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{
"title": "Photographer indicted after Minnesota church protest coverage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-indicted-after-minnesota-church-protest-coverage/",
"first_published_at": "2026-03-03T20:25:27.065892Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-03-03T20:26:45.113377Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-03-03T20:26:44.988163Z",
"date": "2026-02-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"iymyh\">Shane Ryan Bollman, a documentary photographer known professionally as Junn Bollmann, was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 27, 2026, after a grand jury indicted him the previous day on charges connected to his coverage of a protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service in January.</p><p data-block-key=\"411hu\">Demonstrations in the Twin Cities area had been taking place since the beginning of January, following the <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says\">expansion</a> of an immigration enforcement crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html\">Renee Good</a> and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/politics/second-ice-shooting-minneapolis.html\">Alex Pretti</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7aba\">Multiple members of the press followed demonstrators as they entered Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18 to voice their opposition to ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DTqqE2NjiR6/\">Protest organizers said</a> the church was targeted because one of the pastors was allegedly an interim director for the local ICE field office.</p><p data-block-key=\"9l7s5\">The <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.231102/gov.uscourts.mnd.231102.144.0.pdf\">indictment</a> alleges Bollmann was present at a pre-demonstration meeting at a nearby shopping center, but the photographer is not included among those accused of engaging in “various chants,” “hostile and aggressive gestures” or any other activities while at the church.</p><p data-block-key=\"dh4bt\">He was, however, charged the same as the church protesters — conspiring to deprive rights and interfering with someone’s religious freedom in a house of worship.</p><p data-block-key=\"6rvff\">Independent journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-arrested-charged-over-minnesota-protest-coverage/\">Georgia Fort</a> and former CNN anchor <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/don-lemon-arrested-charged-over-covering-minnesota-church-protest/\">Don Lemon</a> were also indicted in January for their coverage and were named in the superseding indictment.</p><p data-block-key=\"aqrm4\">Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Bollman on Feb. 27 outside his LA apartment, transferring him from the city’s Roybal Federal Building to the U.S. Marshals Service building and back before his arraignment and release, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"ci14j\">CPJ reported that the photographer’s electronic devices — including his cellphone, camera and laptop — were seized during his arrest and had yet to be returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"cagdr\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the Lemon and Fort arrests at the time as “naked attacks on freedom of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"21e3f\">“The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s chief of advocacy. “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"a9235\">Photographer Junn Bollmann was arrested in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 2026, after he was indicted on civil rights charges for his coverage of a protest that disrupted services at Cities Church, above, in St. Paul, Minnesota, in January.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Homeland Security Investigations",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2026-02-27",
"detention_date": "2026-02-27",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": "in custody",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "computer"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"Department of Justice",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Junn Bollmann (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Filmmaker pushed to the ground during interview attempt in Ohio",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-pushed-to-the-ground-during-interview-attempt-in-ohio/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-26T19:37:02.463965Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-26T19:37:02.463965Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-26T19:37:02.231245Z",
"date": "2026-02-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Columbus",
"longitude": -82.99879,
"latitude": 39.96118,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x1zzd\">Independent documentarian Michael Newman was pushed to the ground, his phone slapped from his hand, on Feb. 9, 2026, while filming inside a campus building at Ohio State University in Columbus.</p><p data-block-key=\"1uhc9\">“I was scared, I was shocked, I was confused,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I’ve never felt that violated before in my life. It was very surreal.”</p><p data-block-key=\"883d8\">Newman had been filming inside the Smith Laboratory building for a mini-documentary on D.J. Byrnes, who runs the political blog The Rooster, and wanted to question the former president of the university, E. Gordon Gee, after a speech.</p><p data-block-key=\"4b22o\">At one point, Assistant Professor Luke Perez, who was in the public hallway, made it clear he did not want to be filmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"73fbc\">“I specifically tell him I’m not interested in him; I won’t get him on video,” Newman said. “There was no tension, there was no aggression on our part.”</p><p data-block-key=\"et6cm\">Video published later by <a href=\"https://www.rooster.info/p/ohio-state-university-professor-assault-luke-perez-gordon-gee\">The Rooster</a> captured the confrontation, which unfolded after Newman tried to ask Gee a question about student debt. In the footage, staff members can be heard telling Newman that Gee is finished taking questions.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ml0d\">Newman moves forward, and Perez quickly positions himself in front of him. Newman steps back and, within seconds, Perez knocks the equipment from Newman’s hand and drives him to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"6318f\">“I told you not to put that in my face,” Perez says in the video. “I’m not going to ask you again. … You put your hands on me, sir. You shoved that camera into my face, sir.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ohio State professor Luke Perez assaults a journalist while <a href=\"https://twitter.com/crgreen24601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@crgreen24601</a> watches. Both of them are faculty at the “Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society,” which claims to support free speech and “open inquiry.” <a href=\"https://t.co/E20lRLFARX\">https://t.co/E20lRLFARX</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/IJfeaFhXX4\">pic.twitter.com/IJfeaFhXX4</a></p>— Max (@Juicewag) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Juicewag/status/2021418119382843409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 11, 2026</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=\"x1zzd\">Newman said there was no noticeable damage to his camera but that the monopod used to hold his cellphone broke in the attack. His neck and back were also sore, and he has had a hard time sleeping. A doctor told him he had whiplash.</p><p data-block-key=\"1kgir\">“After I say, ‘One more question,’ next thing I know I’m attacked and on the ground,” he said. “I definitely did not shove my camera in his face; he shoved his face in my camera. I didn’t invade his personal space. You can see in the video I tried to step back, but I didn’t have a chance.”</p><p data-block-key=\"16aqr\">Newman said the university police told him and Byrnes they were trespassed from the building and warned they would be arrested if they returned to campus. That order was rescinded a few days later.</p><p data-block-key=\"flda4\">The university has since placed Perez on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qdr\">At a Feb. 23 arraignment, Perez, who pleaded not guilty to an assault charge, was served a temporary protective order by a Franklin County judge, according to court records.</p><p data-block-key=\"22i7b\">A hearing is scheduled for April 6.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmebn\">For Newman, the fallout has prompted him to carry pepper spray while working.</p><p data-block-key=\"1v035\">“I’ll always be on edge now,” he said. “I’m always going to wonder, ‘Is this person going to attack me because I’m asking them questions?’”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-02-24_at_3.28.54P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ohscc\">Independent documentarian Mike Newman is seen being tackled by a professor while filming at Ohio State University in Columbus on Feb. 9, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Newman (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with police baton at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-06T17:50:55.215553Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-06T17:50:55.215553Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-06T17:50:55.045113Z",
"date": "2026-02-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1uovq\">Independent photographer Jackson Tammariello was beaten with a baton by police while covering a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 4, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffik\">The demonstration began when <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/lausd-students-protest-downtown-la-ice-immigration-operations/\">hundreds of students walked out of school</a> to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement practices. It also came after similar demonstrations in Minnesota, where federal officers had killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, aggressive immigration enforcement has been happening <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"edf2v\">Tammariello told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that after most of the crowd dispersed, some adults and high school students made their way to the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"5orjp\">The students lined up outside at a nearby intersection, which the LA Police Department had taped off. Tammariello said that without much warning, officers suddenly charged the line of student protesters, pushing them out of the way. One officer, while chasing a protester, turned toward Tammariello and slammed his baton into his arm.</p><p data-block-key=\"etvpb\">“Just because he saw that I was in his path, he decided he could deploy whatever force necessary,” he told the Tracker. “In this instance, it did feel targeted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bl85u\">Tammariello was wearing a media credential, although he was later told by another officer, “You’re not press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b27dj\">The journalist said the blow left him feeling sore, rattled and exposed, but not deterred.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbshh\">“There’s a large pepperoni-looking bruise on my arm,” he said. “I hope I can just be out there covering what I’ve been covering as soon as possible.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bsdov\">The LAPD officer’s actions appeared to violate <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">preliminary injunction</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fot5\">LAPD did not respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2019462871093326246\">social media post on X</a>, the department said it had made arrests on charges of battery on a police officer and felony vandalism. It did not address the use of force against members of the press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Christian_Duenas_1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b3k00\">The Los Angeles Police Department officer who is alleged to have struck photographer Jackson Tammariello during an immigration protest there on Feb. 4, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
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"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,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jackson Tammariello (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "FBI questions Oregon photographer about protesters’ identities",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-questions-oregon-photographer-about-protesters-identities/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-18T17:23:33.920311Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-18T17:23:33.920311Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-18T17:23:33.810929Z",
"date": "2026-02-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Eugene",
"longitude": -123.08675,
