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{
"title": "Student photojournalist pushed by police, thrown by CBP agent at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-pushed-by-police-thrown-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-06T21:40:39.301558Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-08T16:50:23.559230Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-08T16:50:23.442888Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"16dsu\">Ethan Cohen, a student photojournalist for California State University’s Long Beach Current, was shoved by police and flung backward by a federal officer while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2vfc\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"n4ku\">Outside the adjacent City Hall, officers with the LA Police Department formed a skirmish line and pushed Cohen, along with other journalists and protesters, down the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"bv6b3\">“I told him, ‘Hey, I can’t move back,’” Cohen said of the officer pushing him. “He seemed to be understanding at that point.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3vse2\">As the crowd thinned outside the detention center, federal officers made targeted arrests. During one arrest, Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he crouched down to photograph the scene. Nearby, Customs and Border Protection agents grabbed photojournalist <a href=\"/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-knocked-backward-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/\">Blake Fagan</a> and threw him backward.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m047\">“Then they picked me up and threw me back,” said Cohen, adding that he stumbled several steps before regaining his balance. “I was yelling at the officer, ‘What are you doing?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"a9g41\">Cohen, who wore media credentials, and a vest and helmet labeling him as press, said he doesn’t know if the agent targeted him because he was a journalist or because the agent wanted to get through and create a perimeter for the arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"1udop\">“There were other press that were told verbally to get back, rather than physically picked up and thrown,” Cohen said. “Had they asked me to move back, I would have complied, but I wasn’t given any option.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2sgjv\">The encounter interrupted Cohen’s ability to photograph the arrest; he said he removed himself from the situation and began documenting the protest in another area.</p><p data-block-key=\"dold3\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the LAPD. In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, the department wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d483h\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">nearly two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"681eo\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Solis_Luke_EthanCohenAssault_0501.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qqvdu\">Photojournalist Ethan Cohen, in press helmet at center right, is thrust backward by a Customs and Border Protection officer while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ethan Cohen ([California State University] Long Beach Current)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student photojournalist knocked backward by CBP agent at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-knocked-backward-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-07T17:48:56.298659Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-07T18:08:06.137502Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-07T18:08:06.052004Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e6w5c\">Student photojournalist Blake Fagan was pushed and thrown backward by federal agents while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6ni6\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"98jtd\">Fagan was documenting the protest for California State University, Northridge’s multimedia outlet, the Daily Sundial, when he followed the demonstrators to the detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"ee63\">At one point, a person attending the protest <a href=\"/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-threatened-by-individual-at-la-protest/\">shoved him</a> and tried to pull off his press badge, Fagan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He was also pushed by a Department of Homeland Security officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ocp2\">Later, federal agents began making targeted arrests. As officers moved to arrest a demonstrator, Fagan approached the perimeter of the scene and crouched to take a photo. Suddenly, he felt a tug on the back of his vest from behind.</p><p data-block-key=\"f44lr\">“This guy just yanked me and threw me back,” said Fagan, who wasn’t able to capture the shot. “They didn’t give any verbal warning. They just did it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3dnls\">Fagan landed on his back, scraping his elbow. He said the officer who threw him was a Customs and Border Protection agent holding a shield. Seconds later, another student photojournalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-pushed-by-police-thrown-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/\">Ethan Cohen</a>, was also flung backward.</p><p data-block-key=\"22vl\">Fagan, who was wearing press credentials, and a vest and helmet labeling him as press, said he considered the encounter targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ma0q\">“This happens especially in LA on a pretty frequent basis, whether it’s targeted or not,” he said. “The use of force is alarming to see.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5dt4b\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/DHS_Agent_pushes_me_as_a_credenti.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qb1t9\">A Department of Homeland Security officer is seen pushing photojournalist Blake Fagan as he covers a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Blake Fagan ([California State University, Northridge] Daily Sundial)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter detained in police kettle at May Day protest in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-in-police-kettle-at-may-day-protest-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-11T21:20:47.998275Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-11T21:20:47.998275Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-11T21:16:46.066024Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"og0qx\">L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"29vvu\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"9f7hd\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that LA Police Department officers had already formed a skirmish line by the time he arrived at the detention center, where officers on motorcycles started ordering people onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"636pl\">One of the officers <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/\">grabbed and arrested Ray</a>, ultimately issuing the journalist a citation for being in the roadway before releasing him.</p><p data-block-key=\"dig72\">Later, LAPD officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkvcoisups2o\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreia25mhpzmldu5a4zxd7mvt7sjdr5bckypk5ssmgt3uwur2qjgmpoe\"><p lang=\"en\">Yesterday, LAPD officer Cisneros Escoto jabbed me in my chest w/ her baton when I calmly asked for her serial number. I was asking for her serial number because a few moments earlier she shoved me with her baton while I filmed an arrest. This happened while LAPD kettled mostly press.</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch?ref_src=embed\">Shot On 35mm (@shoton35mm.bsky.social)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch/post/3mkvcoisups2o?ref_src=embed\">2026-05-02T18:49:39.940Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"og0qx\">“We basically had nowhere to go, and we were surrounded by cops,” Ray said. “It was mostly just press at the end of the protest, very few protesters, so we should have never been kettled in the first place.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8lrh9\">Ray remained inside the kettle for about 15 minutes before being released and moved to a media staging area on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmtf8\">“After I left, a journalist was arrested. I was able to document them taking him to a van or something to process them,” Ray said, referring to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">photojournalist Nick Stern</a>. “But I wasn’t there when he was actually being arrested, and I would have liked to be, and it wasn’t the most ideal spot to be.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dbu4k\">Ray has been involved in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lexis-Olivier%20Ray\">16 incidents</a> in LA documented by the Tracker, half of which took place in the past year. He said what happened May 1 was “one of the most egregious examples” of how police have treated the press at demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6mbk\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law exempts</a> journalists from dispersal orders and protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"cjtn4\">Weston Rowland, an attorney representing the Los Angeles Press Club who was arrested alongside Stern, told the Tracker that the police response that day showed a blatant disregard for these legal protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"1n1qt\">“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that the freedom of the press is well protected under our constitution,” Rowland said. “In 2025 and 2026, it seems like they’re doing things that are specifically targeting the press. That’s stepping back, not forward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1mqh8\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4d7lt\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"8iaqd\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/signal-2026-05-07-13-57-35-907-4.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3cys4\">An officer stands with baton at the ready as police formed a kettle around press and protesters in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was detained for about 15 minutes before being released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter detained in LAPD kettle amid May Day protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-in-lapd-kettle-amid-may-day-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-11T22:00:36.004996Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-11T22:00:36.004996Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-11T21:22:05.460696Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
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"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9f3e6\">Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu5af\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkk8r\">Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the Los Angeles Police Department responded aggressively to demonstrations that day from the beginning.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gs57\">“The thing hadn’t really even gotten started yet, and 20 LAPD cars with their sirens blaring come down the street, they jump out of their vehicles with their batons and start forming a skirmish line,” Berg said. “They hadn’t even done their speeches yet. They never even marched.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fnc1n\">When some protesters made their way to the Metropolitan Detention Center, where detained immigrants are being held, Berg said she followed, hoping to film as another march came in from the city’s Boyle Heights neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"4klv7\">Dozens of motorcycle officers arrived at the scene about an hour later and began ordering everyone back on the sidewalk. Suddenly, an officer walked directly to L.A. Taco reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/\">Lexis-Olivier Ray</a> and arrested him, Berg told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"668pd\">Berg said she confronted the officers, telling one that Ray had not been blocking traffic and explaining the protections afforded journalists as they cover demonstrations and other breaking news.</p><p data-block-key=\"cu8aj\">“You know what he said to me? He’s like, ‘You are not a member of the LA Press Club. You’re a professional agitator.’ And then he turned around and walked away,” Berg told the Tracker, noting that she was visibly wearing her LA Press Club credentials at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"eq5pr\">Ray was ultimately released after being issued a citation for being in the roadway.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1gnl\">As the evening progressed, Berg and Ray found themselves among other members of the press, legal observers and protesters in a kettle, surrounded by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kb59\">“They told me, ‘You’re under arrest. Sit on the curb and put your hands in the air.’ And I’m like, ‘The fuck? Yeah, that’s not happening,’” she recounted. “I said, ‘Where’s your PIO? Here are my press credentials. I’m a member of the press, you can’t arrest me.’</p><p data-block-key=\"djj6k\">“And he’s like, ‘Yes I can. Get on the curb and put your hands in the air.’”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:ru2uiz2ifeei5nqpssfy7iqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml2hrbds3c2z\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreifocdfindbqql2whe65wcbaqfzwyoypeevna2mnjjnlxenp74eysu\"><p lang=\"en\">From inside the arrest kettle. None of these officers have been trained properly on 409.7.</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ru2uiz2ifeei5nqpssfy7iqq?ref_src=embed\">Tina-Desiree Berg (@tinadesireeberg.com)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ru2uiz2ifeei5nqpssfy7iqq/post/3ml2hrbds3c2z?ref_src=embed\">2026-05-04T20:04:00.170Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9f3e6\">Berg told the Tracker that she was released after more than 30 minutes without charges, but that the experience was enraging.</p><p data-block-key=\"685u7\">“I just feel like I’ve been pushed to the end of my rope. The police consistently are doing this stuff and it’s unnecessary,” she said. “I’m really tired of them saying that we’re interfering in their operations when we are clearly not. We’re just filming, and we’re allowed to do that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6vbff\">Weston Rowland, an attorney representing the Los Angeles Press Club who was arrested alongside reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">Nick Stern</a> at the protest, told the Tracker that the police response that day showed a blatant disregard for the legal protections afforded journalists covering demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"ds7rt\">“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that the freedom of the press is well protected under our constitution,” Rowland said. “In 2025 and 2026, it seems like they’re doing things that are specifically targeting the press. That’s stepping back, not forward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kuqf\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"72quu\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"b68gn\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f54h2\">Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg, center right, confronts a police officer over the arrest of fellow journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray amid workers’ rights and immigration protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
