist Raven Geary was shot in the face and shoulder with pepper balls by federal officers while reporting on protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"dekqc\">Geary, co-founder and reporter for the investigative outlet Unraveled Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that demonstrators had been gathering for weeks outside the facility where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation. She said that the federal officers have been becoming more aggressive with both attendees and journalists covering the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"euf4u\">“We’ve been seeing an escalation from them significantly over the last few weeks. And these agents specifically have threatened us as reporters, they’ve tried to intimidate us,” she observed.</p><p data-block-key=\"cgl6i\">On Sept. 19, multiple protests were organized to take place at the facility, Geary <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3lz7wtz6qzk2g\">reported</a>, with federal officers inside periodically shooting crowd-control munitions at the crowd, including at one point <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3lz7ybh7osk2h\">shooting directly at Geary’s feet</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ribo\">As the evening went on, Geary said <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3lza36gg5as2f\">both she</a> and her Unraveled Press co-founder, Steve Held, were shot with munitions at close range.</p><p data-block-key=\"22vra\">“They shot Steve in the groin, and I have that on video. The guy is like a foot away from him and just pops him in the crotch with the pepper ball gun,” Geary said. “And I got hit in the face and shoulder.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmc88\">“It was just another situation where they were just kind of indiscriminately shooting at people’s faces, groins, places they’re not supposed to at close range, and then pepper-spraying people in the face,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"2r6ac\">The chemical irritant powder in pepper balls is worse, in her opinion, than the liquid or gel in pepper spray, Geary said. “The powder just gets everywhere, and it comes and goes. You’ll get hit with a bunch of it and you’ll think you’re fine and then an hour later you’re still coughing it up.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ge5m\">Geary told the Tracker they were able to continue covering the protest for several hours. She was struck, however, by how chaotic the federal officers were in their response, in comparison to the Chicago Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"4c7hg\">“With CPD, they use these very organized, military kind of formations: They’re holding on to each other, watching each other’s backs for their own safety,” she said. “And these guys are just scattered everywhere, doing whatever the hell they want, it’s just wild.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5g7cf\">ICE did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kmcyq\">Protesters gather outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025. Journalist Raven Geary was shot in the face and shoulder with pepper balls by federal officers while reporting on the demonstration.</p>",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-11-19 18:06:00+00:00) Court suspends journalist injunction limiting federal policing at Chicago protests",
"(2025-10-06 20:46:00+00:00) Chicago journalists sue over violent federal response to Illinois protests",
"(2025-10-09 21:03:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win temporary restraining order against federal government",
"(2025-11-06 20:28:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win injunction against federal government",
"(2025-12-02 19:15:00+00:00) Chicago journalists drop suit against federal government over protest policing"
],
"case_statuses": [
"withdrawn"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Raven Geary (Unraveled Press)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist targeted with pepper balls at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-21T20:46:41.271291Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-11-19T20:56:16.705449Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-11-19T20:56:16.608966Z",
"date": "2025-09-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"iuxp9\">Independent photojournalist Chana Shapiro was hit multiple times with pepper balls fired by federal officers while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"ck8ko\">The incident, which appeared targeted, took place during one of a series of demonstrations outside the facility, where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"709lv\">Shapiro told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived shortly after dawn to cover the protest. Early on, she was photographing from a driveway, seated cross-legged, when an ICE truck drove forward until its grille was inches from her face before speeding into the crowd, deploying tear gas and moving through an opaque field of smoke.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnfno\">“The truck just plowed through,” Shapiro said. “It was very clear that they would have run over people if they had not gotten out of the way.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5crcf\">Later that morning, she lay close to a fence, with a camera bag, DSLR camera and press badge on her, to photograph chained detainees being loaded into vans.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9lre\">Within minutes, she felt pepper balls skid down her sides and clip her leg — “as if drawing a chalk outline.”</p><p data-block-key=\"98o24\">“I thought maybe they were shooting behind me into the crowd,” she said. “Then I heard someone scream something like, ‘You can’t shoot journalists,’ or ‘They just shot a journalist.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"ekau1\">One witness told Shapiro that a sniper positioned on the roof had tracked her for several minutes before firing, even as she was alone and away from protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"285mc\">After being treated briefly by street medics, Shapiro said she ran back toward the fence without protective accessories and only her DSLR to continue documenting the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"31tqh\">She was struck again. “I immediately felt something like marbles bursting down my shoulder and leg,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fc1u\">Shapiro also said tear gas and pepper spray seeped into cuts on her knees and elbows, which she had gotten from crawling to capture different shots.</p><p data-block-key=\"2nqhe\">“My body was really hurt and stung for the rest of the day. And then, because it kept happening, it kept exacerbating it,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"79u5u\">Unable to clean her gear, chemical residue stayed pressed against her skin, continually aggravating the wounds over a period of days as she returned to cover the protests. It ultimately turned her arms, legs, chest and shoulders “metallically red,” and sensitive — what she described as feeling like “electromagnetic salmon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c6s4d\">“I think it’s notable that being a journalist out in front is not a deterrent, the way that it’s supposed to be,” she said of the violent response from law enforcement. “It was a pretty equal opportunity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a2o1c\">At least five other journalists were assaulted by law enforcement at anti-deportation protests at the Broadview facility the same day, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-19&date_upper=2025-09-19&tags=protest\">according to Tracker data.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/IMG_0119.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qkiw1\">Independent photojournalist Chana Shapiro, above, was hit with pepper balls fired by federal agents as she covered a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Chana Shapiro (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist struck by officer barring lawmakers from NYC immigration facility",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-by-officer-barring-lawmakers-from-nyc-immigration-facility/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-29T14:21:42.063939Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:16:45.028717Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:16:44.936946Z",
"date": "2025-09-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9uytp\">Independent journalist and documentary filmmaker Michael Nigro was smacked in the face with his own equipment by a plainclothes officer while documenting inside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York, New York, on Sept. 18, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"43kht\">Nigro told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has been covering the federal immigration court there almost daily since the end of May. State and local officials had gathered at the building that day to demand that they be permitted to inspect the detainment facilities on the premises.</p><p data-block-key=\"11ktt\">“We got word that there were going to be lawmakers entering the building to try to look at the 10th floor, which is the holding cells and where the judge said that they had to improve the conditions,” Nigro said, referring to a federal judge’s <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/new-york-democratic-politicians-arrested-ice-jail-manhattan-2025-09-19/\">recent citation</a> to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for inhumane conditions in the facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"6c6m1\">He said that while journalists are not permitted on those floors, the newsworthiness of the lawmakers’ visit led him and others to try to gain access. He arrived shortly after the officials.</p><p data-block-key=\"9uarf\">As the lawmakers positioned themselves in front of a door to the facility, a plainclothes officer — wearing a hat from a Second Amendment clothing company that read “The Pew/Pew Life” and shirt reading “Guns up giddy up” — prevented them from entering.</p><p data-block-key=\"f603\">“The lawmakers were making a very placid and calm and reasoned plea to enter to observe the holding cell or the detention rooms, whatever you want to call them,” Nigro said. The photojournalist added that he positioned himself right at the door, along with a number of other journalists, near the officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"784pf\">He told the Tracker that the halls in the building are always crowded, noting that “it can be a mosh pit or worse.” On this day, however, people were largely standing still, and he filmed for around 10 minutes, panning to the plainclothes officer who was talking through the door to tell someone not to open it because “there’s press outside, there’s lawmakers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bqn99\">Nigro said that when he panned again, the officer snapped.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1ojg\">“I didn’t make any jerky movements. As soon as I turned, he just smacked the camera,” he told the Tracker. “I have this metal bracket on top that holds my cellphone and it went directly into my mouth and I thought he cracked my tooth. That sound that you get: metal on enamel.”</p><p data-block-key=\"chgv4\">He said he bent over and felt that his tooth was still intact. The officer falsely claimed that Nigro had hit him with the camera and, in <a href=\"https://x.com/swartmadison/status/1969390001361227792\">footage</a> captured by another journalist, told him, “Keep that out of my face.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While elected officials demanded access to the 10th floor to observe conditions where migrants are held, an ICE agent struck a photographer’s camera (Michael Nigro) and then falsely claimed the photographer hit him: “You hit me in the face with it.” <a href=\"https://t.co/n14SmR1NjT\">pic.twitter.com/n14SmR1NjT</a></p>— Madison Swart (@swartmadison) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/swartmadison/status/1969390001361227792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 20, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9uytp\">“I calmly said, ‘No. I have a First Amendment right to shoot you,’” Nigro recounted.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5hu7\">The photojournalist said he didn’t have any further issues with the officer that day, but noted that the people inside the detainment facilities zip-tied the doors closed, put paper over the windows and placed duct tape over the seams so no photos could be taken.</p><p data-block-key=\"9d5rs\">Nearly a dozen lawmakers were ultimately arrested, Reuters <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/new-york-democratic-politicians-arrested-ice-jail-manhattan-2025-09-19/\">reported</a>, including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.</p><p data-block-key=\"5csei\">Both Nigro and a second journalist identified the officer as an ICE agent, but ICE did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25261822691960.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zd4ln\">Journalist Michael Nigro, left, was struck in the face with his camera by an officer at the Federal Building in New York City on Sept. 18, 2025. Nigro was documenting elected officials who demanded to inspect the immigrant detainment facility there.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Nigro (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Federal officers aim rifle, pepper-spray videographer at Oregon ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-officers-aim-rifle-pepper-spray-videographer-at-oregon-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-26T19:00:33.120981Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-19T15:19:02.378455Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-19T15:19:01.800091Z",