"latitude": 44.05207,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h6lm3\">Independent photographer Robert Scherle was questioned at his Eugene, Oregon, home by FBI agents on Feb. 4, 2026, about the identities of people who attended protests he covered.</p><p data-block-key=\"33b3l\">Scherle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has been documenting recent demonstrations at Eugene’s Federal Building, where Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operations are based.</p><p data-block-key=\"358i\">The building had been the focal point of escalating anti-deportation protests in the city during late January, Eugene Weekly <a href=\"https://eugeneweekly.com/2026/02/05/escalation/\">reported</a>. On Jan. 30, it was vandalized and windows were damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"1si2j\">Scherle said that two FBI agents, a man and a woman wearing civilian clothing, came to his door, and showed him their badges and identification. The agents were affiliated with the Eugene agency of the FBI’s Portland, Oregon, field office.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ngbl\">“They immediately said, ‘You’re not in any trouble at all. We just want to talk to you, don’t worry.’ And then they started asking me if I had photos to share with them of protesters destroying federal property, and I said no.”</p><p data-block-key=\"apm6q\">Scherle said they then asked if he could help them identify other protesters. He told the agents that he could not identify anyone because the scene was “too chaotic,” and the protesters were wearing masks.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4knp\">While the agents were not threatening or coercive, Scherle added, he was “stressed” by the encounter.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct112\">“It was sort of just an implied threat, just by the fact that they’re there,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3sst\">He added that the agents did not ask the journalist to follow up with them, but did provide a business card upon request.</p><p data-block-key=\"347un\">The FBI’s Portland office did not respond to the Tracker’s emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"15fir\">In a statement to <a href=\"https://eugeneweekly.com/2026/02/05/fbi-asking-press-for-info/\">Eugene Weekly</a>, the office said: “During our investigative efforts, we have interviewed members of the public who were taking images and/or video on the ground that evening and asked for footage. Should an interviewee identify themselves as a member of the media and produce identification or credentials, we have processes in place to request information that adheres to the Constitutional right ensuring freedom of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6heph\">While covering a Jan. 27 protest at the Federal Building and the response by DHS officers, Scherle was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-with-projectiles-and-chemical-irritant-shoved-at-oregon-protest/\">shoved</a> and hit with crowd-control munitions and a chemical irritant, and later that evening was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-photographer-hit-with-impact-projectiles-while-covering-immigration-protest/\">again hit</a> with projectiles.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Scherle_FBI.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dv1t6\">Federal agents approach protesters at the Federal Building in Eugene, Oregon, on Jan. 27, 2026. A week later, on Feb. 4, the FBI questioned photographer Robert Scherle at his Eugene home about the identities of protesters.</p>",
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"actor": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice",
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Robert Scherle (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem targets press, leakers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem-targets-press-leakers/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-17T16:57:14.825230Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-17T16:57:14.825230Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-17T16:57:14.614324Z",
"date": "2026-02-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4mrrp\">As the second year of President Donald Trump’s second term began, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continued taking steps to intimidate leakers and news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting her efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.</p><p data-block-key=\"3d6qn\">Read about Noem’s efforts in 2025 to chill coverage <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kristi-noem-targets-press-leakers-as-homeland-security-secretary/\">here</a>, and how Trump’s other appointees and allies in Congress are striving to intimidate reporters, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/trump-allies-pursue-multipronged-campaign-against-the-press/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"58rgu\"><i>This article was first published on Feb. 17, 2026.</i></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"4586f\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p>\r\n<div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#Feb 4\">Feb. 4, 2026 | DHS secretary name-checks reporter in announcement of leak prosecution</a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4mrrp\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"6csno\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><a id=\"Feb 4\" name=\"Feb 4\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"4mrrp\">Feb. 4, 2026 | DHS secretary name-checks reporter in announcement of leak prosecution</h4><p data-block-key=\"dgdp1\">Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced via social media on Feb. 4, 2026, that her office had identified another alleged leaker, claiming the employee had been sharing information with Daily Mail senior reporter Shawn Cohen.</p><p data-block-key=\"5gmk0\">“We just caught another prolific leaker putting our @DHSgov law enforcement at risk as they already face 8,000% increase in death threats against them,” Noem <a href=\"https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/2019146352564072553\">wrote</a>, adding that she plans to refer the individual to the Justice Department for prosecution. “We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment, or status as a career civil servant—we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5heiu\">In 2025, Noem oversaw the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kristi-noem-targets-press-leakers-as-homeland-security-secretary/#May%2020\">unprecedented polygraphing</a> of department employees as part of her efforts to clamp down on leaks, questioning them about whether they’ve been sharing unapproved information with the media, even if unclassified.</p><p data-block-key=\"1cd47\">The identity of the alleged leaker has not been made public as of publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"771oc\">Cohen declined to comment when reached by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\">\r\n<i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-24T231259Z_224432240_RC2Y.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nff1j\">Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2026.</p>",
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"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"Donald Trump"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
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{
"title": "Journalist shoved while reporting on Minneapolis anti-ICE barricade",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-while-reporting-on-minneapolis-anti-ice-barricade/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-10T21:04:47.956536Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-10T21:04:47.956536Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-10T20:16:19.012216Z",
"date": "2026-02-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5qi7t\">Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura was repeatedly shoved and his phone knocked from his hands by individuals angry with his coverage of an anti-immigration authority barricade in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7a7e\">Demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says\">expansion</a> of an ICE crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html\">Renee Good</a> and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/politics/second-ice-shooting-minneapolis.html\">Alex Pretti</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8g6c9\">Ventura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had seen photos on social media of what was being referred to as a “filter blockade,” a <a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-ice-blockade-barricade-neighborhood-roundabout-federal-agent-tracking-mpd-clearing/601578593\">makeshift barricade</a> in the middle of the road meant to hinder ICE operations in a south Minneapolis neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpr0h\">He and independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-while-covering-minneapolis-anti-ice-barricade\">Erik Herrera</a> took a car together to where it was reportedly set up. “It was just a bunch of random things in the middle of the intersection, so stuff like wood pallets, dumpsters, mattresses,” Ventura said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rg86\">He added that the checkpoint was being operated by several individuals, some of whom immediately approached to ask who they were.</p><p data-block-key=\"daftn\">“I said, ‘Hey, we’re reporters, I work for the Daily Caller.’ And then they didn’t actually mind it,” Ventura said.</p><p data-block-key=\"23v9r\">As the journalists began documenting the scene, Ventura said he noticed that one of the individuals had approached their ride-share driver.</p><p data-block-key=\"t390\">“A couple of individuals basically said that our Uber driver was an ICE agent, because, I guess, they ran his license plate in their ‘database,’” he told the Tracker. “I head over there, and I’m just like, ‘Hey, he’s not an ICE agent, he’s Somalian, clearly.’ So that kind of started our interaction.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6spmd\">Ventura said he tried to ask the individual about the database they had referenced and the checkpoint, but after a few questions, the man declined to do an interview and walked away. Then Ventura noticed that individuals manning the barricade were forcing two SUVs to turn around.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7iio\">“It’s unconfirmed if they were federal agents, but they did have the markings: they had the all-black, tinted windows, and they were turning them around. So I started to zoom in and shoot video of that,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ingu\">That’s when Ventura said two individuals began shoving him, blocking him from moving forward and telling him to leave. One also attempted to grab the phone Ventura was using to record from his hands.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5k12\">The individuals also shoved Herrera and forced him to move back toward their waiting car.</p><p data-block-key=\"ch4as\">“Then they kind of, in a way, forced me back to the Uber and kind of shoved me in,” Ventura said. “I’m still filming a bit, and one of them actually smacks my phone out of my hand, and I kind of spring out of the car seat.”</p><p data-block-key=\"usnk\">Ventura launched himself headfirst through the window, falling onto his phone atop a snowbank. “I panicked,” he said. “I felt like they were going to run off with it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"71mi7\">He told the Tracker he was able to retrieve his phone, and the pair then left the scene after only five minutes. Over the next few hours, they clipped together their footage and posted it online.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Moments ago I was just assaulted by left-wing activists in South Minneapolis for reporting on a roadblock protesters set up and checking cars for ID’s , the activists grew angry when I shot footage of them turning around some vehicles that appear to be ICE agents , they tried to… <a href=\"https://t.co/Lo45ffZlEX\">pic.twitter.com/Lo45ffZlEX</a></p>— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VenturaReport/status/2018370751993085973?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2026</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>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Ventura_-_MN_22_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"66r01\">Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura, partly visible at left, being pushed and harassed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026, while reporting on a makeshift checkpoint intended to thwart immigration operations in the area.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"Assault"
],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved while covering Minneapolis anti-ICE barricade",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-while-covering-minneapolis-anti-ice-barricade/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-10T21:06:48.940038Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-10T21:06:48.940038Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-10T20:16:55.714810Z",
"date": "2026-02-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"732i8\">Independent photojournalist Erik Herrera was repeatedly shoved by individuals angry with his coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement barricade in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"51ouc\">Demonstrations against ICE actions in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says\">expansion</a> of an immigration crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html\">Renee Good</a> and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/politics/second-ice-shooting-minneapolis.html\">Alex Pretti</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3etag\">Herrera was working alongside Daily Caller reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-while-reporting-on-minneapolis-anti-ice-barricade\">Jorge Ventura</a>, documenting what was being referred to as a “filter blockade” — a <a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-ice-blockade-barricade-neighborhood-roundabout-federal-agent-tracking-mpd-clearing/601578593\">makeshift barricade</a> in the middle of the road meant to hinder ICE operations — in a south Minneapolis neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4sic\">The journalists took a car together to where it was reportedly set up. “It was just a bunch of random things in the middle of the intersection, so stuff like wood pallets, dumpsters, mattresses,” Ventura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekpt9\">He added that the checkpoint was being operated by several individuals, some of whom immediately approached to ask who they were. When they identified themselves as press, the individuals didn’t seem to mind them being there, Ventura said.</p><p data-block-key=\"acs3d\">As the journalists began documenting the scene, Ventura said he noticed that one of the individuals had approached their ride-share driver.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6m9l\">“A couple of individuals basically said that our Uber driver was an ICE agent, because, I guess, they ran his license plate in their ‘database,’” he told the Tracker. “I head over there, and I’m just like, ‘Hey, he’s not an ICE agent, he’s Somalian, clearly.’ So that kind of started our interaction.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2006p\">Ventura said he tried to ask the individual about the database they had referenced and the checkpoint, but after a few questions, the man declined to do an interview and walked away. Then Ventura noticed that individuals manning the barricade were forcing two SUVs to turn around.