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"abbreviation": "CA"
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"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photographer pushed, pinned against car by police while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-pinned-against-car-by-police-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-06T20:47:18.884361Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-06T20:47:18.884361Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-06T20:47:18.798119Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vcg31\">Photojournalist Chris Torres was pushed against a car by police with batons while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"fr0am\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"72rl7\">Torres, LA bureau chief for photo agency EPA Images, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the protest outside City Hall when the LA Police Department formed a barricade line at an intersection. They said the line was to let buses into the nearby buildings and tow away cars blocking the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"1olhe\">As the officers pushed protesters and members of the press back, Torres said he became “trapped between the officers and one of the cars, and they continued to back me into the car and push me with their batons until I was able to find an opening and escape.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3hska\">The photographer said that while he was clearly identified as a journalist — wearing badges from the LA County Sheriff’s Department and the Press Photographers Association of Greater LA — he did not believe he was targeted as a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rtj6\">“I think it was more just wrong place, wrong time,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fk8i2\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fks8i\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">nearly two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"9pl7o\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Police_line_up_as_people_rally_in.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"60r40\">Police line up as people rally in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. Officers pushed EPA Images photographer Chris Torres against a car with their batons while he was covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": 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": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Chris Torres (EPA Images [Germany])"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Livestreamer arrested during May Day protests in downtown LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/livestreamer-arrested-during-may-day-protests-in-downtown-la/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-19T18:10:45.043252Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-19T18:10:45.043252Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-28T20:59:51.594008Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ht03g\">Livestreamer Gonzalo Gonzalez was arrested and charged with failure to disperse while documenting workers’ rights and immigration protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"f65bt\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"buiqm\">Gonzalez, who broadcasts live and publishes videos through his YouTube channel EastLos Audits, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived shortly before noon to document a planned rally in front of City Hall. After around 30-45 minutes, LA Police Department officers arrived, establishing a skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1grr\">“I went live from that point, and they started pushing the crowd on Spring Street toward the front of City Hall,” he said. “I stayed live for about an hour or so, and I got behind the police line, the scrimmage line, because I already know: If I’m in front of it, I’m going to get shoved and pushed, and I don’t want to do that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8737r\">Gonzalez, who doesn’t carry press credentials, told the Tracker that he identified himself as media to the officers, who recognized and treated him as such.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8ase\">Officers ultimately pushed the crowd of protesters back to clear an employee entrance for a nearby courthouse, and the demonstrators then marched out of the area, Gonzalez said. He ended his live reporting and left once the police dispersed their skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnvlm\">Several hours later, the livestreamer was in his vehicle and ready to end his reporting day when he heard over his police scanner that officers were planning to corral demonstrators near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrant detainees are being held and which has been a focal point for protests over the past year.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2al9\">“When I got there, they already had the crowd pushed out on Alameda,” Gonzalez said, referring to the street in front of the detention center. “So again, I get behind the skirmish line, and there’s a lot of media there. But in front of the skirmish line, there’s media too.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d7eid\">Gonzalez said he continued to identify himself as press, complying when an officer directed him to cross the street and then back again, as she looked for a way to have him join other journalists covering the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"9l2m2\">He continued to <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExRI2PwjEVk\">broadcast live</a> as officers began to corral the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"crq7\">“I started documenting all that, and I want to get as close as I can so I can document, because I don’t just want to catch video, I also want to catch audio, to hear what they’re saying,” Gonzalez told the Tracker. “I get on the street because I can get a better view and audio from the street, which is only, I would say, about three or four feet off the sidewalk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"379d3\">Despite other members of the press being permitted to walk in the street — which officers had shut down — a lieutenant approached Gonzalez and ordered him to get back onto the sidewalk. Gonzalez told the Tracker he tried to explain to the officer that he was just documenting, but was told that he was too close to the officers’ emergency scene. He compiled, asking the officer his name while stepping backward and onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"1sot7\">“I understand that we have the right to be there,” Gonzalez told the Tracker. “And again, I can see media, mainstream media, on the street. So it irritated me that he wanted us on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"ce5n\">“So I was being a little bit of a jerk back, I’m not going to lie,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5790b\">As his interaction with the lieutenant became more heated, the officer directed another to arrest Gonzalez and take him in.</p><p data-block-key=\"8stup\">He told the Tracker that he was initially informed that he was going to be charged with obstruction, but his citation lists his violation as a failure to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgk51\">A <a href=\"https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-409-7/\">subclause</a> of that part of the California penal code specifically exempts journalists from unlawful assembly dispersal, protects them from interference or obstruction by law enforcement, and bars them from being charged with failure to disperse, curfew violations or resisting arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"bpgur\">At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-01&date_upper=2026-05-01&city=Los+Angeles&tags=protest&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">four other journalists</a> were detained in the kettle Gonzalez was documenting, one of whom — independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">Nick Stern</a> — was arrested but later released without charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"te7o\">Gonzalez said he was held in police custody for a little over two hours before he was released, and a hearing in his case is scheduled for May 27.</p><p data-block-key=\"3k55n\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1rmit\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"b5fu8\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Gonzalez_-_CA_arrest_05012026.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yeoh1\">Officers prevent press from approaching a kettled crowd of protesters and journalists in downtown Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. Livestreamer Gonzalo Gonzalez was arrested while filming the police action and charged with failure to disperse.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": 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": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gonzalo Gonzalez (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent journalist detained in LAPD kettle at May Day protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-detained-in-lapd-kettle-at-may-day-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-12T13:27:10.843071Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-12T13:27:10.843071Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-11T22:17:34.187864Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tcf3n\">Independent journalist Mel Buer was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e1mk\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"6visv\">Buer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that as the evening went on, LAPD officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:36qxymynrrlueovhitpmrfbu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mktmpaeqas2r\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreih662pb3pkvvgsk3pdk4naov3guejwotbrjccafsufmro3q5dotzq\"><p lang=\"en\">Kettled, half of us are press. NLG lawyer, press freedom lawyer. This is insane.</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36qxymynrrlueovhitpmrfbu?ref_src=embed\">Mel Buer (@melbuer.bsky.social)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36qxymynrrlueovhitpmrfbu/post/3mktmpaeqas2r?ref_src=embed\">2026-05-02T02:43:42.584Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tcf3n\">“There was a real moment where I genuinely thought I’d end up in a police car,” Buer wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"3tj9d\">She added that the kettle was tighter than the one <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-kettled-prevented-from-leaving-la-protest/\">she was detained in</a> amid protests in March, and the officers were unfamiliar. “They had already cited Lex, and didn’t seem interested in even having a dialogue, even with the ACLU lawyer attached to the press freedom case in the kettle with us,” she continued, referencing journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/\">Lexis-Olivier Ray</a> and LA Press Club attorney Weston Rowland.