"date": "2025-09-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7vl1w\">Independent filmmaker Mason Lake said federal agents aimed at him with a rifle, then later pepper-sprayed him and damaged his camera and microphone while he was covering an immigration enforcement protest in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 13, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"dn97v\">Lake, a Portland-based videographer and founder of the independent outlet Channel Heed, was <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ6kgnpybWA\">documenting a protest</a> outside the nearby U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. At around 9:30 p.m., Department of Homeland Security agents aimed a rifle laser at Lake, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"a433c\">“They took the time to put it right between my eyes,” he said. “I see this as an escalation of not only the threat they’re willing to reach for, but an escalation of what they know they’re able to get away with.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3r6bu\">Later, nearing midnight, officers were clearing the facility’s driveway to allow staff cars to exit. Video from Lake shows how they advanced on the crowd and began <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE4-yCJ8FU8\">deploying pepper spray indiscriminately.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"en55o\">Lake, whose hair was soaked in pepper spray, said medics — also affected by the spray — helped him decontaminate afterward, and that he unintentionally recontaminated himself when removing his gas mask.</p><p data-block-key=\"2e2qp\">“My cameras and I took a full blast,” he said, noting that he was clearly marked as press with multiple badges, along with press identifiers on his vest and helmet. One camera, valued at over $700, and his microphone were both hit, and he said the gear remains chemically contaminated despite cleanup efforts.</p><p data-block-key=\"amh9e\">The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Mason+Lake\">16 other incidents</a> since 2020 in which Lake has reported being assaulted while covering Portland protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"60ku1\">“I definitely have felt targeted,” Lake said. “They really don’t like cameras being pointed at them.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-09-25_at_12.14.54.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2txpn\">A federal officer pepper-sprays a crowd outside an immigration detention center in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 13, 2025. Videographer Mason Lake had a rifle aimed at him and was hit by the spray while covering the protest, damaging his equipment.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "3:25-cv-02170",
"case_type": "CLASS_ACTION",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-11-21 05:00:00+00:00) Oregon journalist sues federal government over DHS violence at protests"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mason Lake (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "At Chicago-area protests in September, journalists caught in tear gas, more",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-chicago-area-protests-in-september-journalists-caught-in-tear-gas-more/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-19T15:39:50.893382Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-19T15:39:50.893382Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-19T15:39:29.593267Z",
"date": "2025-09-12",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vv8ap\"><i>Federal immigration raids began in the Chicago, Illinois, area in early September 2025, after the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz. For weeks, anti-deportation protests in response largely centered around an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in nearby Broadview.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"25p5u\"><i>Journalists covering the Broadview demonstrations were affected by the law enforcement response — which included a sweeping use of chemical irritants — initially led by federal officers with DHS before being taken over by local agencies.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"8u6eh\"><i>While these September incidents do not fall under the 11 types of press freedom violations formally cataloged for the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker database, we’ve provided a roundup of them below, organized by date. This roundup will be updated as additional incidents are verified.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"9fshg\"><i>Meanwhile, an array of Chicago-area journalists and others sued President Donald Trump and various federal agencies Oct. 6 over the violent federal response to the protests in Broadview. The plaintiffs were granted a temporary restraining order forbidding federal agents from dispersing, arresting, threatening or using physical force against journalists without probable cause of a crime. That temporary order was superseded a month later by a preliminary injunction establishing the same limitations, but was paused Nov. 19 following an appeal that determined it was “overbroad.”</i></p><p data-block-key=\"a9d57\"><i>The journalists dropped the suit Dec. 2, following the temporary departure of Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino and his agents from the Chicago-area, but said they are prepared to refile if federal law enforcement returns in force.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"e35vm\"><i>A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering protests in Broadview can be found</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-01-01&date_upper=2025-12-31&city=Broadview&state=Illinois\"><i>here</i></a><i>. To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit our</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>FAQ page</i></a><i>.</i></p><hr/><h4 data-block-key=\"a9vsp\">Sept. 12, 2025</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"fnp0r\">An <b>unidentified photojournalist</b> with the Chicago Sun-Times was exposed to tear gas and pepper balls deployed during morning protests, the Chicago News Guild told the Tracker.</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"v2md\">Sept. 19, 2025</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"644dk\">Freelance reporter <b>Leigh Giangreco,</b> on assignment for Block Club Chicago, said in <a href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@leighgiangreco0/video/7552015223092301070\">a report</a> posted on social video platform TikTok that she was exposed to chemical irritants fired by federal officers. “I will say I was also in the middle of these protests and the pepper spray was on the air, was getting in your eyes,” she said, adding, “It’s still in my throat now.” She was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelancer-struck-by-projectiles-at-illinois-anti-deportation-protest/\">shot with multiple pepper balls.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"edo5f\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Audrey Richardson</b> told the Tracker she was tear-gassed when federal officers deployed stun grenades and chemical irritant into the crowd. She was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-chemical-irritants-amid-illinois-immigration-protests/\">shot with crowd-control munitions</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"8qpkj\">Independent photojournalist <b>Chana Shapiro</b> was exposed to tear gas and pepper spray fired by federal officers. The irritants seeped into cuts on her knees and elbows. “My body was really hurt and stung for the rest of the day. And then, because it kept happening, it kept exacerbating it,” she told the Tracker. She was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">hit with pepper balls</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"jtcn\">An <b>unidentified photojournalist</b> with the Chicago Sun-Times was exposed to tear gas that landed near the photojournalist’s feet, the Chicago News Guild told the Tracker. The photographer was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-by-pepper-balls-tear-gassed-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">struck by two pepper balls.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"9j9u6\">An <b>unidentified reporter</b> with the Sun-Times was also exposed to tear gas while covering protests that evening, according to the News Guild.</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"9dsfl\">Sept. 21-22, 2025</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"fv9an\">An <b>unidentified reporter</b> with the Chicago Sun-Times was exposed to chemical irritants that were pervasive in the air while covering protests on back-to-back days, the Chicago News Guild told the Tracker.</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"bg0rm\">Sept. 26, 2025</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"dkn8r\"><b>Colin Boyle,</b> photography director for nonprofit newsroom Block Club Chicago, wrote in court records that he was affected by tear gas deployed by federal agents, which clung to his clothes and affected him throughout the day. “Tear gas seeped into my respirator and visor. My eyes watered and I coughed a lot, making it difficult to do my job.” He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-outside-ice-facility/\">shot with pepper balls.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"bidn4\">Status Coup video journalist <b>Jon Farina</b> was covering protests at the facility early that morning, the outlet <a href=\"https://www.statuscoupsubstack.com/p/ice-attacks-chicagowe-are-on-the\">reported</a>, when he texted his colleagues, “It’s not even 9 a.m., and I’m burning from pepper spray and tear gas.”</li><li data-block-key=\"8q41\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Matthew Kaplan</b> was affected by tear gas fired by federal officers without any warning, which incapacitated him for about 10 minutes. “No one said, ‘Get away.’ No one said, ‘We’re going to throw tear gas,’” Kaplan told the Tracker. “There was no communication.” He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-multiple-pepper-balls-outside-illinois-ice-facility/\">shot with multiple crowd-control munitions</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"21qea\">Federal agents fired tear gas directly at Chicago Reader editor <b>Shawn Mulcahy</b> and other clearly identifiable journalists, he wrote in a court declaration. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-journalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munition-by-federal-officers/\">shot with a crowd-control munition.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"7tpv\">Independent photojournalist <b>Chana Shapiro</b> told the Tracker that she was caught in tear gas and pepper spray deployed by federal agents while documenting protests outside a fence erected around the facility. One of the agents also chased her in an attempt to tackle her, while another pointed and primed a taser at her chest.</li><li data-block-key=\"bcre1\">Photojournalist <b>Jon Stegenga,</b> co-founder of independent outlet Humanizing Through Story, told the Tracker he was exposed to tear gas fired by federal agents; the canisters shattered glass and went inside nearby businesses. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-tear-gas-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">struck in the arms and chest</a> by crowd-control munitions.</li><li data-block-key=\"5b9e9\">Freelance reporter <b>Charles Thrush</b> said in court records that federal officers shot pepper balls and tear gas at him and other journalists. Thrush reported that the exposure from the pepper ball, as well as tear gas, caused burning on his skin for about 12 hours. He was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-in-hand-by-pepper-ball-while-filming-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">shot in the hand with a pepper ball.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"3a8ks\">An <b>unidentified photojournalist</b> with the Chicago Sun-Times was exposed to tear gas and other crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents, the Chicago News Guild told the Tracker. The photographer was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-projectiles-pepper-ball-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">hit six times with projectiles.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"3lmn0\">An <b>unidentified reporter</b> with the Sun-Times was also exposed to tear gas and was pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while covering protests that morning, according to the Chicago News Guild.</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"db9tv\">Sept. 27, 2025</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"13hos\">Independent photojournalist <b>Chana Shapiro</b> was covering what she described as peaceful protests that, after dark, devolved into a violent confrontation with law enforcement. She told the Tracker that the crowd remained calm until federal agents suddenly emerged through the fence and began firing what she described as a barrage of crowd-control munitions — including pepper balls, rubber bullets, sponge grenades, baton rounds and flash bangs — some of which were launched hundreds of feet through the air, forcing protesters to flee through smoke and fire. Shapiro said she was heavily tear-gassed, injured while diving to avoid the stampede and pulled aside by medics for treatment. Though she didn’t recall being directly hit, she told the Tracker she returned home bleeding, coughing and both physically and emotionally overwhelmed, describing it as one of the most terrifying and traumatic experiences of her life.</li><li data-block-key=\"1qnho\">Photojournalist <b>Jon Stegenga,</b> co-founder of independent outlet Humanizing Through Story, told the Tracker that he was affected by a flurry of chemical irritants fired by federal agents that got under his mask, burning his eyes and face so badly he needed help to rinse them off. He also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-loses-camera-lens-while-covering-illinois-ice-protest/\">lost his camera lens.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"6ci9k\">Chicago Sun-Times photojournalist <b>Anthony Vazquez</b> told the Tracker he was tear-gassed by federal agents. “It was three separate instances of conflict among protesters and federal agents that resulted in me <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-projectiles-tear-gassed-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">getting hit</a> by a total of five of the rubber bullets/pellets and once by a pepper ball on top of the tear gas.”</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"4o1tt\">Sept. 28, 2025</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"fjc2c\">An <b>unidentified reporter</b> with the Chicago Sun-Times was exposed to chemical irritants in the air while covering afternoon protests, according to the Chicago News Guild.</li></ul></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g2mjj\">A federal agent pushes a protester outside an ICE processing facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025. Dozens of journalists were exposed to chemical irritants while covering several weeks of anti-deportation protests there.</p>",