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebs4v\">“It’s unconfirmed if they were federal agents, but they did have the markings: they had the all-black, tinted windows, and they were turning them around. So I started to zoom in and shoot video of that,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"827jm\">That’s when Ventura said two individuals began shoving both him and Ventura, attempting to block them from recording and forcing them to move back toward their waiting car. One also attempted several times to grab Ventura’s phone, at one point knocking it into the snow.</p><p data-block-key=\"f4r14\">He told the Tracker he was able to retrieve his phone, and the pair then left the scene after only five minutes. Over the next few hours, they clipped together their footage and posted it online.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Moments ago I was just assaulted by left-wing activists in South Minneapolis for reporting on a roadblock protesters set up and checking cars for ID’s , the activists grew angry when I shot footage of them turning around some vehicles that appear to be ICE agents , they tried to… <a href=\"https://t.co/Lo45ffZlEX\">pic.twitter.com/Lo45ffZlEX</a></p>— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VenturaReport/status/2018370751993085973?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2026</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=\"732i8\">Herrera did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Herrera_-_MN_22_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1rfug\">Independent photojournalist Erik Herrera, left, was repeatedly pushed and harassed by individuals in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026, while reporting on a makeshift checkpoint intended to thwart immigration operations in the area.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with projectiles, breaking finger at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-projectiles-breaking-finger-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-10T22:13:40.953188Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-17T19:10:29.928899Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-17T19:10:29.721879Z",
"date": "2026-01-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"89u5s\">Photojournalist Mario Guerrero suffered a broken finger after he was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal officers while covering a protest against immigration raids on Jan. 31, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"34dj2\">The <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-31/demonstrations-against-ice-tactics-continue-in-la\">demonstration</a> was held a day after nationwide protests and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"eak82\">Guerrero, a photographer with OC Hawk, a stringer company that provides television stations with news footage, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was filming outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held, as protesters and law enforcement faced off.</p><p data-block-key=\"6r3mf\">The journalist, who was wearing a press vest and media badge, said federal officers knew he was press and directed him to stand to the side.</p><p data-block-key=\"42o45\">Then, people started throwing fireworks, glass bottles and other objects at law enforcement. Federal officers responded with disorientation devices like flash-bang grenades, tear gas and pepper balls.</p><p data-block-key=\"574ab\">Without warning, a federal officer began firing projectiles at Guerrero. One hit him in the ring finger, another struck the side of his arm, and a third pummeled his vest.</p><p data-block-key=\"dv03l\">“It felt like a punch,” he said. “Then I felt the blood dripping.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8304n\">The impact broke his finger, leaving it bruised and bleeding. “The pain was so severe that even my finger was getting so puffy, and it was swelling so fast, and it wouldn’t stop bleeding,” he told the Tracker. “I felt it wasn’t safe for me to stay there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"31cg4\">He later underwent surgery to have a pin inserted to stabilize it and will be <a href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-marios-recovery-after-injury\">unable to work for four weeks.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"5kh59\">Guerrero captured on video the moment he was directly targeted by the federal agent. “You see the DHS agent pointing the gun towards me, and he shoots,” he said. “There were multiple people around me, and they didn’t get hit. I was the only one.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f368q\">He said he later realized the projectiles were paintball rounds, which he said law enforcement is using to target and mark people for subsequent identification.</p><p data-block-key=\"7cjou\">“There should be more training on how to deal with crowd control; they think everybody is a protester, even independent journalists,” he told the Tracker. “They think we’re part of the protest, when we’re here to just document what’s going on and report it, and they’re getting more aggressive toward the media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"daqr3\">The actions of DHS officers appeared to violate a <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">state law</a> prohibiting officers from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">preliminary injunctions</a> issued to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">both agencies</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"382tc\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment. In a Jan. 31 post on <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115991701359412321\">his social media platform</a>, President Donald Trump wrote that federal agents would participate in policing protests only if requested, but that he had instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol “to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fga7v\"><i>Update: This article was revised to include comments and a new image from Mario Guerrero.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3psgn\">The image news photographer Mario Guerrero captured of a federal agent, crouching in black at right, pointing and shooting crowd-control munitions at him, breaking his finger, during an immigration protest on Jan. 31, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter pelted with projectiles, kettled at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pelted-with-projectiles-kettled-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-05T18:45:55.635130Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-10T21:45:04.255204Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-10T21:45:04.168698Z",
"date": "2026-01-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wlp1o\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter with L.A. Taco, was peppered with crowd-control munitions and threatened with arrest at a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"5efhv\">The <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-31/demonstrations-against-ice-tactics-continue-in-la\">demonstration</a> was held a day after nationwide protests and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8vjj\">Ray — who had already been <a href=\"/all-incidents/reporter-pepper-sprayed-shoved-at-la-immigration-protest/\">shoved by police and tear-gassed</a> by federal officers at a protest the day before — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived Jan. 31 at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held, because a pop punk band was supposed to play a set there.</p><p data-block-key=\"aoapr\">Armed officers with Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol were lined up, ordering people to back away from the federal building. At one point, an individual attending the protest threw a firework behind the federal agents, prompting the officers to fire crowd-control munitions and tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rpmn\">“That’s around the time when at least one agent turns to me and fires a bunch of pepper balls at my lower right leg and my hip,” said Ray, who was filming and wearing visible press markings. “That definitely felt targeted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3h0gn\">Later, the LA Police Department, pushing demonstrators away from the federal building, formed a kettle, a tactic used to surround and control a crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ja3f\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18562645990012641/\">series of Instagram video posts</a> from that day, Ray is seen approaching a line of officers in the kettle, telling them that he’s allowed to cross. An officer refuses to let him pass, telling him to “Back up,” and directing him elsewhere to speak with a police supervisor.</p><p data-block-key=\"87p5v\">In another video, an officer on a megaphone is heard announcing they were arresting those in the kettle for failure to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hibl\">“Sir, press,” said Ray, who is again told to back up.</p><p data-block-key=\"8h53i\">In a following video, Ray approaches an officer and reminds him that the press is exempt from dispersal orders under California law. He is told a supervisor would make that determination.</p><p data-block-key=\"fk8vf\">Later, a different officer tells him that he would be detained, saying in one video, “You’re not exempt, all right?”</p><p data-block-key=\"b5p0b\">Ray said he and journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-immigration-protest/\">Dexter Thomas</a> were stuck in the kettle for more than a half hour before finally being let through, adding, “They should have very quickly been able to identify me as press and get me out of there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6qokp\">Once outside the kettle, Ray continued documenting the officers making arrests. At one point, a police spokeswoman ordered him not to cross a certain line while reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"8lsk4\">“It felt like the Metropolitan Division officers, in particular, really wanted to detain me, or journalists, or at the very least scare the shit out of us,” he told the Tracker. “In that regard, it felt targeted and intentional.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fpa7o\">The actions of LAPD and DHS officers on both days appeared to violate a <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">state law</a> prohibiting officers from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">preliminary injunctions</a> issued to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">both agencies</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7sbf\">Neither agency responded to a request for comment. In <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017850950908842037?s=20\">social media posts on X</a> after the protest, the LAPD said it had declared an unlawful assembly and was making arrests of people who did not leave the area. It did not address the detainment of members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"8adso\">In a Jan. 31 post on <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115991701359412321\">his social media platform</a>, President Donald Trump wrote that federal agents would participate in policing protests only if requested, but that he had instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol “to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-02-04_at_3.21.41P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bq1yz\">The Los Angeles Police Department announcing imminent arrests at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2026. Reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was briefly detained at the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
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"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
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"Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Individuals cut KTTV camera’s cord, steal microphone during LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-cut-kttv-cameras-cord-steal-microphone-during-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-06T21:20:27.376411Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-06T21:20:27.376411Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-06T21:20:27.251696Z",
"date": "2026-01-31",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jfzzq\">A photojournalist for KTTV had the cord of his camera cut and microphone stolen by individuals attending an immigration rights protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hol3\">In footage that was <a href=\"https://kick.com/conner/videos/335e3014-5a4d-4b4f-95e5-9d075e3450ed\">captured</a> by a streamer at the scene and reposted on the <a href=\"https://x.com/crewesmedia/status/2017848193468289338\">social</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/TheWarMonitor/status/2018135065155211512\">platform</a> X, reporter <a href=\"https://www.foxla.com/person/a/rachel-aragon\">Rachel Aragon</a> and an unidentified photojournalist are seen on a sidewalk, reporting near a line of Los Angeles Police Department officers, who are facing a small crowd of people.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6i92\">The crew for the Fox-owned station were surrounded and harassed by people calling out anti-Trump administration and anti-Fox News slogans and blocking the camera, according to the videos and a report by the <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2026/02/01/us-news/masked-agitators-mob-female-reporter-during-dtla-anti-ice-protests/\">New York Post</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"crv1g\">The photojournalist is carrying a large TV camera on a tripod connected to what appears to be a power source in a backpack. After one person appears to unsuccessfully try to cut the cord connecting the camera to the backpack, another individual walks up behind him and succeeds in cutting it.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmvku\">A few minutes later, another person takes a Fox 11-branded microphone that is hanging from the photojournalist’s belt and walks away with it, then passes it to others.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o0vp\">The LAPD officers did not intervene.</p><p data-block-key=\"3v0j\">The photojournalist then says he is leaving, and can be seen in the video walking away from the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"51d7s\">KTTV and Aragon did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Fox11_equip_damage.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6qcnt\">People attending a protest in Los Angeles, California, harass a KTTV reporter and photojournalist on Jan. 31, 2026; the crew later had its camera cord cut and microphone stolen.</p>",