</p><p data-block-key=\"7aitp\">Journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-in-police-kettle-at-may-day-protest-in-la/\">Tina-Desiree Berg</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">Nick Stern</a> were also among those detained; both Stern and Rowland were arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"5oo6b\">“When Nick was arrested, and then the ACLU lawyer, I was the only press left in the kettle, and they hadn’t asked me to leave yet,” Buer told the Tracker. “Couldn’t confidently say I was safe until they walked me out of the kettle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9s0vg\">Buer estimates that she was detained for 30-45 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jfco\">Rowland told the Tracker that the police response that day showed a blatant disregard for the legal protections afforded journalists covering demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"4svbj\">“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that the freedom of the press is well protected under our constitution,” Rowland said. “In 2025 and 2026, it seems like they’re doing things that are specifically targeting the press. That’s stepping back, not forward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"frgj1\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"12id9\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m10\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/signal-2026-05-07-13-57-35-907-2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bdyf8\">An officer stands in a skirmish line after clearing press and protesters from outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. Journalist Mel Buer was later detained in an LAPD kettle and released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mel Buer (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist pushed, threatened by individual at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-threatened-by-individual-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-07T17:58:53.278114Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-07T18:10:23.168256Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-07T18:10:23.074082Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ql24v\">Student photojournalist Blake Fagan was shoved by an individual who also tried to yank off his press credentials while he was covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccb0a\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ki4q\">Fagan was documenting the protest for the Daily Sundial, the multimedia outlet for California State University, Northridge, when he followed the demonstration to the detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fqev\">There, an individual — who had previously sent Fagan a series of threatening messages on social media and accused him of taking a picture of his girlfriend — grabbed Fagan’s media credentials, looked at his name and tried pulling them from his neck. The man also yelled at other press in the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"aec13\">“He didn’t hit me, but he kept pushing me, saying I needed to be respectful,” Fagan said. “I didn’t know what he was talking about; I didn’t even have my camera raised, I was just standing there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c1g53\">Also <a href=\"/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-knocked-backward-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/\">that day</a>, Fagan was pushed by a Department of Homeland Security officer and flung backward by a federal agent, landing on his back.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/May_1_Tia_Podlubnyy_credit_of_Fag.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"izwio\">Photojournalist Blake Fagan, at left, is confronted by an individual who later pushed him and attempted to remove his press credential during a protest in Los Angeles on May 1, 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": 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": "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": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Blake Fagan ([California State University, Northridge] Daily Sundial)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter ticketed, jabbed with police baton at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-05T18:05:41.109382Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-11T15:50:05.425917Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-11T15:50:05.266275Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pqy16\">L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was cited by police, kettled and shoved with a police baton while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"clcmp\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"14u3c\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that LA Police Department officers had already formed a skirmish line by the time he arrived at the detention center, where officers on motorcycles started ordering people onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"2s501\">In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/shoton35mm.bsky.social/post/3mkybnkvcts2i\">a video</a> posted to the social platform Bluesky, an officer can be seen grabbing him and taking his ID. The officer then issued him a citation for being in the roadway, warning him that he would be taken to jail if he refused to sign it.</p><p data-block-key=\"afp5n\">“I’m with the media,” Ray says <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/shoton35mm.bsky.social/post/3mktxe7q3s22c\">in a separate video</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcgpn\">“It doesn’t matter,” the officer replies.</p><p data-block-key=\"44nui\">Ray said that he showed the officer his press badge, but the officer insisted that he had asked him multiple times to get off the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"9j6aq\">“He definitely singled me out,” Ray said. “I was the only person who was cited that I know of, out of a dozen or so people who were all in the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ajm9c\">Later, while Ray was documenting an arrest, an officer jabbed him in the stomach and chest. When he approached her to ask for her serial number, she pushed him again with her baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"lh8l\">“Back up,” she tells him in another <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/shoton35mm.bsky.social/post/3mkvcoisups2o\">Bluesky video</a>, as other officers seem to document the scene with cameras. She then gives him her information.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vqfs\">Later, LAPD officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.</p><p data-block-key=\"dm8vm\">“We basically had nowhere to go, and we were surrounded by cops,” Ray said. “It was mostly just press at the end of the protest, very few protesters, so we should have never been kettled in the first place.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eaavn\">Ray remained inside the kettle for about 15 minutes before being released and moved to a media staging area on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0ubs\">“After I left, a journalist was arrested. I was able to document them taking him to a van or something to process them,” Ray said. “But I wasn’t there when he was actually being arrested, and I would have liked to be, and it wasn’t the most ideal spot to be.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-aligned_image block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n\t\n\n\n\n <img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/SCHRECK_20260501_8776.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"828\" alt=\"COURTESY CARRIE SCHRECK\">\n\n\n\t\n\t<figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t<p data-block-key=\"bx42n\">Reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray holds up the traffic ticket he received while reporting on a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t> — COURTESY CARRIE SCHRECK\n\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\n\t</figcaption>\n\t\n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pqy16\">Ray has been involved in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lexis-Olivier%20Ray\">14 incidents</a> in LA documented by the Tracker, most recently on March 28, when he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/\">kettled, pushed and threatened with arrest</a>. He said what happened May 1 was “one of the most egregious examples” of how police have treated the press at demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4d3f\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law exempts</a> journalists from dispersal orders and protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"6uj9d\">LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment, but in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6pmg6\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">nearly two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7coq\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/SCHRECK_20260501_8735.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3en1y\">Reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, at left, is detained and cited by police for stepping into the street while documenting a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "FCC Chair Brendan Carr targets news outlets",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets/",
"first_published_at": "2026-03-16T19:53:37.411255Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-01T19:25:10.438891Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-01T19:05:48.826198Z",
"date": "2026-04-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ttem9\">As President Donald Trump’s second term continued in 2026, his Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, took steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration critically. We’re documenting Carr’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vslk\">Also read about <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets-as-chair-of-the-fcc/\">Carr’s efforts in 2025</a>, and how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/trump-allies-pursue-multipronged-campaign-against-the-press/\">to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage</a> and more.</p><p data-block-key=\"2jglf\"><i>This article was first published on March 16, 2026.</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ttem9\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"1pbra\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#April 28\">April 28, 2026 | FCC orders early license renewal applications from ABC-owned stations</a></p>\r\n<p><a href=\"#March 14\">March 14, 2026 | FCC chair threatens licenses of broadcasters for Iran war coverage</a></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ttem9\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"19vq8\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><a id=\"April 28\" name=\"April 28\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3o3ah\"><b>April 28, 2026 | FCC orders early license renewal applications from ABC-owned stations</b></p><p data-block-key=\"167pc\">The Federal Communications Commission ordered The Walt Disney Company on April 28, 2026, to apply for license renewals for all of its ABC TV stations, two years or more before licenses for any of the eight stations were scheduled to expire. The order mandated that the stations comply by May 28.</p><p data-block-key=\"984rk\">The FCC’s order cited its investigations of the stations “for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination,” indicating the order was connected to FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets-as-chair-of-the-fcc/#March%2027\">probe</a> into the company’s promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.</p><p data-block-key=\"8fd7i\">But observers have speculated that the move was a <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5803567/fcc-orders-early-license-renewals-for-abc-stations-after-criticism-from-trump\">response</a> to President Donald Trump’s call for ABC to fire comedian Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”</p><p data-block-key=\"r2m7\">Kimmel had joked on his April 23 telecast that first lady Melania Trump had “the glow of an expectant widow,” a remark he later explained was a reference to the age difference with the president, who turns 80 in June (she is 56).</p><p data-block-key=\"44o8u\">Two days after the remark, at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attended by the president and first lady, a man armed with guns and knives <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-evacuated-white-house-correspondents-dinner-security-incident/\">ran past security</a> and was apprehended. He was <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/suspect-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting-charged-attempt-assassinate-president\">charged</a> with attempting to assassinate the president.</p><p data-block-key=\"55l3m\">Then, on April 27, Trump, who has <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114897600777919524\">criticized</a> Kimmel <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115222372625104790\">extensively</a>, <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116477838570626860\">called</a> for the comedian’s termination on social media, saying the widow joke was “beyond the pale.” The next day, the FCC issued its order to Disney.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ihmi\">Carr has also criticized Kimmel, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/business/media/abc-jimmy-kimmel.html\">suggesting</a> in September 2025 the FCC might take action against ABC in response to comments by Kimmel about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. ABC then <a href=\"https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a67950912/jimmy-kimmel-suspended-abc-charlie-kirk-comments-explained/\">suspended</a> Kimmel’s show for six days.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bsae\">In response to the April 2026 order, Disney <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fcc-disney-abc-early-license-renewal-jimmy-kimmel-dei/\">told</a> CBS News, “We are confident that the record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2n17q\">The Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the FCC’s order.