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"name": "Illinois",
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"Media"
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{
"title": "Two charged with placing incendiary device under Utah news vehicle",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-charged-with-placing-incendiary-device-under-utah-news-vehicle/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-15T16:59:04.188289Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-15T16:59:04.188289Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-15T16:58:05.034777Z",
"date": "2025-09-12",
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"city": "Salt Lake City",
"longitude": -111.89105,
"latitude": 40.76078,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"87el5\">The FBI has charged two Utah men with allegedly placing an incendiary device under a news vehicle from broadcast station KSTU in Salt Lake City on Sept. 12, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"14ipc\">KSTU <a href=\"https://www.fox13now.com/news/crime/fbi-arrests-2-after-incendiary-device-left-under-fox-13-news-vehicle\">reported</a> that the device was determined to be real and, according to officials, the bomb had been lit but “failed to function.” No injuries were reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"aiab6\">As a result of the device’s type and location, it was deemed a “significant threat to public safety,” according to the television station, and the investigation was taken over by the FBI.</p><p data-block-key=\"a91jt\">Two suspects — identified as Adeeb Nasir and Adil Justice Ahmed Nasir of the nearby suburb of Magna — were arrested late Sept. 13. According to jail records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, both face multiple felony charges, including attempted aggravated arson, threat of terrorism, possessing weapons of mass destruction and possessing an incendiary device.</p><p data-block-key=\"e45np\">It was not immediately clear whether the news vehicle was deliberately targeted or what the suspects’ motives may have been.</p><p data-block-key=\"ftbpo\">In a statement published by the news outlet, KSTU Station Manager Leona Wood said, “FOX 13 News is working closely with law-enforcement and our risk management team, with the safety of our employees as our top priority.”</p><p data-block-key=\"86uoc\">Neither KSTU, the FBI nor the Salt Lake City Police Department responded to requests for comment as of press time.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sthz8\">Utah broadcaster KSTU reported a bomb was placed under one of the TV station’s news vehicles in Salt Lake City on Sept. 12, 2025. The incendiary device “failed to function” and no injuries were reported. Two men have since been arrested by the FBI.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Utah",
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},
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"KSTU"
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"tags": [
"bomb / bomb threat"
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],
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{
"title": "TV reporter harassed, camera damaged while reporting in California",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-harassed-camera-damaged-while-reporting-in-california/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-12T18:49:13.443959Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-19T17:46:48.464821Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-19T17:46:48.241197Z",
"date": "2025-09-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chico",
"longitude": -121.83748,
"latitude": 39.72849,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6flmx\">KNVN reporter Nathan Espindula’s news camera was damaged when a man harassed him with racial slurs while he was reporting in Chico, California, on Sept. 4, 2025, the television station <a href=\"https://www.actionnewsnow.com/news/action-news-now-reporter-harassed-in-altercation-after-live-broadcast/article_24a98d28-202a-4c09-9186-61237b8e5948.html\">reported.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"2q07d\">Espindula had just finished a live segment around 6 a.m. when a man approached, threatening him and shouting racist terms for a Hispanic individual.</p><p data-block-key=\"6uu73\">“I started hearing someone yelling slurs at me, and as soon as I noticed that, I ran into the car and locked the car,” Espindula told KNVN. “And then the individual approached me, yelling and going across the car.”</p><p data-block-key=\"443ak\">Espindula said the man threatened to find out where he lives and continued shouting racist and profane insults, which Espindula recorded on his phone. His camera equipment was damaged during the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mi2a\">Espindula did not respond to a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker request for comment. But as a fellow reporter noted on the station’s account of the incident, “What began as a routine live report on a community event turned into a frightening confrontation for one of our colleagues.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5rngs\">The suspect, identified as Kiano Sen Saechao, has pleaded not guilty to a <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11-6/chapter-2/section-422-6/\">felony civil rights violation</a> for the property damage, which is classified as a hate crime, according to Butte County court records.</p><p data-block-key=\"b03lt\">A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 25.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"k0aqf\">Nathan Espindula, seen above in a standup shot, said his news camera was damaged by a man who harassed him with racial slurs while he was reporting in Chico, California, on Sept. 4, 2025.</p>",
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{
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],
"state": {
"name": "California",
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},
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"(2025-12-18 17:19:00+00:00) Man sentenced for felony hate crime after damaging California reporter’s camera"
],
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"categories": [
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],
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"Nathan Espindula (KNVN)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist ejected from Capitol Hill news conference on Epstein files",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-ejected-from-capitol-hill-news-conference-on-epstein-files/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-09T15:56:34.552853Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-09T15:56:34.552853Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-09T15:52:41.455719Z",
"date": "2025-09-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v73f2\">Independent journalist Michael Tracey says he was ejected from a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 3, 2025, after he asked a question about the credibility of a Jeffrey Epstein accuser.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ajsh\">Tracey told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the office of Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, had invited him to attend the news conference. Tracey is based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes about U.S. politics on <a href=\"https://www.mtracey.net/\">Substack</a>. He said he confirmed that he would attend the event the day before.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ii2a\">The news conference, held outside the Capitol, aimed to pressure lawmakers to vote for the release of the files from the Justice Department’s Epstein investigation. Multiple U.S. representatives from both parties were joined by a group of Epstein’s accusers, who told of the sexual abuse they say they faced from the convicted sex offender, who took his own life in 2019 while in federal custody facing sex trafficking charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"91j55\">At the news conference, Tracey questioned attorney Bradley Edwards about his late client Virginia Giuffre, who had been one of the most vocal Epstein accusers before her death by suicide in April 2025. In 2022, Giuffre had <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/08/us/alan-dershowitz-virginia-giuffre-allegations-dropped\">dropped</a> her allegations of sexual abuse against attorney Alan Dershowitz, saying she “may have made a mistake.” (Dershowitz had denied the allegations.)</p><p data-block-key=\"cmlum\">“I asked Bradley Edwards, why should the public regard this person as having unimpeached credibility?” Tracey said. “You’re supposed to ask critical or skeptical questions.” Edwards did not answer the question, according to <a href=\"https://x.com/mtracey/status/1963317647015379179#m\">video</a> of the encounter, and moved on to another journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"5o6d4\">Khanna then interjected and addressed Tracey’s question. After the journalist asked a follow-up, Tracey said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, urged the U.S. Capitol Police to eject him.</p><p data-block-key=\"bp9pk\">Capitol Police officers obliged, Tracey said, and escorted him away. Neither Greene’s office nor the police responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vmnl\">“They threw me out. They threatened me with arrest,” said Tracey, who added that he did not resist. “I was ejected based on the content of the question.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"30nh4\">Rep. Thomas Massie speaks at a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 3, 2025, calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Journalist Michael Tracey was removed after he questioned an Epstein accuser’s credibility.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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"Federal government: Legislature"
],
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"categories": [
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],
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"Michael Tracey (Independent)"
],
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]
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist assaulted, gear damaged by federal officers in Oregon",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-assaulted-gear-damaged-by-federal-officers-in-oregon/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-19T14:36:47.504741Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-19T14:36:47.504741Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-19T14:36:36.729012Z",
"date": "2025-09-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6j9am\">Freelance photojournalist Hugo Rios was shoved, shot with crowd-control munitions and tear-gassed while documenting anti-deportation protests in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 1, 2025, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon in November.</p><p data-block-key=\"6co8d\">The federal class-action <a href=\"https://www.aclu-or.org/cases/dickinson-et-al-v-trump-et-al/\">suit</a> — filed on behalf of Rios, freelance journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Mason+Lake&case_number=3%3A25-cv-02170\">Mason Lake</a> and three protesters — names President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and its head, Kristi Noem. It alleges indiscriminate, retaliatory violence by DHS agents at protests at the “Portland ICE Building.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6som6\">“Despite the overwhelmingly peaceful activity, the Trump Administration has falsely characterized the building as ‘under siege’ and has authorized ‘full force’ in response,” the ACLU said in its summary of the case. “The lawsuit challenges these blatant attempts to retaliate against protesters and journalists and interfere with fundamental rights enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8sc33\">According to the <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.190589/gov.uscourts.ord.190589.1.0.pdf\">Nov. 21 complaint</a>, Rios has worked as a freelance photojournalist for seven years and began documenting the anti-deportation protests in Portland in August. On Sept. 1, protesters gathered in a park in the South Waterfront district and, around midafternoon, marched toward the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"8q8ir\">“At the Portland ICE Building, the mood appeared to be positive,” the complaint said. “There was a DJ playing music, and people were dancing and chanting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"40cpl\">Rios — who was wearing a black helmet, goggles and a Velcro “Press” label, and carrying various pieces of professional gear — filmed the scene, leaving to eat dinner and returning after.</p><p data-block-key=\"d8bmh\">According to the suit, shortly before 10:30 p.m., as demonstrators were still dancing, DHS officers began walking toward the crowd, deploying crowd-control munitions and tear gas canisters without warning.</p><p data-block-key=\"l88b\">As Rios filmed those officers walking through a gate, half a dozen others were advancing toward the crowd from a nearby street. “Suddenly, without warning or verbal command, a DHS officer pushed Mr. Rios from behind,” the suit said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ht86\">A few minutes later, another federal officer ordered Rios to move back. The photojournalist responded that he was “just filming,” but the officer said he didn’t care and shoved him back approximately four times, striking and damaging Rios’ camera in the process.</p><p data-block-key=\"b19gp\">According to the suit, around six minutes later, a DHS officer deployed a tear gas canister at Rios’ feet, though he was standing alone and away from the crowd at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"3t1na\">“Given Mr. Rios’s isolation, the teargas attack appeared to be targeting him alone,” the suit alleged. “The attack frightened and shocked him. He felt frozen in place.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ilug\">Multiple DHS officers then repeatedly shot Rios with crowd control munitions, including pepper balls, without warning, striking him nearly two dozen times and denting his battery pack.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmdm6\">“Mr. Rios desires to continue covering protests at the Portland ICE Building,” the lawsuit said. “However, he is hesitant due to his fear that he will be targeted by Defendants again, and that the Defendants will injure him even more severely than they did on the night of September 1.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8fb00\">Rios could not immediately be reached for comment, and DHS did not respond to an emailed request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"411at\">“Defendants must be enjoined from gassing, shooting, hitting and arresting peaceful Portlanders and journalists willing to document federal abuses as if they are enemy combatants,” the complaint says.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-09-02T110436Z_747051450_RC2H.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"948mv\">Federal agents respond to anti-deportation protests outside an ICE detention facility in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 1, 2025. Photojournalist Hugo Rios was shoved, shot with crowd-control munitions and tear-gassed while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