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"actor": "private individual",
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{
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"equipment": "camera equipment"
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{
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"equipment": "recording equipment"
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],
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 35 (KTTV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist threatened with arrest at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-10T21:26:06.438634Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-10T21:26:06.438634Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-10T21:26:06.225627Z",
"date": "2026-01-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"i4q63\">Independent journalist Dexter Thomas was detained and threatened with arrest while covering a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3rac\">The <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-31/demonstrations-against-ice-tactics-continue-in-la\">demonstration</a> was held a day after nationwide protests and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e68tr\"><a href=\"https://whatupdex.com/\">Thomas</a> told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and another journalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pelted-with-projectiles-kettled-at-la-protest/\">Lexis-Olivier Ray</a>, were covering a protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"95p32\">The LA Police Department started pushing demonstrators away from the federal building and formed a kettle, a tactic used to surround and control a crowd. Thomas said he and Ray, who were both wearing press badges and identifiers, were in the kettle when an officer announced everyone would be arrested for failure to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqqg5\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18562645990012641/\">series of Instagram video posts</a> from that day, the pair repeatedly told officers they were journalists and exempt from the dispersal orders. They remained detained for more than a half hour before they were released.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hotp\">“Had we not repeatedly stated that Penal Code 409.7 requires that we be allowed to continue working, I’m not sure what would have happened,” Thomas said. “We were told we were being detained; we were told we were being arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bm6tp\">Once outside the kettle, Thomas and Ray continued filming. A police spokeswoman approached them, blocked them from recording and told them they were interfering with police operations. Another officer came and also stood by them.</p><p data-block-key=\"e03t9\">“We were being more or less guarded by two police,” Thomas said. “We were just documenting the arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"faij4\">The actions of LAPD officers appeared to violate a <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">state law</a> prohibiting officers from using such <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/california-press-protections-undermined-as-violations-surged-at-la-protests/\">protest policing tactics</a> with members of the press, which a federal court reinforced with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">preliminary injunction</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"17b2c\">The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment. In <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017850950908842037?s=20\">social media posts on X</a> after the protest, it said it had declared an unlawful assembly and was making arrests of people who did not leave the area. It did not address the detainment of members of the press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gp80d\">Police officers who encircled protesters during an immigration protest on Jan. 31, 2026, in Los Angeles, California, also trapped journalist Dexter Thomas, who was detained and threatened with arrest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with pepper balls, detained amid LA youth protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-detained-amid-la-youth-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-06T22:05:33.452518Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-06T22:05:33.452518Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-06T22:00:34.862543Z",
"date": "2026-01-31",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"en6vu\">Freelance photojournalist Moon Mandel was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions by federal officers and detained in a kettle by police while covering an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"8098q\">Mandel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA at around 5:30 p.m. to document an “emergency protest” organized by a youth-led group called Dare to Struggle.</p><p data-block-key=\"ppkb\">Large-scale protests at the facility the day before had overtaken the Department of Homeland Security officers, Mandel said, forcing them back into the detention center and triggering a broad use of chemical munitions against the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"502jc\">The freelancer was among those <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-twice-with-baton-amid-la-immigration-protests/\">at the Jan. 30 protests</a> affected by the mixture of tear gas, pepper spray and pepper balls, and was also hit with a baton by a police officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"4gsml\">While the demonstration Jan. 31 was significantly smaller — with Mandel estimating approximately 300 participants — federal officers had established a skirmish line at the edge of the property. The photojournalist came prepared, outfitted with a newly purchased respirator.</p><p data-block-key=\"7utdr\">“Things were pretty calm,” they told the Tracker. “There were a couple of protesters who were demonstrating peacefully but sitting on the floor. Other people were verbally expressing how they felt about the current state of affairs, as is their freedom of speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"72d2o\">At about 6:15 p.m., Mandel said, federal officers — primarily from Customs and Border Protection — began pushing protesters back, utilizing batons and tear gas indiscriminately.</p><p data-block-key=\"52aki\">Mandel followed one group as it moved to another part of the detention center and then returned to the main compound at around 8 p.m. While there was some exchange of fireworks from individuals who were met with disorientation devices and pepper balls from federal officers, Mandel said tensions didn’t rise until nearly an hour later.</p><p data-block-key=\"fil79\">“Things got really heated, at least for me. I’m just taking photos of the front line, and I get shot at and hit multiple times with pepper rounds. Multiple shots to the body, hand, and then they hit me in the ear, which hurt a lot,” they said. “I yelled out, ‘Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, I’m press! I’m press, dude, what the fuck!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"8e6g6\">Los Angeles Police Department officers then arrived on scene to aid the federal agents in dispersing the crowd, Mandel said, forming a skirmish line and announcing an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"abtme\">As officers pushed the crowd back, one aimed a crowd-control weapon at the ground to ricochet a crowd-control munition into a demonstrator, but grazed Mandel instead. “I felt it mere centimeters away from my face. If he had deviated his aim by even a millimeter, I would have been shot directly in the face,” they told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"5b6j7\">Shortly before 10 p.m., officers detained those who remained using a process called kettling, a tactic by which officers surround a crowd, typically for mass arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"44nms\">“They got on the loudspeaker and informed all of us that we had failed to disperse, we were gathered illegally, and every single one of us was going to be subject to arrest,” Mandel told the Tracker. “At this point, I was like, ‘Oh, well, I’m press, and I’m alongside other people who have press credentials and who have press vests on.’</p><p data-block-key=\"5u742\">“I figured we’d be fine, as long as we stick together, and make it very clear to the officers that we’re not instigators, we’re members of the press. We’re here to report on what’s going on, and we are not subject to failure-to-disperse arrest orders in California,” they continued.</p><p data-block-key=\"384jj\">But while two of the members of the press were ultimately able to speak to a sergeant and were released, Mandel — who was standing right behind them — was not.</p><p data-block-key=\"df785\">“I did not have a press pass or a lanyard or anything, but I’d expected that the accredited media people were going to just be like, ‘Oh yeah, they’re with us. They’re good.’ They did not,” Mandel said. “So the officer was pretty much like, ‘If you don’t have a lanyard on right now, you’re getting arrested.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"cfj9t\">Mandel began to livestream from inside the kettle on the chance that officers might seize their camera and potentially destroy it or the memory card inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b54h\">Mandel and a livestreamer were the last two individuals in the kettle, and Mandel said they once again tried explaining why they didn’t have credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"f1vlp\">“I’m explaining to the cops, ‘I’ve shot for the BBC, I’ve shot for Al Jazeera. We don’t get press credentials because we’re freelancers. We’re here chasing the story, chasing these moments, and if we get the moment, then we can sell the moment,’” Mandel said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7g3l4\">After speaking with a media liaison, Mandel said they were ultimately released without charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s6n3\">The actions of both DHS and the LAPD on Jan. 30 appeared to violate <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.975245/gov.uscourts.cacd.975245.55.0.pdf\">preliminary</a> <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.83.0.pdf\">injunctions</a> issued to both agencies last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"1230h\">Requests for comment from the agencies were not immediately returned. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017995748248621565\">social media post on X</a> the following morning, the LAPD said it arrested dozens of individuals, but did not address the use of force or detainment of journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfgm8\">In a Jan. 31 post on <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115991701359412321\">his social media platform</a>, President Donald Trump wrote that federal agents would participate in policing protests only if requested, but that he had instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol “to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/L1011226.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9mfw2\">Federal officers form a skirmish line in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2026. Freelance photojournalist Moon Mandel was struck with multiple pepper balls and detained in a kettle by police that night.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"subpoena_type": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Moon Mandel (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photographer shot in leg with projectile while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shot-in-leg-with-projectile-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-23T22:12:35.670314Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-23T22:12:35.670314Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-23T22:12:35.507029Z",