</p><p data-block-key=\"2653h\">“The First Amendment and the FCC’s mandate do not permit the agency to use broadcast licenses as weapons to punish broadcasters for constitutionally protected content they air,” FPF’s Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said. “This is nothing but illegal jawboning intended to intimidate ABC into kissing the ring.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"March 14\" name=\"March 14\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ttem9\"><b>March 14, 2026 | FCC chair threatens licenses of broadcasters for Iran war coverage</b></p><p data-block-key=\"ckhdh\">Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on March 14, 2026, threatened broadcasters with the loss of their licenses for what he characterized as “running hoaxes and news distortions” in their accounts of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.</p><p data-block-key=\"5s57v\">In a social media <a href=\"https://x.com/brendancarrfcc/status/2032855414233047172?s=46&t=cupRzX3UnU15_MPKyWvF6g\">post</a>, Carr quoted a screenshot of a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump, in which the president alleged that The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and “other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media” want the U.S. to lose the <a href=\"https://apnews.com/live/iran-war-israel-trump-03-16-2026\">war with Iran</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"eeaa8\">Although Trump did not mention any TV news outlets by name, Carr noted, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.” The FCC chair then added that those broadcasters “have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. <br><br>The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they… <a href=\"https://t.co/7bBgnsbalw\">https://t.co/7bBgnsbalw</a></p>— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/2032855414233047172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 14, 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=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ttem9\">“The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves,” he continued. “It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8kn89\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/broadcast-news-distortion\">FCC</a>, while over-the-air local broadcast television stations are subject to the agency’s jurisdiction with respect to “news distortion,” newspapers are not.</p><p data-block-key=\"ck449\">In a Truth Social <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116235861005528220\">post</a> the next day, Trump said he was “thrilled” to see that Carr was looking into the licenses of “some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ces97\">Trump added: “They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, ‘FIRED.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"bobq3\">In a March 16 <a href=\"https://x.com/AGomezFCC/status/2033615599864013019\">statement</a>, Anna Gomez, the FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner, noted that the agency “licenses local broadcast stations, not networks, and no licenses are up for renewal until 2028.” She added that Carr’s threats “are grounded in neither reality nor law and would not survive judicial scrutiny, just as other recent attempts by this Administration to push beyond constitutional limits have repeatedly failed in court.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dedlg\">“The concern over the chilling effect of these actions, however, is very real,” she said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP26014791736344.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"obh49\">Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr testifies at a House hearing in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 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": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
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"ABC",
"Media"
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{
"title": "Independent journalist held overnight for documenting city curfew in Virginia",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-held-overnight-for-documenting-city-curfew-in-virginia/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-27T20:42:58.398260Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-05T18:36:56.162563Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-05T18:36:55.954720Z",
"date": "2026-04-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Virginia Beach",
"longitude": -75.97799,
"latitude": 36.85293,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"62bh4\">Mickey Barker, an independent journalist, was arrested by police in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as he documented the city’s curfew on April 18, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvm59\">Barker was recording on his iPhone in the oceanfront area, where an all-ages curfew had been imposed after two earlier shootings in March and April. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was looking for local business owners and residents to interview about the effects of the curfew when officers stopped him.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2u78\">Though the City Council exempted members of the media from the curfew, Barker said he was treated differently because he is an independent journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmaie\">In <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CXRgzAbtN/\">a video</a> Barker posted of the interaction, an officer asks, “Sir, do you have credentials?”</p><p data-block-key=\"3h49s\">“The First Amendment, yes, of the Constitution,” Barker replies.</p><p data-block-key=\"2jig6\">“That’s not how that works,” says the officer, who was joined by other police asking Barker to leave the oceanfront area.</p><p data-block-key=\"85dgl\">Although credentials are not a requirement under the city ordinance, the officers demanded them after Barker asserted that he was an independent journalist gathering content for a story.</p><p data-block-key=\"493bi\">“You’re not press,” an officer was heard telling the journalist, before Barker insisted that he hadn’t broken any law and refused to provide his identification. The officer then took Barker’s phone and detained him in an overheated police van for about 45 minutes before taking him to jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"4brmh\">“I’m an Iraq veteran, and I’ve never sweat so hard,” Barker told the Tracker, adding, “They handcuffed me so tight that I had numbness and tingling in my fingers for about three days afterward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"81o9c\">Barker was released from jail early the next morning, and his case was dismissed April 24, according to Barker and his attorney, Tim Anderson, who say they’re preparing a civil suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"2u0fo\">“The First Amendment issue is as simple as this — CNN could have been there, but this guy couldn’t,” Anderson <a href=\"https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/04/20/virginia-beach-curfew-violation-charge/\">told The Virginian-Pilot</a>. “That’s the shocking part of this. If the guy had a CNN jacket on, he would have been allowed to be down there, but this independent, amateur journalist gets put in handcuffs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"132i6\">Barker documents happenings in his community to a small following on his <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585185375477\">Facebook</a> page, titled Billy the Billy of Rights Billy Goat, which contains occasional political commentary and documents Barker participating in protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"28q5v\">“Anybody who documents and tries to make some of it publicly accessible is a journalist,” he told the Tracker. “Journalism is an activity, not an occupation. It’s the activity that is protected in our constitutional rights.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"96xhx\">A police officer is seen in this video still asking for independent journalist Mickey Barker’s press credentials, before arresting him for violating curfew in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on April 18, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2026-04-19",
"detention_date": "2026-04-18",
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"case_number": "CL26002306-00",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"updates": [
"(2026-04-28 18:30:00+00:00) Virginia journalist sues over arrest while documenting curfew"
],
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"ongoing"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"Mickey Barker (Independent)"
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},
{
"title": "Reporter pushed, threatened with arrest while trying to question Florida mayor",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-threatened-with-arrest-while-trying-to-question-florida-mayor/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-28T14:56:52.100611Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-28T14:56:52.100611Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-28T14:56:45.089911Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami Beach",
"longitude": -80.13005,
"latitude": 25.79065,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ndexx\">WPLG investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier was shoved and threatened with jail by a plainclothes Miami-Dade County sheriff’s deputy while approaching the county’s mayor for an interview in Miami Beach, Florida, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdjt1\">The TV station <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/04/21/local-10-examines-physical-contact-arrest-threat-from-mdso-plainclothes-deputy-assigned-to-mayors-detail/\">reported</a> that the incident took place while the mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, was appearing at an event at a public park.</p><p data-block-key=\"5f13v\">Weinsier tried to ask her why <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/04/14/local-10-examines-why-expensive-electric-buses-sit-in-disrepair-in-miami-dade-broward/\">electric city buses</a> that cost taxpayers more than $60 million were taken out of service. The reporter sought out the mayor at the public event because, for weeks, her communications staff had told him that she would not do an interview on the issue, according to WPLG.</p><p data-block-key=\"amvk\">After Levine Cava finished an interview with the county’s own television channel, Weinsier walked up to her and asked a question. WPLG’s <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVbrDWmKocc\">video report</a> on the incident shows a woman standing next to the mayor saying, “We can speak after the program.”</p><p data-block-key=\"38bus\">Then, a man wearing a black jacket and sunglasses but no visible badge or credentials steps forward and pushes Weinsier back. The man — later identified as a Miami-Dade sheriff’s deputy, Lester Aguilar, part of the mayor’s security detail — tells everyone to move back, and shoves Weinsier several times.</p><p data-block-key=\"6en6a\">The reporter repeatedly says, “Don’t push me,” to which Aguilar replies, “Do you want to go to jail?</p><p data-block-key=\"4or00\">“For what? Standing and trying to interview the mayor?” Weinsier asks.</p><p data-block-key=\"7mupr\">At no point does Aguilar identify himself as law enforcement or as a member of the mayor’s security team.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9k9g\">Aguilar alleged that the reporter made contact with him. “The next time you put your hands on me, you will go to jail. I was just trying to do my job,” he says later.</p><p data-block-key=\"7391c\">“And I as well,” Weinsier replies.</p><p data-block-key=\"626l0\">Later that day, the mayor agreed to answer Weinsier’s questions about the buses.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mk3v\">WPLG reported that the Sheriff’s Office had opened an internal affairs investigation into the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"83hpr\">Weinsier told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that WPLG submitted a public records request to the Sheriff’s Office, seeking its policies and procedures about plainclothes officers identifying themselves when interacting with the public, “particularly before or while giving orders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fr3tl\">He said the incident hasn’t deterred their reporting. “Our focus remains on getting answers regarding the taxpayer-funded electric bus program and continuing to ask questions of public officials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fmvru\">“That said, I do think there are broader questions that come out of this. If there are specific protocols, boundaries or a defined perimeter around the mayor when she is in a public setting, that is something journalists and the public should clearly understand,” Weinsier added.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mn2p\">The Miami-Dade Mayor’s Office and Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"cq28k\">“Ultimately, I think the key issue here is clarity. If plainclothes officers are going to engage with members of the media or the public in that way, there should be clear identification and clear rules governing those interactions,” Weinsier said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/WPLG_television_reporter_Jeff_Wei.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nxov9\">WPLG television reporter Jeff Weinsier, at left holding microphone, was pushed by a plainclothes sheriff’s deputy while trying to ask Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava a question on April 11, 2026, in Miami Beach, Florida.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "Florida",
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},