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{
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],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
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"Hugo Rios (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist hit with pepper ball and pepper-sprayed at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-hit-with-pepper-ball-and-pepper-sprayed-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-11-14T18:07:37.411359Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-11-14T18:07:37.411359Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-11-14T18:07:37.251517Z",
"date": "2025-09-01",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oe3mt\">Kayjel Mairena, a student journalist for Santa Monica College’s The Corsair, was shot in the head with a pepper ball and pepper-sprayed while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 1, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"3g8ea\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"asv31\">Trump’s deployment of federal troops to LA was <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/176/newsom-v-trump/\">ruled illegal</a> by a federal judge on Sept. 2.</p><p data-block-key=\"blc0k\">Mairena, the Corsair’s news editor, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the protest Sept. 1, outside the city’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigration detainees were being held. Despite wearing press credentials, he said he was struck in the head with a pepper ball and pepper-sprayed by Department of Homeland Security officers that day. It’s unclear whether he was directly targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"k1m2\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f3nog\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-reporter-hit-by-projectile-charged-by-police-horse-at-la-protest/\">On Oct. 18,</a> Mairena was documenting a protest in the same downtown area when he was struck in the side with an impact projectile fired by the Los Angeles Police Department and nearly trampled by a mounted officer.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-06-13T021147Z_323379581_RC26.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"40yqj\">Law enforcement at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 12, 2025. It was one of many protests continuing for months, including a Sept. 1 demonstration where reporter Kayjel Mairena was pepper-sprayed and struck by a pepper ball.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kayjel Mairena (The [Santa Monica College] Corsair)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist pepper-sprayed by DHS, struck with pepper balls at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-by-dhs-struck-with-pepper-balls-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-11-21T17:01:43.113550Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-11-21T17:01:43.113550Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-11-21T17:01:42.930576Z",
"date": "2025-09-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r07bb\">Freelance photojournalist Benjamin Hanson was pepper-sprayed in the face by a Department of Homeland Security officer while documenting a protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 1, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"92buo\">Hanson, who was photographing for Middle East Images and filming for Royol News, was also struck with pepper balls later in the demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"69g42\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"6b329\">After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Trump’s deployment of federal troops to LA was <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/176/newsom-v-trump/\">ruled illegal</a> by a federal judge Sept. 2.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjqg9\">Hanson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing as protesters marched toward the detention center, where immigrants were being held. Federal agents had erected a fence around the facility, and at times demonstrators approached the gate and shook it.</p><p data-block-key=\"1os8n\">Hanson said he was standing with several other journalists when a DHS officer suddenly opened the fence and sprayed them.</p><p data-block-key=\"394gr\">“It got me right in the forehead,” said Hanson, who was wearing goggles at the time. When he removed them to wipe the spray away, it seeped into his eyes and left him incapacitated for approximately 30 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"4r3q2\">In a video reviewed by the Tracker, federal agents can be seen opening the fence and indiscriminately pepper-spraying the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"cl44t\">“When I saw the photo that a buddy of mine took, I said, ‘Wow, they did that on purpose,’” he said. “It was directly at my face.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4ucf9\">A fellow photographer also stopped working temporarily to help guide Hanson to an area where medics were flushing pepper spray from people’s eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rm8b\">Later that day, Hanson said he was photographing a Border Patrol arrest when a DHS officer fired pepper balls, striking him in the leg and hitting several nearby protesters. In a video reviewed by the Tracker, agents can be heard yelling at people to get back before firing the projectiles.</p><p data-block-key=\"eul4j\">“I don’t think it was fair,” Hanson said, referencing the agents firing at him for documenting the arrest from a safe distance.</p><p data-block-key=\"5umsr\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker at the start of the LA protests in June, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"16ik4\">While covering the protests earlier in the summer, Hanson was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-by-officer-while-documenting-la-freeway-protest/\">shoved by a California Highway Patrol officer</a> and had his <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-phone-knocked-to-the-ground-by-police-officer-at-la-protest/\">cellphone knocked out of his hand</a> by a police officer.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Sept_1_-_by_Myraneli_Fabian.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4ft3k\">Photographer Benjamin Hanson, above in blue, gets his eyes washed out. He was pepper-sprayed by federal officers while documenting an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 1, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Benjamin Hanson (Middle East Images & Royol News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist hit with chemical irritant, pepper-sprayed at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-chemical-irritant-pepper-sprayed-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-11-25T19:01:03.912990Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-11-25T19:01:03.912990Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-11-25T19:01:00.648121Z",
"date": "2025-09-01",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tqwvf\">Photojournalist Jill Connelly was struck in the back with a chemical irritant and pepper-sprayed by a Department of Homeland Security officer while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 1, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"45j03\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"63ma3\">After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Trump’s deployment of federal troops to LA was <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/176/newsom-v-trump/\">ruled illegal</a> by a federal judge Sept. 2.</p><p data-block-key=\"3stgo\">Connelly, a freelancer on assignment for Zuma Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and other journalists were photographing near the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"eadun\">Connelly was wearing a helmet identifying her as press, along with a media credential on a lanyard around her neck, and was carrying two SLR cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"anfdm\">While covering the protest, Connelly worked along a narrow sidewalk near the detention center, photographing protesters on one side and a mass of armored federal officers behind a black fence on the other, according to a declaration she wrote for the American Civil Liberties Union and provided the Tracker. Connelly, who is not a party to a lawsuit, said she provided the declaration only to document the events.</p><p data-block-key=\"c9j9h\">“You can see it is pretty clear we are all press,” she wrote of images accompanying her declaration. “We are taking photos behind a fence and in no way threatening or interfering with the officer.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ben7j\">A section of the fence briefly popped open as protesters shook it, though no one attempted to pass through and most stepped back, the declaration states.</p><p data-block-key=\"62t9t\">Connelly said she turned away to move to a new position when she was suddenly shot in the back by a projectile that released a chemical irritant, triggering immediate, intense burning.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ghpa\">The declaration’s photographs show the moment she was hit and the white powder residue that streaked across her clothing afterward.</p><p data-block-key=\"bk7gb\">Shortly after, officers began pepper-spraying the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"4p7cb\">“I was struck by the indiscriminate way they were shooting the chemical agent, because they were not simply directing it at the protesters but instead spraying in a wide sweep at everyone on the other side of the fence, including a bunch of photojournalists who were separated from the protesters,” Connelly wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"3mp6j\">Among those sprayed was freelance photographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-by-dhs-struck-with-pepper-balls-at-la-protest/\">Benjamin Hanson</a>, who was hit directly in the face with the irritant, which seeped into his eyes and left him incapacitated for approximately 30 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtcg7\">Connelly said she heard no warnings before officers opened fire with the spray. As the burning intensified, she decided to leave the area. The pain continued for hours, despite attempts to wash the irritant from her skin, according to the declaration.</p><p data-block-key=\"69s3f\">“I pride myself on doing my job well but also evaluating when a situation feels too unsafe to remain in and leaving if necessary,” Connelly wrote. “Before this year, I had never been hit with any chemical irritants or less-lethal weapons, despite having covered protests for many years.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6i3of\">While Connelly said she didn’t feel either incident was an intentional attack against the press, she emphasized the need for the department to be trained on how to work with the media during high-intensity situations.</p><p data-block-key=\"1u8r4\">“I don’t so much feel targeted as the untrained DHS officers randomly spray a crowd that isn’t threatening, is on the other side of a fence and are exercising their First Amendment rights,” she wrote in an email.</p><p data-block-key=\"70dn0\">At the outset of the LA protests in June, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists in a statement to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/image_u9XEj28.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"evi8d\">A Department of Homeland Security agent pepper-sprays a group of journalists covering a protest in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 1, 2025. Photographer Jill Connelly was among those impacted by the spray.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jill Connelly (Zuma Press)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Investigative reporter told to stop contacting police in California city",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/investigative-reporter-told-to-stop-contacting-police-in-california-city/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-10T19:07:49.551228Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-10T19:07:49.551228Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-10T18:21:10.296179Z",
"date": "2025-08-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Santa Ana",
"longitude": -117.86783,