"date": "2026-01-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"l2uyp\">Independent photographer Victor Montiel was struck in the ankle with a crowd-control munition fired by police while covering a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1pog\">The <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-31/demonstrations-against-ice-tactics-continue-in-la\">demonstration</a> was held a day after nationwide rallies and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmggg\">Montiel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived late in the evening at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. He was wearing his camera and a press badge.</p><p data-block-key=\"5lcn5\">While taking a picture of a protester who was sprawled on the ground, Montiel felt what he later described as a rubber bullet hit his ankle.</p><p data-block-key=\"459ur\">“The officer shot it once, and I remember it hitting me, and I was like, ‘What the hell?’” Montiel said. “I was hit on my ankle and it left a welt.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ss9b\">The blow left him lying in pain on the ground before getting up to continue documenting. He left shortly after.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4bai\">LAPD did not respond to requests for comment about its use of munitions against members of the press. The incident appeared to violate a <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">state law</a> prohibiting officers from using such <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/california-press-protections-undermined-as-violations-surged-at-la-protests/\">protest policing tactics</a> with members of the press, which a federal court reinforced with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">preliminary injunction</a> last year.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-02-23_at_12.45.53.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"l3md7\">Photographer Victor Montiel’s ankle, swollen after he was hit with a crowd-control munition while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Victor Montiel (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist targeted with paintball projectiles at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-paintball-projectiles-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-12T17:55:54.213564Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-12T17:55:54.213564Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-12T17:48:10.299747Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ko7wt\">A freelance photojournalist was struck with crowd-control munitions fired by police while documenting a protest against immigration raids on Jan. 30, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"cditi\">The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">began that day</a> and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6t8a4\">The photojournalist, who asked to be referred to as E.L. to protect his identity over concerns related to his dual citizenship, said he was documenting the protest downtown near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"891qk\">The LA Police Department began dispersing the crowd, pushing people away from the federal building. E.L. told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that a few dozen people were left, some arguing with police, but overall, the moment was calm.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vnbg\">“At this point, they started shooting; I don’t even know why,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2gknh\">The photojournalist was holding his camera gear, with a press badge issued by the police department prominently displayed around his neck. When he moved back and was about 20 yards from the police, an officer fired impact projectiles squarely at his chest.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ol82\">“The press pass took the brunt of it and most of the shot,” said E.L., who added that the blows hurt him and left a bruise on his skin. “I was directly targeted and shot in the chest twice.”</p><p data-block-key=\"24rth\">E.L. believes he was shot with paintball rounds, which he said police are using to target and mark people for identification later on.</p><p data-block-key=\"6acoe\">“What infuriates me was there was absolutely no call for violence, whether it was against press, against myself, or against protesters,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2s2co\">The actions of LAPD officers appeared to violate a <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">state law</a> prohibiting officers from using violent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/california-press-protections-undermined-as-violations-surged-at-la-protests/\">protest policing tactics</a> with members of the press, which a federal court reinforced with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">preliminary injunction</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ijgc\">The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017422317299916893?s=20\">social media post on X</a> the evening of the protest, the department said it used crowd-control munitions in response to violence against officers, but it did not address the use of force against journalists.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-31T020917Z_1736367880_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9pi3w\">Los Angeles Police Department officers at an immigration protest in California on Jan. 30, 2026. A photojournalist was struck in the chest with projectiles while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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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",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"E.L. (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist shot by projectiles, injuring torso, at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-by-projectiles-injuring-torso-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-04T21:34:20.387747Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-04T21:42:30.985456Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-04T21:42:30.885771Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hbwqe\">Independent journalist Anthony Cabassa was shot in the torso with impact projectiles fired by law enforcement while covering an immigration rights protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"48gf\">Cabassa, who was unsure which agency the officer belonged to but asserted that the shot was deliberate, said the crowd-control munitions hit his press badge while he was reporting near the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vl44\">The impact split the skin beneath the badge, leaving his stomach raw and bleeding.</p><p data-block-key=\"3p2f6\">“They knew that we were press, and they just shot us anyway,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8mu3s\">The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">began that day</a> and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers have shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING 🚨: Chaos, as LAPD are firing less than lethal into the crowd, multiple members of the media have been hit, including me. Police shot my legs as I was walking away from police line, and when I turned around they shot me twice in the stomach with less than lethal. <a href=\"https://t.co/2fqLzKNXom\">pic.twitter.com/2fqLzKNXom</a></p>— Anthony (@anthonycabassa) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/anthonycabassa/status/2017424190044049638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 31, 2026</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=\"hbwqe\">During the protest, Cabassa said he and other journalists repeatedly identified themselves to officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"7o24k\">“We put our hands up so that they know we’re not a threat while we’re recording,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6nitp\">Cabassa said he was documenting LAPD officers as they pushed protesters away from the federal building when an impact projectile fired by a police officer struck him <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-hit-in-leg-with-projectile-at-la-protest/\">in the back of the thigh</a>. He’s not sure whether that shot was intentional.</p><p data-block-key=\"bum3a\">Moments later, he was hit again, this time in the midsection, directly on his press badge.</p><p data-block-key=\"dv7ja\">“I just felt two shots in my stomach, and I’m like, ‘Why the heck did I just get shot?’” Cabassa said. “How can you not know I’m press if you literally shot me in my press badge?”</p><p data-block-key=\"d8nlh\">Unable to continue reporting, Cabassa left the protest early and returned the following day, but said the worsening pain forced him to leave again. Cabassa said his leg is still bruised and his torso is bandaged and raw, which makes it difficult for him to sleep.</p><p data-block-key=\"dgfvl\">The LAPD’s actions on Jan. 30 appeared to violate a <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which a federal court reinforced with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">preliminary injunction</a> issued to the agency last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"1i2lc\">A request for comment sent to the LAPD was not immediately returned. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017422317299916893?s=20\">social media post on X</a> the evening of the protest, the LAPD said it used crowd munitions in response to violence against officers, but did not address their use of force against members of the press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-31T023940Z_63252644_RC21C.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"a675c\">Los Angeles Police Department officers at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026. Journalist Anthony Cabassa was struck in the torso with crowd-control munitions while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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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,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck twice with baton amid LA immigration protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-twice-with-baton-amid-la-immigration-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-06T16:19:41.975711Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-06T16:19:41.975711Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-06T16:16:25.504921Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1vcix\">Freelance photojournalist Moon Mandel was exposed to chemical irritants by federal officers and later hit twice with a baton by Los Angeles police while documenting anti-deportation protests in the California city on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vpt7\">The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">began that day</a> and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4bmfo\">The protests started at around 1 p.m. near City Hall in downtown LA, before demonstrators made their way to the nearby Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants have been held since June 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"7m079\">Mandel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest and the Department of Homeland Security response to it unfolded more or less like the others that they had witnessed.</p><p data-block-key=\"c521q\">“Usually it’s a bunch of people at the MDC and things get a little hairy — whether it’s DHS or deputized police officers employing tear gas or pepper bullets or flash bangs, it’s all pretty much business as usual for them,” they said. “By the time I had gotten there, demonstrators had taken trash out of the dumpster that was located on site — a 40-yard dumpster — and had used it to create some distance between themselves and the officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"25fq0\">Mandel added that some individuals were throwing various articles of garbage at the federal officers, while others used the trash to cover a fence to thwart the deployment of chemical munitions against the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"5vgb3\">“I did not anticipate the conflict level escalating to that,” Mandel told the Tracker, noting that they hadn’t worn any protective equipment that day. “When the Department of Homeland Security started utilizing pepper bullets and tear gas, I lost the ability to see and vomited at least four times.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fms6d\">Mandel said they had their eyes washed out and were able to continue reporting for a couple of hours. As the evening progressed, they said, Los Angeles Police Department officers were called in to aid DHS in dispersing the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"7u84h\">“Anyone who did not move back fast enough was either hit or arrested or shot with rubber bullets or pepper munitions,” they said.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3bjr\">Mandel repeatedly identified themself as a journalist to the officers in front of them, although as a freelancer not on contract, they had chosen not to wear clothing that identified them as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bl60\">“I’m at the front line, and I’ve got my camera trained on the police officers,” they told the Tracker. “I’m trying my best to comply. Obviously, I can’t back up too fast because there are people behind me, and I’m not going to push them over.</p><p data-block-key=\"8mpb5\">“One of the cops who I was not interacting with, he kind of comes from a different part of the line, believing — at least from my perspective — that I’m not walking back fast enough, and hits me once with a baton. Naturally, I’m like, ‘Hey, whoa, let’s chill.’ And then he just comes back in and hits me again with the baton, right in the sternum.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bibun\">They noted that the blow pushed them back into a camera operator behind them, additionally bruising their shoulder.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecebq\">Throughout the interaction, Mandel said, they were wearing bright yellow fireproof clothing akin to that used by wildland firefighters, and were clearly not a participant.</p><p data-block-key=\"736vc\">“It’s not my job to yell at the police officers. It’s not my job to tell them what I think,” Mandel told the Tracker. “It’s my job to be there as a witness.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2l2p8\">The actions of both DHS and the LAPD on Jan. 30 appeared to violate <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.975245/gov.uscourts.cacd.975245.55.0.pdf\">preliminary</a> <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.83.0.pdf\">injunctions</a> issued to both agencies last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"edtv4\">Requests for comment from the agencies were not immediately returned. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017422317299916893?s=20\">social media post on X</a> the evening of the protest, the LAPD said it used crowd-control munitions in response to violence against officers, but it did not address the use of force against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a9og\">In a Jan. 31 post on <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115991701359412321\">his social media platform</a>, President Donald Trump wrote that federal agents would participate in policing protests only if requested, but that he had instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol “to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kf6ks\">Los Angeles police officers respond to protests near a downtown detention center on Jan. 30, 2026. Independent photojournalist Moon Mandel was struck with a baton and subjected to intense chemical irritants while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"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,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Moon Mandel (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter pepper-sprayed, shoved at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pepper-sprayed-shoved-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-05T18:41:39.523998Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-05T18:50:55.754486Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-05T18:50:55.650173Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1hiih\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter with L.A. Taco, was shoved by police and tear-gassed by federal agents while covering a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fsgd\">The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">began that day</a> and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ek0en\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that by the time he made his way to the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held, he could already feel the tear gas in his throat and lungs. Department of Homeland Security officers were lined up in a standoff with protesters, and some of those attending the protest were throwing trash at law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"cp6p8\">In a series of videos Ray posted <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18146738653459720/\">on Instagram</a>, the officers are seen showering the crowd with pepper spray, deploying tear gas and shooting pepper balls through a gate as people cough. Ray was doused with pepper spray on his arm and neck, causing severe burning that lingered for hours.