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Jeff Weinsier (WPLG)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter assaulted by individuals at Minnesota immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-by-individuals-at-minnesota-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-23T20:59:42.406483Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-23T20:59:42.406483Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-23T20:59:42.234985Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fort Snelling",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">Savanah Hernandez, a reporter for Frontlines TPUSA, suffered a concussion after she was attacked by a group of people attending an immigration protest in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vt8l\">The demonstration was one of many nationwide protests that day against increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and shot and wounded another man. Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests\">since sued</a> the Trump administration, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"9anu1\">Hernandez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was reporting for Frontlines TPUSA, the online news arm of the conservative activist organization Turning Point USA.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rge1\">While Hernandez filmed the demonstration outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, several people attending the protest surrounded her after learning she was affiliated with TPUSA. Hernandez told the group she was only there to observe and record, but the situation began to escalate.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2hjo\">“The crowd became increasingly more volatile,” Hernandez told the Tracker. “They just heard the name, ‘Turning Point USA,’ and that’s what got them very aggressive with me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1f2o2\">Hernandez filmed as people blew whistles and blowhorns at her. One woman blew a whistle inches from her ear, and someone on a megaphone yelled, “Get the fuck out of here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d6gis\">“Stop. Leave me alone,” Hernandez said <a href=\"https://x.com/FrontlinesTPUSA/status/2043091490961059930\">in the video</a>. “People are being extremely aggressive here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3q91k\">Moments later, Hernandez was shoved to the ground, her camera jostling.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is now the second time I have been mobbed and assaulted for filming a protest on U.S. streets.<br><br>Today these Minneapolis protesters were chanting that they were “ANTIFA” and proved it, by mobbing and beating me for reporting on a public protest: <a href=\"https://t.co/EOhyg9AFME\">pic.twitter.com/EOhyg9AFME</a></p>— Savanah Hernandez (@Savsays) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Savsays/status/2043088956351189051?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 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=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">Hernandez pushed away another woman who aggressively approached her. “Get off of me,” Hernandez said. “Stop touching me.” Hernandez is then tackled to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d05g\">Hernandez is seen being shoved by a man in <a href=\"https://x.com/Savsays/status/2043336993514373245?s=20\">one video</a>. Another <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1D4SJgKM10\">shows</a> a woman pushing her into a fence. Hernandez throws a punch at the woman in <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e45cEdDcCBc\">a third clip</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I'm waking up with a headache and stiff neck this morning due to how violently anti-ICE activist, Chris Ostroushko, shoved me down yesterday.<br><br>A second angle shows that he had to be held back by 5 men as he continued to charge at me.<br><br>I didn't speak a word to him all day yet he… <a href=\"https://t.co/LjDx1GMLnF\">pic.twitter.com/LjDx1GMLnF</a></p>— Savanah Hernandez (@Savsays) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Savsays/status/2043336993514373245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 12, 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=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">“I realized these people were not going to let me leave,” Hernandez said. “I was basically like, ‘I feel like I’m just going to have to fight my way out of this.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"cfsrg\">Eventually, police intervened and escorted Hernandez away. Hernandez’s glasses were broken after the encounter. A doctor diagnosed her with a concussion. She also suffered sprains, bruising and a stiff neck. Her legs were scraped, and her neck and back were sore.</p><p data-block-key=\"abtfu\">A Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office report shows that Paige Ostroushko and her father, Christopher, were arrested in connection with the assault. The sheriff submitted charges to the county attorney, which are now under review for potential charging. The report lists a third offender, Deyanna Ostroushko, who has not been arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vn7u\">Chris Ostroushko <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2026/04/17/us-news/minnesota-dad-who-assaulted-turning-point-usa-journo-says-family-is-not-violent/\">told the New York Post</a> that he was defending his wife and daughter, who claimed they were acting in self-defense after Hernandez attacked them. “We are absolutely not violent people,” he said. “In fact, we tend to shy away from it.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was scheduled for multiple media interviews today, but I canceled all of them. <br><br>Yesterday, after my interviews I felt drained and realize I need time to recover. <br><br>I’ve been dealing with headaches, dizziness and lightheadedness and was informed by a doctor that I do have a…</p>— Savanah Hernandez (@Savsays) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Savsays/status/2044500613392675269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 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=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">Hernandez said she felt targeted by the group, who she believes attacked her to make sure she couldn’t do her job.</p><p data-block-key=\"ag8jp\">“I would like to see the First Amendment protected more in the United States of America,” Hernandez told the Tracker. “I would like to see the law applied equally, so that journalists and reporters are protected no matter which city they’re in, because this type of violence against people has been happening for far too long.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5q6aa\">Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon <a href=\"https://x.com/aagdhillon/status/2043394433517838520?s=42\">confirmed</a> that the FBI was also investigating the assault. Vice President JD Vance <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXKMCdOiof_/\">acknowledged</a> the federal investigation as well.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"s62p4\">Frontlines TPUSA reporter Savanah Hernandez, at left, with two individuals arrested in connection with an assault against her, seen in a video screengrab from an immigration protest in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on April 11, 2026.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Savanah Hernandez (Frontlines TPUSA)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photographer pushed, jabbed by police baton at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-jabbed-by-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-15T19:26:02.851677Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-15T19:26:02.851677Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-15T19:26:02.672098Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x420s\">Independent photographer Enrique Dominguez was shoved by officers and poked with a police baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"34lnt\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"fss94\">Dominguez, who was not wearing a press badge but has since received one from the National Press Photographers Association, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was taking pictures of the protest and is working on a documentary film.</p><p data-block-key=\"31i1r\">While on the scene, the LA Police Department started forcing members of the press backward, away from the detention center. Dominguez said he tried to take a picture of a woman being arrested at a certain angle, but he was diverted after an officer pushed him, followed by several others.</p><p data-block-key=\"cc4le\">“They pushed us more aggressively when we started taking pictures of them arresting everybody,” Dominguez said. “The police started jabbing me with their batons and started pushing me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6l7lp\">At one point, an officer pointed at him and told him that he would be detained next. Dominguez said he just walked away.</p><p data-block-key=\"7obk8\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"dpptk\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d4q94\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fc7ij\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least a dozen</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"dn9fa\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-04-14_at_12.36.36.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7k78o\">Police push press back at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Independent photographer Enrique Dominguez was shoved by officers and poked with a police baton while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photographer pushed, hit with baton at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-hit-with-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-23T18:43:16.181221Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-23T18:43:16.181221Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-23T18:43:15.986487Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ytz00\">Independent photographer Jonny Morales was shoved by police and jabbed in the ribs with a police baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"3aoqa\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"663om\">Morales told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing the protest outside the detention center when police forced protesters to leave and began making targeted arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu0o7\">Officers then gave conflicting directions to members of the press. One directed the reporters to the sidewalk, while another threatened the media with arrest for staying. While standing on the sidewalk with other reporters, Morales was pushed by an officer, who also struck him with his baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"1scm1\">“Because of that interaction, I didn’t feel safe,” Morales told the Tracker. “That was just really scary and intimidating.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e7kmt\">Morales, who was carrying gear and wearing a vest that identified him as press, said one officer told him that he would be considered a protester because he did not have a press credential.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4ll4\">“I’m an independent, I’m considered press, I’m protected under state law,” Morales told police, who he said ignored his assertions.</p><p data-block-key=\"bvfms\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-7/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police during demonstrations, and does not require journalists to wear credentials to be considered press. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"314a2\">After leaving the protest, Morales said his ribs were sore and red. Other <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-04-11&date_upper=2026-04-11&city=Los+Angeles&state=California\">journalists</a> were also shoved and hit during the scrum, impeding their ability to report.</p><p data-block-key=\"4cl27\">“I was forced to stop documenting because I was concerned about my well-being and my friends’ well-being,” Morales said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gefd\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"920ur\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fq8p9\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally two weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least 17</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"fko2g\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-04-14_at_12.31.26.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7rmvh\">Officers push members of the press back during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Photographer Jonny Morales was struck with a police baton while covering the demonstration.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photographer shoved by police, federal officers at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-by-police-federal-officers-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-24T20:51:53.440663Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-24T20:51:53.440663Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-24T20:51:53.237814Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d09ze\">Independent photographer Steven Berumen was pushed by both federal officers and local police while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ni61\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"atj2f\">Berumen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that an LA Police Department officer shoved him with his baton as police pushed members of the media away from documenting arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsvc\">“They didn’t want me photographing,” Berumen said. “They always yell at me, ‘Just get your photo and go.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"10ebc\">Berumen, who was wearing a vest marking him as press, said when he documents protests, he tries to maintain a respectful distance between himself and officers, but finds that officers still try to push him or block his shot.</p><p data-block-key=\"560gr\">“They were targeting press; they complain when you’re taking photos, and they push you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tjrp\">Later that day, Berumen documented federal officers and LAPD making arrests outside the detention center when Department of Homeland Security agents also shoved him.</p><p data-block-key=\"qhlt\">“I was getting photos of them and, from my right side, they came in and pushed me,” he said. “I was pushed, and then I was pushed again, but it didn’t really register with me because I was just focused on taking the photos.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a8mjg\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-7/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police during demonstrations, and does not require journalists to wear credentials to be considered press. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\">DHS</a> is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"f789u\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cjg7o\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8rttp\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally two weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28&city=Los+angeles\">at least 18</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"7c90e\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4soj5\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-04-24_at_12.45.58.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4x4hm\">Law enforcement at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Photographer Steven Berumen was shoved by police and federal officers while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