"latitude": 33.74557,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fd63c\">Ben Camacho, an investigative reporter and co-founder of The Southlander, was ordered to stop reaching out for comment from police officers in Santa Ana, California, in a cease and desist letter sent by the city’s police union on Aug. 27, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"8c5eb\">Camacho told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he is one of the few journalists who has done investigative reporting on the Santa Ana Police Officers’ Association and has written numerous articles critical of the police department.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ovpu\">When he received the email from the union, Camacho said, “I just kind of immediately laughed at it and then sent it to my attorneys.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mq75\">The letter, reviewed by the Tracker, alleged that Camacho had “begun to harass and attempt to intimidate certain members of the SAPOA,” but did not identify affected officers nor specific instances of the unacceptable conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a2qg\">“You have telephoned certain officers and emailed them demanding they answer your questions and to respond to your frivolous requests,” it continued. “This must stop.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ao83\">Camacho said that, while he doesn’t know for sure what prompted the letter, he had worked on several recent stories involving two Santa Ana Police Department officers who are under investigation by the California Attorney General’s Office for their shooting of an unarmed individual in December 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"d8jes\">“As I continued to look into the officers involved, I later learned that one of those officers, one month after killing one person, he was involved in another incident where he shot and killed somebody, although this person had a knife. Still, a police shooting,” Camacho said. “That sparked my interest because it surprised me that he’s under investigation, yet he’s still on active duty.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f7cvk\">After going through his normal reporting process, Camacho said he published an article about the back-to-back shootings in June 2025. Later that month, the same officer was also involved in the beating of an unarmed teenager.</p><p data-block-key=\"56plu\">Camacho told the Tracker he was able to obtain a copy of an incident report through public records requests, and reached out to the officer in June through his city email address.</p><p data-block-key=\"750u7\">“I emailed him once or twice, just to see if he would comment. And then I ended up just sending him my questions after not hearing back, on just the off chance that he later wants to reply,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5p0bj\">Camacho reached out for comment again at the beginning of August, after the family of the victim shot by police in December 2024 announced its plans to file a federal lawsuit against the two officers, as well as the city.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt5sm\">“I didn’t hear back. I think I emailed them once more the next day. In that email, I indicated to the one that I did have a phone for, that ‘I’m going to call you in about an hour if I don’t hear back, it’s just because I’m on deadline. Keep an eye out for my number in the signature and let me know if you are refusing to comment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5jdu1\">The officer answered when he called, Camacho said, but after he identified himself and said he was a reporter for Caló News — the outlet he was on assignment for that day — the call abruptly ended.</p><p data-block-key=\"6hve\">“I didn’t know if it was a call drop or if he hung up, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and called back, but then it went straight to voicemail,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"1gt0r\">Camacho said he went through a similar process trying to contact a third officer involved in a traffic stop at issue in a lawsuit quickly settled by the city in July.</p><p data-block-key=\"5j6d8\">“The cease and desist doesn’t specify who or what or when or where, but of recent interactions, those are the three,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cj2as\">In a letter to the police union in response, Camacho’s attorney Shakeer Rahman wrote that its demands were “ridiculous.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8eeg5\">“There is no lawful basis to gag a person from ever communicating with government officials, let alone from communicating with an entire police force. That would be unconstitutional,” Rahman wrote. “And it is a bedrock journalistic practice to offer a person an opportunity to comment on forthcoming news reporting about them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9pj0e\">Camacho told the Tracker that it was a clear attempt to stop him from continuing to report on the police department entirely.</p><p data-block-key=\"rt56\">“They’re framing journalism as a criminal act,” he said. “They’re framing my reasonable efforts to reach someone and make sure that they truly have a chance to comment or answer questions as a criminal act. That is not just anti-First Amendment, that is anti-democracy. And I think it’s a symptom of a larger problem we’re seeing right now under the rise of really harsh authoritarianism.</p><p data-block-key=\"4gqak\">“But this is not my first rodeo, I’ve dealt with bigger fish,” he added, referring to a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/los-angeles-sues-journalist-in-attempt-to-claw-back-photos-of-police-officers/\">pair of</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/los-angeles-sues-journalist-in-attempt-to-claw-back-photos-of-police-officers/\">lawsuits</a> filed against him by the city of Los Angeles.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l5mt\">The Santa Ana Police Officers’ Association did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r86ds\">Attorneys for the Santa Ana Police Officers’ Association in California sent a cease and desist letter to investigative reporter Ben Camacho on Aug. 27, 2025, alleging that he had harassed various officers when he attempted to contact them.</p>",
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{
"title": "San Francisco journalist grabbed, pepper-sprayed by federal agents",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-francisco-journalist-grabbed-pepper-sprayed-by-federal-agents/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-28T13:05:27.174720Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-29T19:25:52.667239Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-29T19:25:52.565438Z",
"date": "2025-08-20",
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"city": "San Francisco",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lid1d\">Eddie Kim, a reporter for the Gazetteer San Francisco, was grabbed by the throat, pushed and sprayed with a chemical irritant while reporting on protests outside an immigration court in San Francisco, California, on Aug. 20, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6mbl\">Protests in California began in early June in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gather, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. While concentrated in Los Angeles, protests have continued throughout the state, centered around operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"c0t55\">In an account for the Gazetteer, Kim <a href=\"https://sf.gazetteer.co/i-reported-from-an-ice-action-on-sansome-and-all-i-got-was-a-face-full-of-pepper-spray\">wrote</a> that he arrived at the San Francisco Immigration Court at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 20 after he was alerted that a detainee was being transferred.</p><p data-block-key=\"duau0\">“By the time I got there, a melee was already unfolding among law enforcement agents, protesters, drivers, and passersby,” he wrote. “With agents hitting bikes with batons, cars honking, a bus stuck in the road, and pedestrians filming and shouting, tensions were through the roof.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dq4dv\">Kim told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that officers impeded his ability to report on the scene almost as soon as he arrived.</p><p data-block-key=\"8bbsq\">“From the moment I got there and started recording to the moment I got pepper-sprayed was just about six-and-a-half minutes,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"adm62\">Kim said that as he crossed the street to get to the other side of the vehicles, a Department of Homeland Security officer rushed toward him and told him to get out of the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"7oikb\">“Then when I said, ‘I am a member of the press and documenting the scene,’ they basically put their hands on my chest,” he told the Tracker. “As they were pushing, I felt his fingers kind of grabbing me around my face and throat, and I got shoved that way.</p><p data-block-key=\"52m87\">“And once I was getting near the sidewalk, somebody else — a Customs and Border Protection agent with a baton and vest — came up toward me and, holding his baton horizontal with two hands, shoved me in the chest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"669ud\">Kim told the Tracker that — with officers from multiple federal agencies milling around the vehicles — the scene was disorderly at best, judging from years of covering demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"bnmep\">“There are ways to create formations, create lines, to keep people back. There are dispersal orders that can be used. There are more coherent warnings that are given,” Kim said. “But it was so chaotic, so disorganized, that it really started to look like individuals — individual ICE agents, individual DHS, CBP officers — were making their own decisions on what to do.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2o1ht\">As demonstrators continued their attempts to block the ICE transport vans from departing, federal agents responded aggressively, a stark change from the law enforcement response June 24 when, Kim <a href=\"https://sf.gazetteer.co/a-front-row-view-to-an-ice-abduction-turns-into-chaos-at-jackson-square\">reported</a>, agents had adopted a more defensive approach to the protesters gathered outside ICE’s San Francisco headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"58urk\">“The language and behavior was more aggressive and, in many cases, preemptive,” Kim wrote. “Several protesters were thrown to the ground. Some people were pepper-sprayed without provocation.</p><p data-block-key=\"bn4gc\">“One of those people was me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"93nhb\">Kim wrote that he was following a loose formation of federal agents as they walked away once ICE transport vans were able to successfully leave the area. While several people on the sidewalk began shouting “Shame!” and insults at the agents, he said it seemed that the action had slowed.</p><p data-block-key=\"21o3f\">A lone ICE agent then grabbed a protester’s bike, attempting to yank it away. As Kim moved forward to film the interaction, the agent retrieved his pepper gel — a concentrated form of chemical irritant — and sprayed the protester and then Kim in the eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"5tp6t\">“The searing pain came as quickly as the attack itself. I fell to the ground near Sansome and Pine streets, more surprised than seriously hurt,” Kim wrote. “I felt the thick liquid smearing on my face as I attempted to wipe away as much of it as possible.”</p><p data-block-key=\"80u5c\">He added that multiple people nearby came to his aid, flushing his eyes with water. Kim told the Tracker that he wasn’t able to see properly for 20 minutes, at which point he was able to walk to the Gazetteer office nearby, where he spent another hour recovering.</p><p data-block-key=\"5k2lh\">“What happened to me, the cyclist protester, and others is a sign that individual federal agents are now willing to proactively employ brute force against people who are not attacking them or even entering their personal space,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"f1iho\">Kim told the Tracker that he is working with his editor to determine how to pursue a formal complaint against the officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8po6\">ICE and its San Francisco Field Office acknowledged receipt when reached via email, but did not respond as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"t1ic\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional comments and details from Eddie Kim.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zlcun\">Eddie Kim, a reporter for the Gazetteer San Francisco, wrote about his experience being assaulted and sprayed with a chemical irritant while covering an immigration protest outside a courthouse in San Francisco’s Financial District on Aug. 20, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "University of Central Oklahoma halts student paper’s print publication",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/university-of-central-oklahoma-halts-student-papers-print-publication/",
"first_published_at": "2025-11-19T21:06:28.495389Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-03T18:14:46.500389Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-03T18:14:46.409162Z",
"date": "2025-08-14",
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"city": "Edmond",
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"latitude": 35.65283,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gcrtf\">The Vista, a student newspaper at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, was formally forced to halt print publication on Aug. 14, 2025, after school administrators criticized its news coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"f21bm\">This fall marks the first semester since the paper’s founding in 1903 that the publication won’t be printed, <a href=\"https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/education/2025/08/19/uco-oklahoma-the-vista-student-newspaper-ending-print-edition/85722686007/\">said</a> Joe Hight, the university’s journalism ethics chair.</p><p data-block-key=\"40qf1\">An early 2025 cost-cutting initiative at the public university, third-largest in the state, prompted discussions about ceasing weekly print publication in favor of digital-only distribution, according to an <a href=\"https://theindependentviewuco.com/629/opinion/whos-obstructing-the-view/\">account</a> in The Independent View, a newly launched student publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"3nf83\">Hight, interim chair of the school’s Student Media Advisory Board, said the board instead opted in a May vote to reduce the print frequency to biweekly and use money from a separate endowment fund to support additional publications.</p><p data-block-key=\"7enm3\">But Elizabeth Maier, dean of the university’s College of Liberal Arts, determined to end print operations entirely, mandating the publication operate as a digital-only operation, the View reported. The advisory board ultimately approved the plan in August.