</p><p data-block-key=\"20vt2\">“It was certainly a very chaotic scene,” he told the Tracker. “I got hit with a significant amount of pepper spray, so I do question whether or not they were just aiming at me directly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fpa3l\">Later on, the LA Police Department formed skirmish lines to control the crowd and push them further from the federal building. Ray said he was shoved multiple times by police. At one point in the video, an officer can be seen shoving Ray, who tells him that he is a member of the press. The officer repeatedly says, “Leave the area.”</p><p data-block-key=\"76jei\">“I think it was clear I was press,” he told the Tracker. “I was standing in front of them with a press badge, a shirt that said ‘press’ on it, and documenting things on my cellphone.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57pr7\">Ray also mentioned that he believes he was <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUWa5hPEwLp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">shot with a paintball round</a> on his backpack, which he said police are using to target and mark people for identification later on. At a <a href=\"/all-incidents/reporter-pelted-with-projectiles-kettled-at-la-protest/\">protest the next day</a>, he was struck with projectiles and threatened with arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"8c5fu\">The actions of both DHS and LAPD officers on both days appeared to violate <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">preliminary injunctions</a> issued to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">both agencies</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"65p61\">Neither agency responded to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017422317299916893?s=20\">social media post on X</a> the evening of the protest, the LAPD said it used crowd-control munitions in response to violence against officers, but it did not address the use of force against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"8n9gn\">In a Jan. 31 post on <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115991701359412321\">his social media platform</a>, President Donald Trump wrote that federal agents would participate in policing protests only if requested, but that he had instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol “to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-02-04_at_2.42.29P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jk0r7\">A Los Angeles Police Department officer holding a crowd-control weapon at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026. Reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was shoved and pepper-sprayed while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "CNN correspondent shot with pepper ball amid live report on LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-correspondent-shot-with-pepper-ball-amid-live-report-on-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-05T20:29:27.323551Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-05T20:29:27.323551Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-05T20:24:24.444362Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m1vez\">CNN correspondent Veronica Miracle was shot in the leg with a pepper ball by a federal agent while reporting live on anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"8qq2b\">The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">began that day</a> and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers had shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"aa1b0\">Protests that day started at around 1 p.m. near City Hall in downtown LA, before demonstrators made their way to the nearby Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants have been held.</p><p data-block-key=\"faufg\">In a <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/i-just-got-hit-cnn-reporter-chokes-live-on-camera-as-trump-ice-agents-fire-irritants-at-protesters/\">segment</a> for CNN’s “OutFront” at 4:45 p.m., Miracle starts by telling anchor Erin Burnett that she was still recovering from being pepper-sprayed.</p><p data-block-key=\"4j0hf\">“There’s so much of the pepper spray still in the air and so, so many people around us coughing and gagging, including us,” she continues.</p><p data-block-key=\"60lh6\">Miracle reports that protesters overtook a skirmish line of Department of Homeland Security officers, ultimately pushing them back to the loading dock of the detention facility until they retreated inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"al76l\">“There was, you know, a bit of a skirmish. There were some pepper spray, people were throwing bottles, but ultimately these protesters have overtaken this property, which I have never seen before,” she says. “Usually police are here, and they’re able to keep protesters off of the property.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4hshu\">Miracle suddenly moves toward the camera and looks down and away, saying, “OK, I just got hit. Hold on, hold on.</p><p data-block-key=\"25bac\">“I can’t breathe, I’m sorry,” she continues, while coughing and gagging. “I got hit in the leg.”</p><p data-block-key=\"v0jp\">Miracle then shows her right calf to the camera, where a pepper ball had left chemical irritant powder upon impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"42nad\">“They’re shooting something, pepper balls or something,” she says, before pointing to a lone federal officer standing near the federal building.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rql6\">Miracle did not respond to a request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for additional comment. But in a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUKh7EWDjBF/\">post on Instagram</a> the following day, she wrote to thank viewers for their concern and to say that her team was safe.</p><p data-block-key=\"7b3rf\">“We got out of there right after this live shot as the situation became more chaotic,” she added. “This happened after a long day of peaceful protests throughout Los Angeles.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1eojp\">The actions of DHS on Jan. 30 appeared to violate <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">preliminary injunction</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"dqfam\">DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7m61m\">In a Jan. 31 post on <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115991701359412321\">his social media platform</a>, President Donald Trump wrote that federal agents would participate in policing protests only if requested, but that he had instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol “to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Miracle_-_CA_130_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"03pa0\">CNN correspondent Veronica Miracle, bottom left, reacts moments after a federal officer shot her in the calf with a pepper ball while she was reporting on immigration protests outside a detention facility in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Veronica Miracle (CNN)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter shot with impact projectile while covering Oregon immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shot-with-impact-projectile-while-covering-oregon-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-05T19:41:58.858256Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-05T19:54:36.585628Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-05T19:54:36.507467Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
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"city": "Eugene",
"longitude": -123.08675,
"latitude": 44.05207,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ufbuy\">Eugene Weekly reporter Eve Weston was hit in the stomach by a crowd-control munition fired by a federal officer while covering a protest in front of the Federal Building in Eugene, Oregon, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"9glcg\">Demonstrators had <a href=\"https://eugeneweekly.com/2026/01/31/ice-out-protest-and-chaos/\">gathered</a> at the site that day to protest federal immigration enforcement activities, the alternative paper reported. At one point in the late afternoon, a window of the building was broken, and federal officers inside opened fire with crowd-control munitions, according to the report.</p><p data-block-key=\"52gv1\">The protest was declared a riot by the Eugene Police Department, and Weston told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that afterward, federal officers came out and deployed crowd-control munitions and chemical irritants into the crowd, which she <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME0jvhLRLnE&t=92s\">captured on video</a> for the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"295cd\">Weston said that one officer came through a cloud of gas as she was backing up with others, lifting his tear gas canister launcher and shooting it almost directly at her.</p><p data-block-key=\"6m9nl\">“I was struck in the stomach. I am OK. It didn’t really injure me, but it definitely surprised me,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"34fhk\">Weston said the officer fired at her even though she was clearly identified as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"6uidl\">“I was wearing a very reflective red press vest. I was wearing a press pass. I even have this city-issued arm band that they give you, that’s this yellow reflector that you can put your press pass into.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7mvob\">Three days earlier, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-reporter-hit-with-crowd-control-munitions-while-covering-immigration-protest/\">Weston</a> and at least one other journalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-impact-projectiles-while-covering-oregon-protest/\">Agostinho Da Silva</a>, had been hit by crowd-control munitions fired by federal officers while covering a protest in the same location.</p><p data-block-key=\"9s1e1\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_Weston_Jan._30.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"5r7ry\">Local and federal law enforcement face a crowd of protesters and journalists in front of the Federal Building in Eugene, Oregon, on Jan. 30, 2026. Moments later, reporter Eve Weston was hit by a crowd-control munition fired by a federal officer.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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],
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"Eve Weston (Eugene Weekly)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist arrested, charged over Minnesota protest coverage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-arrested-charged-over-minnesota-protest-coverage/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-30T20:50:18.082493Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-30T21:55:24.830713Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-01-30T21:50:18.284611Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
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"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zboso\">Independent journalist Georgia Fort was arrested by federal agents at her home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early hours of Jan. 30, 2026, after a grand jury indicted her on charges connected to her reporting on a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul almost two weeks prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"b03bu\">Demonstrations in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says\">expansion</a> of an immigration enforcement crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html\">Renee Good</a> and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/politics/second-ice-shooting-minneapolis.html\">Alex Pretti</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dl3vi\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DTqqE2NjiR6/\">video report</a> Fort posted to social media, protest organizers said the church was targeted because one of the pastors is allegedly the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s St. Paul Field Office.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ms5u\">Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/harmeet-dhillon-targets-journalists-as-assistant-attorney-general/\">Harmeet Dhillon</a> announced the following day that her office would seek charges against everyone present at the protest, NBC News <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/dhillon-don-lemon-anti-ice-protest-church-doj-charges-renee-good-rcna254815\">reported</a>. While multiple journalists covered the demonstration, Dhillon focused most publicly on independent journalist and former CNN anchor Don Lemon.</p><p data-block-key=\"efd3b\">“Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility,” Dhillon said in a podcast interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson. “He went into the facility, and then he began — quote, unquote — ‘committing journalism,’ as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.”</p><p data-block-key=\"celic\">Lemon told NBC in an email that he stands by his reporting, adding that “it’s notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist — especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ft0bq\">A federal magistrate judge refused to issue charges against Lemon and others, CBS News <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/magistrate-judge-rejects-charges-don-lemon-anti-ice-protest-minnesota-church/\">reported</a> Jan. 22. The Justice Department appealed the magistrate’s decision, but in a Jan. 23 ruling, a federal appellate court declined to order the judge to sign arrest warrants for Lemon and his producer, <a href=\"https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/don-lemon-minnesota-church-grand-jury-doj-trump\">according to MS NOW</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"favfj\">A grand jury impaneled Jan. 29 handed down indictments for both Lemon and Fort, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/us/don-lemon-arrest-minnesota-church-protest.