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"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
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],
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],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist shoved by LAPD, threatened with arrest at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-by-lapd-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-14T19:06:30.525585Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-15T17:10:44.755447Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-15T17:10:44.625337Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
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"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4e6pl\">Independent journalist Mel Buer was pushed by police and warned she would be detained while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtqas\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"5f8n3\">Buer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was filming outside the detention center when the LA Police Department started making arrests. Officers pushed about a half-dozen reporters down the street, away from the police action.</p><p data-block-key=\"d7eon\">“I was shoved pretty hard by an officer,” said Buer, who recalled her ribs hurting for about two hours after. “My colleagues say I took a baton to the ribs, but I don’t remember feeling it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c3tt\">In a video Buer <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/melbuer.bsky.social/post/3mjauuoftec2a\">posted on Bluesky</a>, police moved in to arrest a protester. Other officers then positioned themselves in front of members of the media and aggressively advanced on them, using their batons and yelling for them to back up. One journalist was kicked.</p><p data-block-key=\"27i1s\">“You have been advised to leave, all the members of press. You are subject to arrest — all of you. Now,” an officer told them, adding, “You cannot get in the way of arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ku7t\">“We’re not,” one journalist said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6aj1v\">“You’re coming over here when we’re making arrests,” the officer replied.</p><p data-block-key=\"an4e1\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police while doing so. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"8o3iu\">While the statute states press may access closed areas during emergencies, it does not extend that access to designated crime scenes or secured perimeters established by law enforcement. In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/melbuer.bsky.social/post/3mjav33gqlc2a\">one video,</a> an officer using a megaphone told the media they were subject to arrest, and the area had been declared an emergency operation.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g8qa\">Police make the designated area broad — across a block or more — to prevent press from crossing the line during a dispersal, Buer said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6i7e5\">Buer, who two weeks earlier had been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-kettled-prevented-from-leaving-la-protest/\">caught in a police kettle</a> and threatened with arrest, told the Tracker that her main frustration is the confusing and often contradictory directives provided to the press at protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gafh\">“There’s no main point of contact telling us where to go. Everyone’s giving different directions, and when we don’t move out of the way fast enough, they use their batons and shove us,” Buer said. “I should not be shoved by an officer in such a way when I’m attempting to film what is happening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"buto4\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9atbt\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6msto\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least 11</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmjrd\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jnld\"><i>Update: This story was revised to include comment from an LAPD spokesperson.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yhwl8\">Police respond to a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Journalist Mel Buer was pushed by an officer while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"release_date": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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],
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist kicked in chest by police at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-kicked-in-chest-by-police-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-16T16:27:29.045336Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-16T16:27:29.045336Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-16T16:27:28.803285Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yjnfx\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern was kicked in the chest by a police officer while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mg7d\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"3sutk\">Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that once the LA Police Department called a dispersal order, they directed journalists at first to leave the area. They then told the press to go onto the other side of the street on the sidewalk to photograph.</p><p data-block-key=\"arogm\">“We were then charged by some of the same officers,” he said. “Contrary to what they told us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8d82a\">Stern, who was identified as press on his T-shirt and was wearing a press badge around his neck, said a majority of the people remaining were media. At one point, a group of officers ran up to arrest a woman and as they did so, a number of journalists moved forward to document it. Police pushed them with batons.</p><p data-block-key=\"b07em\">“We then as a group were shuffling back,” Stern said.</p><p data-block-key=\"a49t7\">Still trying to get a shot, Stern held his camera up high, over the officers’ heads.</p><p data-block-key=\"2hbea\">“As they were pushing us, one officer then kicked me in the chest with his right leg.”</p><p data-block-key=\"593vv\">Stern said that officer was then pulled back by a senior officer, seemingly reprimanded for his action, which was <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXE1sg0AZfM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">captured on a video</a> the journalist posted to one of his social media accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"378uh\">“Everytime we go and argue our rights as journalists, they’re nodding their heads, and we go back out on the streets, and it’s all forgotten,” Stern told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"cjh8p\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"7s440\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1tl0c\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5e45b\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least a dozen</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ocl6\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Police_push_press_back_at_an_immi.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jd91l\">Police push press back at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Photojournalist Nick Stern was kicked by an officer while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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{
"title": "Reporter pushed by police while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-15T20:08:05.946686Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-15T20:08:05.946686Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-15T19:42:33.964655Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rnr5e\">Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg was pushed back by police and later shoved by an officer while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"8urd7\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"7bkll\">Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that an LA Police Department captain directed members of the media to document from the sidewalk, which they did.</p><p data-block-key=\"3572i\">“I had my back to the police line, and the next thing I know, we were just being bombarded,” she said. “A group of cops just all ran forward into us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5jsma\">Berg, who was clearly identified as press, said she confronted officers for assaulting the media after they had complied with orders to document from the sidewalk. As she was talking to one media relations lieutenant, he told her, “That’s it, I’m done,” before shoving her through the police line.</p><p data-block-key=\"d06p4\">“I’ve never had a media relations person behave like that,” Berg told the Tracker. “It’s just so offensive.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3mqlq\">In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3mjawia32ak2c\">video</a> posted by journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-struck-with-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a> on Bluesky, officers positioned themselves in front of the media and aggressively advanced on them, using their batons and yelling for them to back up and leave the area. One journalist was kicked.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ne2o\">“You have been advised to leave, all the members of press. You are subject to arrest — all of you. Now,” an officer told them, adding, “You cannot get in the way of arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"em8rm\">“We’re not,” one journalist said.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6ljr\">“You’re coming over here when we’re making arrests,” the officer replied.</p><p data-block-key=\"ell92\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police while doing so. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rcmc\">While the statute states press may access closed areas during emergencies, it does not extend that access to designated crime scenes or secured perimeters established by law enforcement. In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/melbuer.bsky.social/post/3mjav33gqlc2a\">another video</a>, posted by journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-by-lapd-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/\">Mel Buer</a>, an officer invoked that portion of the law, telling the media the area had been declared an emergency operation and they were subject to arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"84pbt\">“Here’s the thing that upsets me: It’s never consistent,” Berg said. “Sometimes you have situations on the same day where police handle things appropriately, know what the law says, and then you’ll have the opposite happen in the course of the same protest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"81lho\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"43cpn\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ff7d9\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least a dozen</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"1o9rg\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Journalist_Tina-Desiree_Berg_cent.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"k1llr\">Journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, center, and other members of the press are pushed back by police while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. She was later shoved across a police line by an officer.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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{