</p><p data-block-key=\"cendn\">Kenna Attaway, who took over as editor-in-chief of The Vista this fall, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she thinks halting print publication was ultimately a business decision. “I don’t think that the paper was taken away as a form of retaliation,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"aoojp\">According to Leslie Briggs, an attorney with Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, however, the university’s decision to halt print publication — as well as remove The Vista’s racks from campus facilities — amounts to “egregiously anti-free speech conduct” in retaliation for “rigorous news coverage of university affairs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9fi15\">The decision to stop printing The Vista came after university administrators “<a href=\"https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2025/10/09/the-vista-university-central-oklahoma-student-newspaper-print-edition/86600148007/\">repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction</a> with editorial decisions” made by The Vista, Briggs wrote in an October <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-10-07-RCFP-letter-to-University-of-Central-Oklahoma.pdf\">letter</a> to the university.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qrms\">The stories in question <a href=\"https://www.cjr.org/news/one-battle-after-another-student-newspapers-censorship-crisis.php\">covered</a> efforts to install Narcan vending machines on campus, the university’s handling of a student’s suicide in 2024, and the Student Association’s failed vote of confidence in university President Todd Lamb before his official inauguration.</p><p data-block-key=\"2bm8i\">“Any possible notion that UCO’s decision was animated even slightly by concerns over budget is firmly negated by the fact that UCO refused to allow The Vista to accept outside funding to allow continued publication,” Briggs wrote. “That is not cost-saving — it’s censorship.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7ns47\">University spokesperson Adrienne Nobles told the Tracker that The Vista “operates with full editorial independence.” She added that the university’s general counsel “found no evidence to support accusations of retaliation” and that “the allegations outlined in the letter are without merit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"878d0\">Attaway told the Tracker that during the fall semester, The Vista has continued covering the university with a critical lens, and that the administration has not tried to interfere in the coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ev58\"><i>Update: This article was revised to include comments from Vista Editor-in-Chief Kenna Attaway.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0ta5z\">The Vista, a student newspaper at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, was formally forced to halt print publication on Aug. 14, 2025, with its April 29 edition the final entry in its digital archive.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist shoved by LAPD while covering pro-immigrant car caravan",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-by-lapd-while-covering-pro-immigrant-car-caravan/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-09T14:52:47.181380Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-09T14:52:47.181380Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-09T14:48:43.786253Z",
"date": "2025-08-12",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ykzr6\">Freelance journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was shoved by a police officer while covering a pro-immigrant car caravan in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 12, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d24av\">Protests in LA began in early June in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas in and around the city where immigrant day laborers gather, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.<a href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/federal-agents-westlake-home-depot-penske-moving-van\"> Raids</a> at<a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-08/federal-agents-target-day-laborers-in-raids-at-van-nuys-home-depot\"> Home Depots</a> in early August took place seemingly in defiance of a<a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70594806/87/pedro-vasquez-perdomo-v-kristi-noem/\"> July 11 court order</a> temporarily prohibiting federal agents from using discriminatory profiling.</p><p data-block-key=\"4v2rv\">Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwa5vuyewc2j\">reported</a> that the caravan, organized by several unions and immigrant rights groups, made its way from MacArthur Park toward the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmaf1\">“As the car caravan arrived on Alameda and Temple, they were met by an LAPD blockade,” Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwabglj5y22j\">wrote</a>. “A union representative attempted to negotiate with an officer, who repeatedly is saying ‘we don’t want any conflict’ on this street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qq0s\">Beckner-Carmitchel was following as Los Angeles Police Department officers then approached the driver of the lead vehicle — a semitruck pulling a band in an unwalled trailer — when another officer suddenly turned and shoved him, the journalist <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwabzfvft22j\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"devse\">He was able to continue <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwb2hhk7h22m\">covering</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwb6dwti4k2z\">protests</a> as they continued into the night.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5drb\">Two days later, Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwfxpqqyac2q\">wrote</a> that he had been diagnosed with a rib fracture, likely as a result of being <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-detained-amid-la-immigration-protest/\">struck with a baton</a> on Aug. 8.</p><p data-block-key=\"e36rb\">“It hurts a *lot* and I pride myself on being a pretty tough soldier in the journalism industry. But I’ll likely be out of commission for at least a few days,” he wrote. “Extremely frustrating that there are things I could be writing about, photographing or filming and instead I’ll be sitting on my couch.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fgg5u\">The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bl1i7\">A police officer turns toward freelancer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel moments before shoving the journalist, who was reporting on a pro-immigrant car caravan in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 12, 2025.</p>",
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Journalist shoved by officer during LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-by-officer-during-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-26T17:25:12.707939Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-26T17:25:12.707939Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-26T17:25:12.489984Z",
"date": "2025-08-12",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k06ne\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter with L.A. Taco, was shoved by a police officer and blocked from filming parts of an immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 12, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1bmn\">Protests in LA began in early June in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas in and around the city where immigrant day laborers gather, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. <a href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/federal-agents-westlake-home-depot-penske-moving-van\">Raids</a> at <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-08/federal-agents-target-day-laborers-in-raids-at-van-nuys-home-depot\">Home Depots</a> in early August took place seemingly in defiance of a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70594806/87/pedro-vasquez-perdomo-v-kristi-noem/\">July 11 court order</a> temporarily prohibiting federal agents from using discriminatory profiling.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lglk\">In a video posted to the social platform <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwavv3jwnc2f\">Bluesky</a>, an LA police officer can be seen demanding that Ray move back while he identifies himself as media and holds his badge up.</p><p data-block-key=\"9s83d\">“Get back, get on the sidewalk,” the officer said before pushing him. “Walk faster.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dk8g4\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the Los Angeles Police Department had blocked off parts of the area in advance of a planned vigil near the Metropolitan Detention Center. When he asked officers at the scene why the streets were closed, he said he was unable to get a clear explanation.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mhak\">After protesters arrived from a march that began several miles away at MacArthur Park, police ordered cars out of the intersection and began clearing the street in front of the detention center. That’s when a motorcycle officer approached him.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bf07\">“I was filming them from what was a pretty safe, reasonable distance,” Ray said. “One officer, he got in my face, initially told me to back up, and then he shoved me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ts33\">Ray said he and other journalists had difficulty crossing police lines and accessing areas where confrontations between protesters and law enforcement were unfolding. Officers, he said, forced reporters to remain in one area and restricted their movement.</p><p data-block-key=\"9s6re\">“It was pretty clear that if we didn’t, we’d be arrested,” he said. “There’s definitely things that we missed because we were not able to move around freely.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2u9ue\">The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for comment. In a statement posted earlier to the <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/1954195124831097112\">social platform X</a>, the department’s Central Division said it will continue to support the First Amendment rights of all people. “However, if violence or criminal activity occurs, laws will be enforced,” it read.</p><p data-block-key=\"4c7nl\">The LA Press Club filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.63.1_3.pdf\">motion</a> Aug. 13 to hold the city of LA in contempt for violating a temporary restraining order in place to protect journalists while they’re covering protests, citing the Aug. 8 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Assault\">assaults</a> of journalists, as well as the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">detention</a> of multiple members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtsg\">“Defendants’ actions evince a blatant disregard for the First Amendment and an unwillingness or an inability or both on the part of the City to take steps necessary to ensure compliance with this Court’s Injunction,” the motion read. “What will it take to get the LAPD to respect the constitutional rights of journalists?”</p><p data-block-key=\"52v7k\">In June, 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> (over which he later sued), and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputy-searches-journalists-bag-during-la-immigration-protest/\">a sheriff’s deputy searched his backpack</a>. 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 and gatherings in LA.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cs90o\">A Los Angeles Police Department officer shoved journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray, at center, during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 12, 2025.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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{
"title": "Denver schools subpoena TV station for reporting materials",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/denver-schools-subpoena-tv-station-for-reporting-materials/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-11T21:36:01.580531Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-11T21:36:01.580531Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-11T21:36:01.399128Z",
"date": "2025-08-11",
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"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rs6kl\">TV station KUSA received a subpoena from the Denver, Colorado, school district on Aug. 11, 2025, seeking communications it had for a story with former Principal Kurt Dennis.</p><p data-block-key=\"elar9\">Dennis was fired from a Denver middle school <a href=\"https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/dps-denver-public-schools-fires-principal-after-9news-story-safety-concerns/73-3dfea19d-de73-40ef-9458-437c89b280ea\">after sharing student information</a> with the station and later filed a federal lawsuit claiming the district violated his First Amendment rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"10f3g\">As part of the lawsuit, Denver Public Schools sought KUSA’s unaired footage and communications with Dennis to determine whether he had unlawfully disclosed student information. The district had pointed to a redacted form in the broadcast that differed from the one Dennis submitted in his lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"6rqj9\">During a Dec. 8 court hearing, Dennis’ attorney David Lane admitted that his client had provided the outlet with documents showing a student’s personal identifying information, <a href=\"https://www.coloradopolitics.com/2025/12/08/federal-judge-rejects-dps-attempt-to-obtain-9news-sourcing-documents-in-first-amendment-case/\">Colorado Politics</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"asoq9\">That admission prompted U.S. District Judge John Kane to quash the subpoena, noting the district could obtain the information directly from Dennis.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0lki\">“Mr. Dennis is one of two parties in possession of the documents — the other being KUSA — and he has produced them,” Kane said, according to Colorado Politics. “I do not hold that overriding the reporter’s privilege in this case is appropriate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lcf2\">Dennis spoke to KUSA shortly after a high school student shot two administrators in 2023 during a routine pat-down. He told the station that another student with serious criminal allegations was subject to the same protocol at his school, but the district denied his requests to expel or block the student from attending school in person.</p><p data-block-key=\"5m3ir\">Dennis had tried to redact the student’s name, but had failed to maintain the student’s anonymity, KUSA attorney Steven Zansberg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"5fp0i\">Zansberg called the subpoena “legally deficient” and “utterly frivolous” once Dennis provided the documents he had shared with the station.</p><p data-block-key=\"aa3oj\">“Once Dennis confessed that previously contested fact, there was absolutely no legal basis for DPS to continue pursuing its ‘fishing expedition’ subpoena against the station,” Zansberg wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vkg5\">Bill Good, a spokesperson for the school system, told the Tracker in a statement that the district filed the motion to prove Dennis violated the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and state juvenile records laws by giving unredacted documents to the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"dhq0i\">Good called the process a win, noting the school system received additional documentation from the former principal’s counsel that had not been previously shared.</p><p data-block-key=\"6oitv\">“DPS does not believe it would have received these additional materials absent its attempt to compel 9News to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena,” he wrote.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zuoad\">A portion of a subpoena issued to TV station KUSA in Denver, Colorado, on Aug. 11, 2025, seeking its communications with a former school principal over documents he shared with the outlet.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with baton, detained amid LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-detained-amid-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-18T15:07:13.664152Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-18T15:07:13.664152Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-18T15:06:59.500763Z",