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare\">The New York Times</a> and <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-lemon-in-custody-former-cnn-anchor-sources-say/\">CBS News</a> reported. Lemon was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/don-lemon-arrested-charged-over-covering-minnesota-church-protest\">arrested that evening</a> in Los Angeles, where he had been covering the upcoming Grammy Awards, according to a statement from his attorney Abbe Lowell.</p><p data-block-key=\"epo0l\">Fort was arrested the next morning, according to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ByGeorgiaFort/videos/912031984668455\">livestream</a> she posted while federal agents stood outside her door. “They’re saying that they were able to go before a grand jury sometime, I guess, in the last 24 hours, and that they have a warrant for my arrest,” Fort said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5e2k6\">“This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media,” Fort continued. “I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because now federal agents are at my door, arresting me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eofot\">Leita Walker, an attorney representing Fort, told <a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/journalists-georgia-fort-don-lemon-arrested-over-protest-during-st-paul-church-service/601573975\">The Minnesota Star Tribune</a> that Fort was arrested by agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration “for reasons I don’t understand.” Fort was then taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, the site of much of the judicial and protest activity around the immigration crackdown in Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"2akvv\">U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href=\"https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/2017238803639845115\">wrote on social media</a> that the journalists’ arrests and those of two others were done at her direction. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/2017277024235040888\">video posted</a> a couple of hours later, Bondi said: “Make no mistake: Under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely. And, if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9gdjq\">According to the Times, both journalists face the same charges as the church protesters — conspiring to deprive rights and interfering with someone’s religious freedom in a house of worship.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mbsp\">According to the Star Tribune, Fort appeared in federal court in Minneapolis on the afternoon of Jan. 30. She was <a href=\"https://www.threads.com/@phil.lewis/post/DUJmF_wDuIr\">released from custody</a> shortly after 3 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"3f6j4\">Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison <a href=\"https://x.com/AGEllison/status/2017263148286316546/photo/1\">said in a statement</a> that the arrests were “deeply troubling.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8tchs\">“In Minnesota, we do not treat journalists like criminals for doing their jobs. No one should be arrested merely for holding a camera, asking hard questions, or telling the public what we have a right to know,” Ellison wrote. “When the federal government arrests reporters for documenting what is happening in our communities, it violates our rights, undermines our trust, and chills the transparency our democracy needs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rk3i\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the arrests as “naked attacks on freedom of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"48qv5\">“The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s chief of advocacy. “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dmqlh\"><i>Update: This article has been revised to include details about Georgia Fort’s release.</i></p></div>",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-01-30_at_1.20.51P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"13ida\">Independent journalist Georgia Fort reported live as federal agents stood outside her Minneapolis, Minnesota, home with an arrest warrant on Jan. 30, 2026. A grand jury indicted her after coverage of a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Drug Enforcement Administration",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2026-01-30",
"detention_date": "2026-01-30",
"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,
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Georgia Fort (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist hit in leg with projectile at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-in-leg-with-projectile-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-04T21:36:07.850259Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-04T21:43:30.034890Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-04T21:43:29.943874Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"aozzh\">Independent journalist Anthony Cabassa was struck in the back of the thigh by an impact projectile fired by a police officer while covering an immigration rights protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"560ot\">The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">began that day</a> and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers have shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"a91of\">Cabassa told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit with the crowd-control munition while filming LA Police Department officers pushing protesters away from the federal building where immigrants were being detained. He said the shot may have been a ricochet rather than a direct strike.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING 🚨: Chaos, as LAPD are firing less than lethal into the crowd, multiple members of the media have been hit, including me. Police shot my legs as I was walking away from police line, and when I turned around they shot me twice in the stomach with less than lethal. <a href=\"https://t.co/2fqLzKNXom\">pic.twitter.com/2fqLzKNXom</a></p>— Anthony (@anthonycabassa) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/anthonycabassa/status/2017424190044049638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 31, 2026</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=\"aozzh\">Shortly after, however, he said he was <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-shot-by-projectiles-injuring-torso-at-la-protest/\">deliberately struck with projectiles on his torso</a>, striking his press badge and leaving a bleeding, open wound on his stomach.</p><p data-block-key=\"e4bkl\">Cabassa said the thigh injury severely limited his mobility and forced him to leave the protest early, even as demonstrations continued for several more hours. He returned the next day but left again due to the pain.</p><p data-block-key=\"20qm6\">LAPD’s actions on Jan. 30 appeared to violate a California law prohibiting officers from firing munitions at members of the press. They also seemed to flout a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">preliminary injunction</a> issued last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"4i5m3\">LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017422317299916893?s=20\">social media post on X</a> the evening of the protest, the department said it used crowd munitions in response to violence against officers, but did not address their use of force against members of the press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-31T021152Z_268211974_RC22.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"y2o49\">Los Angeles Police Department officers at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026. Journalist Anthony Cabassa was hit in the leg with a crowd-control munition while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"name_of_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anthony Cabassa (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist pushed, pelted with projectiles at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-pelted-with-projectiles-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-04T20:32:57.490525Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-04T20:32:57.490525Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-04T20:32:57.271063Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"axjd9\">Student photojournalist Griffin O’Rourke was struck in the knees with crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents while covering a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pncp\">The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">began that day</a> and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers have shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmtb3\">O’Rourke, photo editor for the Daily Sundial at California State University Northridge, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"15rqn\">As protesters began pushing a metal dumpster toward the entrance of a parking garage, Department of Homeland Security officers fired a barrage of crowd-control munitions into the area. O’Rourke said he took cover behind the dumpster. When he stepped out to get a better photo, he was struck in the legs with pepper balls, which he identified by the residue they left behind.</p><p data-block-key=\"fre9j\">O’Rourke said he was wearing a helmet labeled “press” and a visible media badge, but could not tell whether he was targeted or not when he was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"3jpjn\">“The pain was pretty intense,” said O’Rourke, whose legs were bruised from the impact. “It felt like my knees were buckling, so I had to go sit down for a few minutes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ervgf\">Moments later, O’Rourke was engulfed in tear gas that seeped behind his goggles. The chemical irritant temporarily incapacitated him until somebody helped him wash it from his eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"akat\">“I was practically blind from the tear gas,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"67rtb\">Later, as Los Angeles Police Department officers pushed demonstrators away from the federal building, police told O’Rourke to move and then shoved him.</p><p data-block-key=\"63vtc\">“They were just more frustrated that I was in the way, then targeting me as the press,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmno0\">The actions of both DHS and the LAPD on Jan. 30 appeared to violate <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">preliminary injunctions</a> issued to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">both agencies</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"2onr7\">Requests for comment by both agencies were not immediately returned. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017422317299916893?s=20\">social media post on X</a> the evening of the protest, the LAPD said it used crowd-control munitions in response to violence against officers, but it did not address the use of force against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"6oa5s\">In a Jan. 31 post on <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115991701359412321\">his social media platform</a>, President Donald Trump wrote that federal agents would participate in policing protests only if requested, but that he had instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol “to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/ORourke_antiICEProtest-2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"61llc\">Law enforcement officers hold crowd-control weapons at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026. Photojournalist Griffin O’Rourke was pushed by officers and struck with pepper balls while covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Griffin O'Rourke ([California State University Northridge] Daily Sundial)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photographer shoved to the ground by police at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-to-the-ground-by-police-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-06T17:45:31.538531Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-06T17:45:31.538531Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-06T17:45:31.374228Z",
"date": "2026-01-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6e2vx\">Independent photographer Anna Moltke was pushed to the ground by a police officer at a demonstration against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"2h831\">The protest was part of nationwide protests <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-30/national-shutdown-brings-protests-to-l-a-across-nation-calling-for-end-of-ice-violence\">held that day</a> and followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens earlier in January. In LA, sweeping federal immigration enforcement actions have continued <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">since June</a> 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0brb\">Moltke told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was wearing a helmet with press identifiers as well as a media badge when she went to cover the protest near the federal detention facility downtown, where immigrants were being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"5vn9i\">A protester threw a water bottle at Los Angeles Police Department officers. The officers, armed with batons and crowd-control weapons, began pushing the crowd down the street. As Moltke moved in the direction police were directing the crowd, an officer pushed her to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"68vkg\">“In that moment, being pushed to the ground, I just froze and became very frazzled,” Moltke said. “There was no mistake that I am press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4asri\">The impact forced her camera into her chest and left her with scuffs and bruises on her knee, hip and elbow. Moltke said the experience brought back memories of the tension and violence she encountered while covering similar protests in June.</p><p data-block-key=\"db9lr\">“I definitely felt hindered. Like, I just got hurt. Am I going to get more hurt if I continue to try to do this properly and not from a large distance away?” Moltke said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5jmpm\">She continued photographing the protest for another hour. While she was there, law enforcement deployed chemical irritants, which seeped into her clothes and caused her to cough even after she left.</p><p data-block-key=\"1c3fg\">The LAPD officers’ actions appeared to violate <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=409.7\">California law</a> prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">preliminary injunction</a> last year.</p><p data-block-key=\"blkq2\">The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDCentral/status/2017422317299916893?s=20\">post on the social platform X</a> the evening of the protest, the department said it used crowd-control munitions in response to violence against officers, but did not address their use of force against members of the press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-31T023631Z_1981625242_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m9z9z\">Los Angeles Police Department officers line up at an immigration protest on Jan. 30, 2026. Photographer Anna Moltke was pushed to the ground by police while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anna Moltke (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Don Lemon arrested, charged over covering Minnesota church protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/don-lemon-arrested-charged-over-covering-minnesota-church-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-30T20:37:14.548610Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-03-05T21:24:54.523700Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-03-05T21:24:54.364385Z",