"title": "Journalist pushed, struck with police baton at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-struck-with-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-14T21:04:32.849098Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-15T17:13:44.600693Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-15T17:13:44.170932Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xufn7\">Independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was shoved by police and battered with a baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"9st5a\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"8mtp4\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the protest outside the detention center when an LA Police Department helicopter called for the crowd below to disperse. Shortly after, officers arrived at the scene and began pushing protesters and members of the press down the street, away from the detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ds2f\">Beckner-Carmitchel was shoved at least three times in the back, shoulders and chest, and hit with a police baton at least twice in the arm. One officer aimed his projectile launcher at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"kkrk\">“So many of my shots were out of focus because you need a half a second to focus,” he said. “And if you’re constantly being shoved, that’s extremely difficult.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2jhh5\">In a video Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3mjawia32ak2c\">posted to Bluesky</a>, officers positioned themselves in front of the media and aggressively advanced on them, using their batons and yelling for them to back up and leave the area. One journalist was kicked.</p><p data-block-key=\"8q1ru\">“You have been advised to leave, all the members of press. You are subject to arrest — all of you. Now,” an officer told them, adding, “You cannot get in the way of arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"595mg\">“We’re not,” one journalist said.</p><p data-block-key=\"p68i\">“You’re coming over here when we’re making arrests,” the officer replied.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lsav\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police while doing so. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"elgrt\">While the statute states press may access closed areas during emergencies, it does not extend that access to designated crime scenes or secured perimeters established by law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"5huf6\">In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/melbuer.bsky.social/post/3mjav33gqlc2a\">one video</a> posted by journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-by-lapd-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/\">Mel Buer</a>, an officer using a megaphone told the media they were subject to arrest, and the area had been declared an emergency operation.</p><p data-block-key=\"8orr9\">“You can’t just declare an entire street your base of operations,” Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker. “They’re making it so they don’t have to accommodate journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ag7go\">Beckner-Carmitchel, who <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-caught-in-police-kettle-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/\">two weeks earlier</a> had been caught in a police kettle and threatened with arrest, said officers were pushing and using their batons against members of the media who were on the sidewalk, where police had directed them.</p><p data-block-key=\"5n8n8\">“We have a job to do,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “If you don’t want us to interfere, then don’t shove us in the place where you put us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c7le8\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ak3jv\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2sf0l\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least 11</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"39muj\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1sr3\"><i>Update: This story was revised to include comment from an LAPD spokesperson.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-04-14_at_12.36.11.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2pyrp\">An officer tells press they need to leave or be subject to arrest at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was pushed by police and hit with batons while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Army veteran charged under Espionage Act for sharing classified details",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/army-veteran-charged-under-espionage-act-for-sharing-classified-details/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-20T14:47:07.346573Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-20T14:47:07.346573Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-20T14:46:56.830505Z",
"date": "2026-04-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Raleigh",
"longitude": -78.63861,
"latitude": 35.7721,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0jycw\">Courtney Williams, a retired Army employee with the elite Delta Force, was indicted on April 8, 2026, by a federal grand jury in Raleigh, North Carolina, for allegedly sharing classified information with a journalist, in violation of the Espionage Act.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ko3k\">The journalist went on to write a book and article alleging sexual harassment and discrimination in the secretive unit, according to news reports and <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73161477/united-states-v-williams/\">court documents</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Although the reporter’s name and the specific military unit are not named in the court filings, the dates and other details coincide with the work of investigative journalist Seth Harp about Delta Force.</p><p data-block-key=\"5anh0\">Williams was <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-army-employee-and-top-secret-clearance-holder-arrested-and-charged-leaking-classified\">arrested</a> April 7 and <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/fort-bragg-classified-leak-courtney-williams-release-2fef4cd6c955549e24908934eed08fe3\">appeared</a> in federal court in Raleigh on April 13 to face four counts of felony communicating and disclosing national defense information, under <a href=\"https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/friedman-documents/reports-research/FOLDER_052/41708279074759.pdf\">Section 793(d)</a> of the Espionage Act. Each count carries a prison term of up to 10 years, along with monetary fines.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ci4a\">U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Meyers ordered Williams to remain under house arrest with a monitoring device at her home in Wagram, North Carolina, awaiting trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"lqkp\">According to the <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nced.226824/gov.uscourts.nced.226824.1.0_1.pdf\">criminal complaint</a>, Williams was hired as a defense contractor in 2010 and became an employee of the Department of Defense months later. She then held top-secret security clearance while working for a special military unit at Fort Bragg until 2016.</p><p data-block-key=\"947j\">The complaint alleges that Williams shared tactics, member names and other classified information related to the Army unit with a journalist. Williams spent more than 10 hours on phone calls and exchanged more than 180 text messages with the journalist between 2022 and 2025, the complaint states.</p><p data-block-key=\"3mije\">“The tradecraft, tactics, and techniques used by the U.S. military unit in this case are classified and should be shared only with those with proper clearances and a need to know in order to protect American lives and safeguard classified National Defense information,” Reid Davis, the FBI special agent in charge in North Carolina, said <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-army-employee-and-top-secret-clearance-holder-arrested-and-charged-leaking-classified\">in a statement</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bo4li\">Harp’s 2025 book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces,” included Williams’ claims of mistreatment while working for Delta Force at Fort Bragg. Ahead of the book release, Harp also highlighted Williams’ story in a <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/08/12/fort-bragg-delta-force-women-military-hegseth-00495824\">Politico</a> article, “‘My Life Became a Living Hell’: One Woman’s Career in Delta Force, the Army’s Most Elite Unit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"irrk\">Williams eventually filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reaching a settlement and retiring from the Army in 2018, according to Harp’s Politico article.</p><p data-block-key=\"5k8ql\">In an April 8 <a href=\"https://x.com/sethharpesq/status/2042026904409031136\">post on the social platform X</a>, Harp hailed Williams as a “courageous whistleblower” who “exposed rampant gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the US Army’s Delta Force.”</p><p data-block-key=\"708of\">“Unlike many of my sources, she was adamant that she be quoted by name and made no attempt to conceal her identity because her actions were entirely above-board, legitimate, and admirable,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"9uufk\">Harp himself was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rep-anna-paulina-luna-targets-press-while-on-house-oversight-committee/\">threatened</a> with a subpoena in January by a member of Congress for his reporting on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fgsa\">“This is very clearly a retaliatory, anti-transparency prosecution and nothing more,” Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation — of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project — <a href=\"https://freedom.press/issues/fpf-statement-on-charges-against-source-who-spoke-to-journalist-seth-harp/\">said</a> of Williams’ case. “The notion that an administration that casually posts genocide threats during its illegal wars is worried about national security risks from whistleblowers who expose sexual harassment is absurd.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/A_portion_of_a_criminal_complaint.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"y3rx3\">A portion of a criminal complaint filed on April 3, 2026, in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina, charging Army veteran Courtney Williams with leaking classified material to a journalist. Williams was arrested April 7 and indicted the next day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [
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{
"title": "Journalist caught in police kettle, threatened with arrest at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-caught-in-police-kettle-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-10T18:34:43.534211Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-10T18:34:43.534211Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-10T18:34:43.432530Z",
"date": "2026-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mf6wx\">Independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was caught up in a police kettle and threatened with arrest, after having been hit with a crowd-control munition, while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"1q8ks\">LA’s “No Kings” protest was one of some 3,300 <a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/live/no-kings-protests-recap-more-than-8-million-turned-out-across-all-50-states-organizers-say-135920433.html\">demonstrations</a> against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4b95\">After the main protest march, people gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">in June 2025</a>. The LA Police Department said 75 people were <a href=\"https://ktla.com/news/local-news/75-arrested-during-downtown-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/\">arrested</a> after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"3cssv\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when he arrived at the detention center to cover the protest, he saw people kicking the fence and federal agents deploying chemical irritants on the crowd. He said he was affected slightly by the gas before he put his mask on.</p><p data-block-key=\"65pm7\">He posted a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3mi5wafuxs22t\">video</a> on Bluesky showing a federal agent tossing a canister toward members of the press outside the center’s gate.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tp88\">The journalist also said he was hit in the leg by a tear gas canister but did not believe it was intentional.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qoni\">“If I’m getting the gnarly shot, and I’m hit by a nondirectional, less-lethal, it is what it is, right? Obviously, I’d rather not. But let me put it this way: I would love to get to a point where that’s what I’m complaining about,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"624ld\">Beckner-Carmitchel said that eventually, the LAPD arrived at the scene, pushed protesters back and sealed off both ends of the street, forming a kettle — a tactic used to surround and control a crowd. They told everyone there they were under arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"5d57m\">Soon after, the police began asking if there were members of the media present, and for those who identified as press to show credentials. Beckner-Carmitchel, who was carrying a pass issued by the LA Press Club, as well as his professional Sony camera, said he raised his hand, but asked if he could stay to document.</p><p data-block-key=\"apc90\">“They kept telling me, ‘You have to leave, or you’ll get arrested.’ And I kept telling them, ‘Hey, look, I’m just trying to get a few shots. I’m off to the side. I’ll leave when it makes sense to leave.