"date": "2025-08-08",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pkclc\">Freelance photojournalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was pushed, struck with a baton and detained by police while documenting anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 8, 2025. He was ultimately released without being charged.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqp3i\">Protests in LA began in early June in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas in and around the city where immigrant day laborers gather, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. <a href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/federal-agents-westlake-home-depot-penske-moving-van\">Raids</a> at <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-08/federal-agents-target-day-laborers-in-raids-at-van-nuys-home-depot\">Home Depots</a> in early August took place seemingly in defiance of a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70594806/87/pedro-vasquez-perdomo-v-kristi-noem/\">July 11 court order</a> temporarily prohibiting federal agents from using discriminatory profiling.</p><p data-block-key=\"84jdc\">On Aug. 8, two days after an immigration raid in the parking lot of a Home Depot in LA’s Westlake neighborhood, protesters gathered at the store and marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown. The demonstrators and the journalists covering them encountered a violent response from Los Angeles Police Department officers, violating <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70553115/44/los-angeles-press-club-v-city-of-los-angeles/\">a court order</a> protecting the press from arrest, assault or other interference.</p><p data-block-key=\"3fefd\">In a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.63.6.pdf\">declaration</a> filed in connection with a Los Angeles Press Club lawsuit against the city, Beckner-Carmitchel said he covered the protest and subsequent march, and was carrying a professional camera and had his press credential on a lanyard attached to his pants.</p><p data-block-key=\"ep9qi\">He wrote that approximately 100 demonstrators gathered outside the detention center and protested “in a spirited, non-violent way.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cn0vq\">“At some point, I saw the LAPD officers form a line in the street in front of the MDC and start screaming at the protesters to ‘Move back’ as officers marched with their batons drawn,” Beckner-Carmitchel wrote. “As the LAPD line moved toward the protesters, I saw officers shove quite a few people to the ground. I did not hear any instructions for media. I saw LAPD officers strike multiple journalists with batons, and shove and push journalists in the street in a span of a few minutes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"32lui\">During a pause in the officers’ advance, Beckner-Carmitchel wrote that he approached the police line and asked to speak to a supervisor or public affairs officer, but was told to move back. He tried again, saying that he wanted to remind them of the <a href=\"https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-409-7/\">penal code</a> that protects journalists covering protests, given that multiple members of the press had already gotten hurt.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nu7f\">“An LAPD officer responded by shoving me and hitting me in my ribs on my left side with his baton. I still have sore ribs a day later and a small bruise,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"5eqm5\">The use of force continued for nearly an hour before officers formed a kettle, a tactic used to surround and control a crowd, around a small group of journalists and demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7vt1\">Beckner-Carmitchel asked for a supervisor or public information office nearly a dozen times and was cuffed while live on YouTube, with an officer telling him he could “bitch” however he wanted. He was held for one to two hours, he wrote, and when asked for his identifying information, he “pointedly told the officer that my ID was in my wallet in my right pocket, beneath my press pass.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rp4q\">He was then given a card that read, “Detained during an illegal assembly. Failed to disperse after multiple dispersal orders.” A lieutenant eventually approached him to ask if he was media and, when he said yes, to show her his press credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"8la6f\">“Lt. Stelter lectured me and the other journalists who had been detained that we were at fault because we stayed in the crowd of protesters,” Beckner-Carmitchel wrote, adding that he was released without charges. “When I was in the process of being uncuffed and allowed to leave, I began filming again, and an officer told me I was still under detainment and was not permitted to film.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2vru9\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-assaulted-detained-while-covering-la-protest/\">Two</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-detained-by-police-at-la-immigration-protest/\">journalists</a> without physical press badges were taken to a police station and later released.</p><p data-block-key=\"6raqc\">The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for additional comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/1954033509586309303\">statement</a> posted to the social platform X, the department’s Central Division wrote that an unlawful assembly was declared “due to the aggressive nature of a few demonstrators.”</p><p data-block-key=\"98fbi\">“The protest went into the late night hours with people refusing to disperse,” it <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/1954195124831097112\">continued</a>. “Central Division will continue to support 1st Amendment rights of all people. However, if violence or criminal activity occurs, laws will be enforced.”</p><p data-block-key=\"11emg\">Beckner-Carmitchel disputed the department’s characterization of the protest. “From my vantage point, I did not see the protesters act violently or throw anything at officers when the officers arrived,” he wrote in his declaration. “I did not hear any declaration of an unlawful assembly or dispersal order at this point. As the LAPD line moved toward the protesters, I saw officers shove quite a few people to the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2jrjh\">The LA Press Club filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.63.1_3.pdf\">motion</a> Aug. 13 to hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt for violating the temporary restraining order it had obtained as part of its lawsuit, citing the Aug. 8 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Assault\">assaults</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">detentions</a> of Beckner-Carmitchel and other members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"75oph\">“Defendants’ actions evince a blatant disregard for the First Amendment and an unwillingness or an inability or both on the part of the City to take steps necessary to ensure compliance with this Court’s Injunction,” the motion read. “What will it take to get the LAPD to respect the constitutional rights of journalists?”</p><p data-block-key=\"7ta0i\">In an Aug. 14 <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lwfxpqqyac2q\">post on social media</a>, Beckner-Carmitchel wrote that he had been diagnosed with a rib fracture, likely as a result of being struck with a baton on Aug. 8.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rd29\">“It hurts a *lot* and I pride myself on being a pretty tough soldier in the journalism industry. But I’ll likely be out of commission for at least a few days,” he wrote. “Extremely frustrating that there are things I could be writing about, photographing or filming and instead I’ll be sitting on my couch.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"c258y\">Journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, center in red, was detained alongside other members of the press while documenting immigration protests in Los Angeles on Aug. 8, 2025. Officers also pushed and struck him in the ribs with a baton that evening.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2025-08-08",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"actor": null,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
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"kettle",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with baton, press credential damaged at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-press-credential-damaged-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-13T16:29:05.478101Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-28T17:45:37.456528Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-28T17:45:37.351185Z",
"date": "2025-08-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ey72h\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern was pushed by police and then, after retrieving his damaged press credentials, struck in the face with a baton in Los Angeles, California, while covering anti-deportation protests on Aug. 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7qo4\">Protests in LA began in early June in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas in and around the city where immigrant day laborers gather, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. <a href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/federal-agents-westlake-home-depot-penske-moving-van\">Raids</a> at <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-08/federal-agents-target-day-laborers-in-raids-at-van-nuys-home-depot\">Home Depots</a> in early August took place seemingly in defiance of a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70594806/87/pedro-vasquez-perdomo-v-kristi-noem/\">July 11 court order</a> temporarily prohibiting federal agents from using discriminatory profiling.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tv46\">On Aug. 8, two days after an immigration raid in the parking lot of a Home Depot in LA’s Westlake neighborhood, protesters gathered at the store and marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown. The demonstrators and the journalists covering them encountered a violent response from Los Angeles Police Department officers, violating <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70553115/44/los-angeles-press-club-v-city-of-los-angeles/\">a court order</a> protecting the press from arrest, assault or other interference.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vohr\">Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that it was the first demonstration he had gone to cover since his leg was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/munition-strikes-photojournalist-at-la-protest-shrapnel-surgically-removed/\">severely injured</a> while documenting a protest in Compton on June 7, and he planned to be very cautious.</p><p data-block-key=\"a60ai\">“It’s been incredibly frustrating for me watching this go down and not being able to get there and document it,” he said. “My plan was to go and, if it looked like things were getting sideways or if an unlawful assembly order was called, to either leave the area or get to an area which I considered very safe.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1rt6\">“I wasn’t given that option,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"8qb8t\">After the crowd began its march toward downtown, Stern said he instead drove the two miles, as he is still recovering from an emergency surgery and is incapable of walking the distance.</p><p data-block-key=\"3h28e\">Three police vehicles arrived, and LAPD officers exited with batons and crowd-control weapons drawn.</p><p data-block-key=\"4na8q\">“Within a matter of minutes, dozens of police started to form skirmish lines,” he said. “There was no unlawful assembly or dispersal order called. They just started laying into people.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ff474\">Stern told the Tracker he attempted to move away from the line and was pushed from behind by police, then fell into a group of people and onto the ground. When he got up, he realized that the cord holding his press credential around his neck had broken and his press pass was on the ground behind the advancing officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gkgs\">“I went back to retrieve it, and said, ‘I’m press, I need to get my badge. It’s down there on the ground.’ The first cop just pushed me aside,” Stern said. After telling another officer the same, a third picked it up and passed it to Stern.