"date": "2026-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Beverly Hills",
"longitude": -118.40036,
"latitude": 34.07362,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0zrc7\">Independent journalist Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents at a hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on Jan. 29, 2026, after a grand jury indicted him on charges connected to his reporting on a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, almost two weeks prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"93r69\">Demonstrations in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says\">expansion</a> of an immigration enforcement crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html\">Renee Good</a> and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/politics/second-ice-shooting-minneapolis.html\">Alex Pretti</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4p3p0\">The former CNN anchor and his film crew followed demonstrators as they entered Cities Church on Jan. 18 to voice their opposition to ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DTqqE2NjiR6/\">Protest organizers said</a> the church was targeted because one of the pastors is allegedly the director of ICE’s St. Paul Field Office.</p><p data-block-key=\"7u4dj\">Later that day, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/harmeet-dhillon-targets-journalists-as-assistant-attorney-general/\">Harmeet Dhillon</a> wrote <a href=\"https://x.com/AAGDhillon/status/2013044166062936417\">on social media</a> that Lemon was “on notice,” and the following day she announced that her office would seek charges against everyone present at the protest, NBC News <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/dhillon-don-lemon-anti-ice-protest-church-doj-charges-renee-good-rcna254815\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6cb3\">“Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility,” Dhillon said in a podcast interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson. “He went into the facility, and then he began — quote, unquote — ‘committing journalism,’ as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d5490\">Lemon told NBC in an email that he stands by his reporting, adding that “it’s notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist — especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bnaeg\">A federal magistrate judge refused to issue charges against Lemon, CBS News <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/magistrate-judge-rejects-charges-don-lemon-anti-ice-protest-minnesota-church/\">reported</a> Jan. 22. The Justice Department appealed the magistrate’s decision, but in a Jan. 23 ruling, a federal appellate court declined to order the judge to sign arrest warrants for Lemon and his producer, <a href=\"https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/don-lemon-minnesota-church-grand-jury-doj-trump\">according to MS NOW</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"73tft\">In an interview on “<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i5xhWd2o2w\">The Megyn Kelly Show</a>” later that day, Dhillon said that her office would pursue the case against Lemon “to the ends of the earth.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a79v2\">A grand jury impaneled Jan. 29 handed down indictments for Lemon as well as independent journalist Georgia Fort, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/us/don-lemon-arrest-minnesota-church-protest.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare\">The New York Times</a> and <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-lemon-in-custody-former-cnn-anchor-sources-say/\">CBS News</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ii72\"><a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/30/politics/don-lemon-custody\">According to CNN</a>, more than two dozen agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations — which is leading the investigation — arrested Lemon after 11 p.m. Lemon was in the Los Angeles area to cover the upcoming Grammy Awards, according to a statement from his attorney Abbe Lowell.</p><p data-block-key=\"cguvb\">Fort <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-arrested-charged-over-minnesota-protest-coverage\">was arrested</a> in the early hours of Jan. 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"d9sb5\">“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell wrote. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”</p><p data-block-key=\"93rgc\">U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href=\"https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/2017238803639845115\">wrote on social media</a> that the arrests of Lemon, Fort and two others were done at her direction. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/2017277024235040888\">video posted</a> a couple of hours later, Bondi said: “Make no mistake: Under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely. And, if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"288pm\">According to the Times, both journalists face the same charges as the church protesters — conspiring to deprive rights and interfering with someone’s religious freedom in a house of worship.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjkbv\">According to <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/30/don-lemon-arrest-minneapolis-church-protest/\">The Washington Post</a>, Lemon appeared for an initial hearing in federal court on the afternoon of Jan. 30. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins asked the court to issue a $100,000 bond, asserting that the “defendant knowingly joined a mob to storm the church.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cn9ql\">Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue rejected that request, releasing Lemon under his own recognizance on a no money bond, CNN reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"4taui\">Lemon read a statement following his release, CBS News <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-lemon-in-custody-former-cnn-anchor-sources-say/\">reported</a>, thanking his supporters and vowing to fight the charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"frv4a\">“Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night for something that I’ve been doing for the last 30 years, and that is covering the news,” he said, of the Department of Justice. “The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them, and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5incv\">Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison <a href=\"https://x.com/AGEllison/status/2017263148286316546/photo/1\">said in a statement</a> that the arrests were “deeply troubling.”</p><p data-block-key=\"31iu3\">“In Minnesota, we do not treat journalists like criminals for doing their jobs. No one should be arrested merely for holding a camera, asking hard questions, or telling the public what we have a right to know,” Ellison wrote. “When the federal government arrests reporters for documenting what is happening in our communities, it violates our rights, undermines our trust, and chills the transparency our democracy needs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dc99q\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the arrests as “naked attacks on freedom of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8d5rq\">“The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s chief of advocacy. “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6gg09\">According to CNN, Lemon is scheduled to next appear in court Feb. 9 in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"amiir\"><i>Update: This article has been revised to include details about Don Lemon’s arrest and release from federal custody.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m55jl\">Independent journalist Don Lemon, above at a December 2025 event, was arrested by federal agents in Beverly Hills, California, on Jan. 29, 2026. A grand jury indicted him after coverage of a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.</p>",
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"(2026-02-13 22:11:00+00:00) Federal agents seized journalist’s phone during arrest"
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{
"title": "Video journalist shoved, threatened with arrest by federal agents in Minnesota",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-shoved-threatened-with-arrest-by-federal-agents-in-minnesota/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-29T21:51:07.914866Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-29T21:51:07.914866Z",
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"date": "2026-01-28",
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"city": "Minneapolis",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nzybt\">Mark Vancleave, a video journalist for The Associated Press, was pushed by a federal officer and threatened with arrest while reporting on an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 28, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"fbcf3\">Demonstrations in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says\">expansion</a> of an immigration enforcement crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html\">Renee Good</a> and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/politics/second-ice-shooting-minneapolis.html\">Alex Pretti</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"eo2h\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHzI6MbDNUw\">video account</a> for the AP, Vancleave said that he and a colleague saw reports that federal agents were parked on the north side of the city, so went to document their actions.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ktqm\">“We arrived and saw a vehicle idling with a few observers standing at the ends of the block. Eventually, that vehicle left and was followed by a handful of observer vehicles,” Vancleave reported. The journalists did so as well, trailing behind by a couple of hundred feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"abfh\">After a few blocks, they noticed “a white minivan aggressively driving up behind us with armed agents inside,” he continued. “We pulled over and turned on our hazards to let them pass. They didn’t. We eventually continued driving down the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9u6pv\">That’s when they realized that the lead vehicle had stopped ahead and, when the journalists pulled over, Vancleave said the white minivan quickly boxed them in.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnfl4\">“We jumped out with our cameras and walked to the sidewalk,” he continued. “Agents came out of that vehicle — Federal Bureau of Prisons agents — and told us that we would be under arrest if we did not immediately get back in our vehicle. We identified ourselves as Associated Press journalists, said that we would remain on the sidewalk and wanted to film what was happening in front of us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3nb65\">In the first seconds of Vancleave’s report, the officers can be seen ordering him to get back in his vehicle and leave the area, when one suddenly reaches out and shoves him. Vancleave identifies himself as a journalist for the AP, and an officer responds, “I don’t care who you are, get back in your vehicle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"95tcp\">When reached by email, the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to comment because “this matter involves an active law enforcement operation,” and did not respond to inquiries concerning the agency’s training on interacting with the media or its role in the enforcement operation.</p><p data-block-key=\"51q93\">Vancleave declined to comment, directing requests to the AP. Patrick Maks, director of media relations for the wire service, praised the journalists in an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"foekk\">“Our journalists conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism despite being forced back into their vehicle and threatened with arrest while covering an enforcement operation in a Minneapolis neighborhood,” Maks wrote. “This treatment of journalists is unacceptable. They were simply doing their job, which is to bear witness so that the public knows what’s happening on the ground.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qqhxs\">Associated Press video journalist Mark Vancleave reports that a Federal Bureau of Prisons officer pushed and threatened him with arrest while he was covering immigration enforcement activity in north Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 28, 2026.</p>",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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