</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/Stern_assault_88_-_1.width-828.jpg\" width=\"633\" height=\"907\" alt=\"COURTESY NICK STERN\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"vqjgv\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern’s Los Angeles Press Club credential, still caked with blood after an LAPD officer struck him in the face with a baton amid immigration protests in downtown LA on Aug. 8, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — 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=\"ey72h\">“I then showed the cop who was immediately in front of me my press ID again, at which point one of the cops then brought a baton across my face, causing a laceration to my chin,” he recounted.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rtq6\">Multiple journalists covering the protest told the Tracker that Stern appeared dazed from the strike. Soon afterward, he and three colleagues left together to find an open urgent care center, but were unsuccessful.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qfha\">Stern said that his wife — a nurse and wound care specialist — later examined his injury and said that while it should have received stitches, it had stopped bleeding and would heal with strong antibiotic cream.</p><p data-block-key=\"1r5vl\">The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for additional comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/1954033509586309303\">statement</a> posted to the social platform X, the department’s Central Division wrote that an unlawful assembly was declared “due to the aggressive nature of a few demonstrators.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dtdua\">“The protest went into the late night hours with people refusing to disperse,” it <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/1954195124831097112\">continued</a>. “Central Division will continue to support 1st Amendment rights of all people. However, if violence or criminal activity occurs, laws will be enforced.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3of9t\">Stern disputed the department’s characterization of the protest. “It was peaceful: There were people with drums, people chanting, people with banners. I saw no acts of violence, no acts of criminal damage or vandalism or conflict or anything,” Stern told the Tracker. “We just met this line of brutality.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2ft4\">“In 2020, with the George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protests, LAPD and law enforcement were universally condemned about their brutality, their tactics, their lack of planning, their lack of strategy and the way they were brutalizing people. And since then, they’ve gotten worse.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fa14h\">The Los Angeles Press Club filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.63.1_3.pdf\">motion</a> Aug. 13 to hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt for violating the temporary restraining order in place to protect journalists while they’re covering protests, citing the Aug. 8 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Assault\">assaults</a> of Stern and others, as well as the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">detention</a> of multiple members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gjne\">“Defendants’ actions evince a blatant disregard for the First Amendment and an unwillingness or an inability or both on the part of the City to take steps necessary to ensure compliance with this Court’s Injunction,” the motion read. “What will it take to get the LAPD to respect the constitutional rights of journalists?”</p><p data-block-key=\"ba5ui\"><i>Editor's Note: This article was updated Aug. 14, 2025, to include details of the contempt motion filed by the LA Press Club and Status Coup.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qoprl\">A Los Angeles police officer uses a baton to strike photojournalist Nick Stern, bottom left, as Stern holds up his press credentials amid immigration protests on Aug. 8, 2025. Stern was pushed and struck in the face, and his credentials were damaged.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist struck with baton, finger injured amid protests in downtown LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-14T18:15:59.589915Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-12T20:23:22.180099Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tk99l\">Status Coup journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved and struck multiple times with a baton by police, injuring her finger, while reporting on immigration protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1137h\">Protests in LA began in early June in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas in and around the city where immigrant day laborers gather, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. <a href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/federal-agents-westlake-home-depot-penske-moving-van\">Raids</a> at <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-08/federal-agents-target-day-laborers-in-raids-at-van-nuys-home-depot\">Home Depots</a> in early August took place seemingly in defiance of a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70594806/87/pedro-vasquez-perdomo-v-kristi-noem/\">July 11 court order</a> temporarily prohibiting federal agents from using discriminatory profiling.</p><p data-block-key=\"am1m6\">On Aug. 8, two days after an immigration raid in the parking lot of a Home Depot in LA’s Westlake neighborhood, protesters gathered at the store and marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown. The demonstrators and the journalists covering them encountered a violent response from Los Angeles Police Department officers, violating <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70553115/44/los-angeles-press-club-v-city-of-los-angeles/\">a court order</a> protecting the press from arrest, assault or other interference.</p><p data-block-key=\"6sbqv\">Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that once the march reached the detention center, protesters gathered largely in the street in front of the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cng9\">When police arrived, she said officers spoke to the organizer, who then announced that if everyone got on the sidewalk, they’d be fine. Berg said that, despite moving to comply, the police suddenly “went ham for no reason.”</p><p data-block-key=\"56tso\">“There was no warning. They didn’t call an unlawful assembly at all,” she told the Tracker. Multiple journalists found themselves “sandwiched” between protesters and the advancing police line, Berg said. “It was almost like they were way more aggressive with us than they were to the protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7l7h1\">When a fellow journalist was knocked to the ground, Berg said she went to try to help. It was either just before or after that Berg was struck in the arm and back with a baton, bruising her and leaving welts on her arm. The pinkie finger of her left hand was also split open.</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/Berg_CA_assault_8_8_-_2.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1104\" alt=\"COURTESY TINA-DESIREE BERG\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"zgpot\">Status Coup journalist Tina-Desiree Berg photographed the laceration to her pinkie finger after she was struck and pushed by police while documenting immigration protests in downtown LA on Aug. 8, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY TINA-DESIREE BERG\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=\"tk99l\">“It was wild: At first, I didn’t even realize I was injured. And then I looked down and there was blood dripping everywhere,” she said, noting that she’s not certain how it happened. “Honestly, it was such chaos. It could have been a baton, it could have been something else.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cehev\">Berg told the Tracker she wasn’t carrying most of her usual protective gear — just ballistic goggles and a small respirator — and had left her helmet in her car.</p><p data-block-key=\"4sugr\">She left the protest soon after, alongside multiple other journalists who had been injured — including <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-press-credential-damaged-at-la-protest/\">photographer Nick Stern</a> — to find an open urgent care center, but were unsuccessful.</p><p data-block-key=\"co1nu\">Berg said that, while having covered demonstrations in Southern California for years, this was the first time she had sought medical care.</p><p data-block-key=\"5vtnd\">“I’ve never felt the need before. I’m pretty tough, so if I’m going to the doctor, you know it’s bad,” she said. After flushing the wound and applying antibiotic cream and a stitchless wound closure, she was told to repeat the process as needed to keep it clean.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0id8\">The injury was expected to keep her out of the field and off the job for approximately two weeks, Berg said. “I can’t go out until my fingers heal. I just don’t want an infection.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eekrs\">The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for additional comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/1954033509586309303\">statement</a> posted to the social platform X, the department’s Central Division wrote that an unlawful assembly was declared “due to the aggressive nature of a few demonstrators.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eff80\">“The protest went into the late night hours with people refusing to disperse,” it <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/1954195124831097112\">continued</a>. “Central Division will continue to support 1st Amendment rights of all people. However, if violence or criminal activity occurs, laws will be enforced.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8u6mc\">Berg disputed the department’s characterization of the protest. “Nobody was throwing anything. They didn’t give a warning, didn’t call an unlawful, and then they just swept in and started beating people,” she said. “I have the strong belief that until these individual officers are held accountable for their actions, there will be no change.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2aa1i\">The Los Angeles Press Club filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.63.1_3.pdf\">motion</a> Aug. 13 to hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt for violating the temporary restraining order in place to protect journalists while they’re covering protests, citing the Aug. 8 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Assault\">assaults</a> of Berg and others, as well as the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-08-08&date_upper=2025-08-08&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">detention</a> of multiple members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs6o\">“Defendants’ actions evince a blatant disregard for the First Amendment and an unwillingness or an inability or both on the part of the City to take steps necessary to ensure compliance with this Court’s Injunction,” the motion read. “What will it take to get the LAPD to respect the constitutional rights of journalists?”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"o3nf3\">Status Coup journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, after being struck with a baton by a Los Angeles police officer amid anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 8, 2025, filmed while cleaning blood from her injured hand.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"(2025-09-10 12:46:00+00:00) LA Press Club wins order protecting reporters from LAPD violence"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Photojournalist’s phone knocked to the ground by police officer at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-phone-knocked-to-the-ground-by-police-officer-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-11-20T22:18:30.526698Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-11-21T19:04:41.860382Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-11-21T19:04:41.757427Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n4uiq\">Freelance photojournalist Benjamin Hanson had his phone knocked from his hand by a police officer wielding a baton and was then pushed, damaging his camera lens, while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 8, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"6h63n\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvck2\">After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Trump’s deployment of federal troops to LA was <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/176/newsom-v-trump/\">ruled illegal</a> by a federal judge Sept. 2.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hm71\">The demonstration near the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center — where immigrants were being held — unfolded as Los Angeles Police Department officers pushed protesters away from the area, Hanson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said he was on assignment for Middle East Images as a photographer and for Royol News as a videographer at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"b928q\">Hanson, who was filming the interaction with his phone and carrying two cameras, said he was wearing three press badges when a police officer deliberately knocked the phone out of his hand. In the video reviewed by the Tracker, officers are yelling at the crowd to move as one with a baton smacks Hanson’s phone to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"95srk\">“You can clearly see I’m a member of the press,” Hanson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1f6tg\">When he bent down to retrieve his phone, he was then pushed — either by an officer or a protester caught in the police effort to push the crowd back. When he fell, he landed on his camera, denting his camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"214uf\">Though the lens is still usable, Hanson said he can no longer attach filters to it.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fm3g\">On other days while covering the protests, Hanson was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-by-officer-while-documenting-la-freeway-protest/\">shoved by a California Highway Patrol officer</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-by-dhs-struck-with-pepper-balls-at-la-protest/\">pepper-sprayed</a> by a Department of Homeland Security officer.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hds14\">A video still captures the moment before a baton-wielding police officer knocks photographer Benjamin Hanson’s cellphone out of his hand while he was documenting a protest in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 8, 2025.</p>",
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