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"dn48b\">He added that his movement was restricted, “and that ultimately counts as preventing me from doing my job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9qotb\">“Eventually we were able to negotiate a spot that made sense for media to be that wasn’t in the kettle itself,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5v56l\">Beckner-Carmitchel was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28&tags=kettle\">several journalists</a> detained in the kettle that day; some who showed media credentials were allowed to leave, while others who did not have formal credentials were held for longer.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvddm\">He noted, “My biggest concern was them appearing to be determining who is and is not press, against department policy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"727jd\">A September <a href=\"https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LAPC-v.-City-of-LA-Order-Granting-PI-9-11-2025.pdf\">preliminary injunction</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">barred</a> LAPD officers from interfering with journalists covering protests, including by arresting, detaining or citing them solely for failing to disperse, or by identifying media members solely based on whether they have a credential.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mn5l\">In a written <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement shared April 2</a>, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"ep9r8\">McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those involving media members, would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"7l52a\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Journalists_dodge_a_tear_gas_cani.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"a6ppm\">Journalists dodge a tear gas canister set off by federal agents at a demonstration in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Later that day, independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was kettled by police and threatened with arrest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"detention_date": "2026-03-28",
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{
"title": "Student journalist kettled, threatened with arrest at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-kettled-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-12T20:22:19.685933Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-12T20:22:19.685933Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-12T20:21:57.965514Z",
"date": "2026-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w89kt\">Student journalist Delfino Camacho was caught in a police kettle with other media and threatened with arrest while documenting a protest in Los Angeles on March 28, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"br27h\">The protest followed a “No Kings” demonstration held earlier in the day in LA, <a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/live/no-kings-protests-recap-more-than-8-million-turned-out-across-all-50-states-organizers-say-135920433.html\">one of thousands</a> across the U.S. that organizers said drew more than 8 million people against Trump administration policies.</p><p data-block-key=\"1inp4\">After the main march, people gathered outside downtown LA’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">in June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7gt62\">Camacho was taking pictures and reporting for California State University’s Long Beach Current, as well as the university’s bilingual publication ENYE. Outside the detention center, Department of Homeland Security officers deployed tear gas, which Camacho said put him out of commission for a few minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt2nr\">Later, the LA Police Department ordered a dispersal and began making arrests. Officers formed a kettle, a tactic used to surround and control a crowd, and instructed credentialed press to leave the kettle and continue documenting from the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"5b17r\">At first, Camacho and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28&tags=kettle\">other journalists</a> stayed in the kettle to document the arrests, asserting their rights under California law, which allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police while doing so. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"3tlrf\">Police then began violently pushing backward those members of the press who didn’t have identification, Camacho said. After about 30 minutes, he approached an officer, showed him his identification and asked if he could leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq89t\">“They said, ‘No, we gave you an opportunity, you can’t leave now,’” Camacho recalled. “I had just accepted that I was going to get arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ddoul\">An officer can be heard saying that they would arrest the media in a video that reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray posted to Bluesky.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch/app.bsky.feed.post/3midf7g74ac2y\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreigpr5f27lxjyljmr2cep3f2mqwhdum2axnzwowoldzs5wsdp5gihq\"><p lang=\"en\">For the second time in three months, LAPD Metropolitan Division officers threatened to arrest me while I was covering the No Kings Day protest on Saturday for @lataco.bsky.social. I narrowly avoided arrest thanks to @adamrose.bsky.social advocating for me and other journalists!</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch?ref_src=embed\">Shot On 35mm (@shoton35mm.bsky.social)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch/post/3midf7g74ac2y?ref_src=embed\">2026-03-31T04:56:36.556Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kivf0\">Camacho and other journalists were eventually allowed to leave after police negotiated the exit of the media with Adam Rose, press rights chair of the LA Press Club. Rose is also deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project.</p><p data-block-key=\"93t3j\">Camacho, one of the last journalists to be released, said he was then instructed to leave the area and was unable to continue documenting the arrests of protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qr8a\">In a written <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement shared April 2</a>, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those arrested for failure to disperse, according to the statement. McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"fln7i\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/File_2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vczjg\">Police responding to a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Journalist Delfino Camacho was kettled and prevented from leaving an area while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"detention_date": "2026-03-28",
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"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest",
"student journalism"
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"categories": [
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"Delfino Camacho ([California State University] Long Beach Current & ENYE)"
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},
{
"title": "DHS officer smacks photojournalist’s camera at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dhs-officer-smacks-photojournalists-camera-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-29T16:19:48.931400Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-29T16:19:48.931400Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-29T16:19:48.841915Z",
"date": "2026-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gc21s\">Photojournalist Ted Soqui’s camera was hit by a federal agent while he was covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"em23c\">The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, <a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/live/no-kings-protests-recap-more-than-8-million-turned-out-across-all-50-states-organizers-say-135920433.html\">one of some 3,300</a> against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5h0ts\">After the main march, people gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">in June 2025</a>. The LA Police Department said 75 people were <a href=\"https://ktla.com/news/local-news/75-arrested-during-downtown-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/\">arrested</a> after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"8r5df\">Soqui, who was on assignment for nonprofit newsroom CalMatters, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing an encounter between Department of Homeland Security officers and protesters near the detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"aim4t\">He said that he obeyed commands to stay back from a perimeter that officers had formed around other officers who were detaining an individual at the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5ja1\">“The guy came right at my camera. He wasn’t pushing me. He went for the camera, and I tried to move it out of the way,” Soqui said of the encounter with the federal agent, which was captured in a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWededHl8KA/\">video</a> he posted on social media.</p><p data-block-key=\"80dmp\">“I wasn’t pushing in tight, so I was fairly compliant,” he said, adding that it appeared that the officer who smacked the camera “wasn’t well trained, and he was acting out.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fkk84\">However, he added that other individuals in the area who were documenting were not trained for protest situations, and at times were also yelling at the officers, making the situation more confusing and volatile.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0a8n\">Soqui said he was clearly identified as press, wearing an LA Police Department press credential around his neck, as well as a helmet and mask.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6g37\">The incident occurred just after another DHS officer shoved his colleague, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-by-dhs-agent-while-covering-la-protest/\">photojournalist Jill Connelly</a>, and tried to knock her down as she was taking a photo.</p><p data-block-key=\"a37t9\">Soqui said he was unsure whether his camera was damaged by the DHS officer’s hit, but that it had been “acting funny” in the wake of the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"4d50p\">DHS officers also <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWededHl8KA/\">released chemical irritants</a> from behind the fence of the detention center into the crowd of protesters and press. The photojournalist said that because he was wearing a premium mask, he was able to withstand the gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"5o9od\">However, he said, “It ends up everywhere. It dries onto your gear, so you have to de-chemical, use chemical removal to get it off all your clothes. Get it off your cameras, get off your shoes, get out of your hair.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c9rrm\">The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28&city=Los+Angeles\">more than 20</a> press freedom violations committed by local and federal law enforcement at the March 28 protest in LA.</p><p data-block-key=\"1u95s\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Department_of_Homeland_Security_o.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"34wre\">Department of Homeland Security officers detain a protester near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. An officer hit photojournalist Ted Soqui’s camera shortly before he took the photo.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist manhandled, his reporting obstructed, by police at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-manhandled-his-reporting-obstructed-by-police-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-01T17:15:44.397209Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-07T20:36:41.814599Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-07T20:36:41.696107Z",
"date": "2026-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"l10i2\">Connor Sheets, an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times, was forcibly removed by a police officer from the scene of a protest he was covering in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"dad3i\">The demonstration followed a “No Kings” protest held earlier in the day in LA, <a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/live/no-kings-protests-recap-more-than-8-million-turned-out-across-all-50-states-organizers-say-135920433.html\">one of thousands</a> across the U.S. that organizers said drew more than 8 million people against Trump administration policies.</p><p data-block-key=\"4a7ff\">After the main march, people gathered outside downtown LA’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">in June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekqkb\">Sheets told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at the detention center as the LA Police Department began <a href=\"https://ktla.com/news/local-news/75-arrested-during-downtown-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/\">making arrests</a>. Officers pushed both protesters and journalists out of the area, blocking off a long stretch of street and preventing them from approaching or observing the arrests as they unfolded.</p><p data-block-key=\"5n4nk\">“There was an arrest operation going on for literally hours, and we could only see what they were allowing us to see, which was certain views and from a significant distance,” Sheets said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ab6u\">In a video Sheets posted to the social platform X, an officer said they were blocking off the area because, “We’re going to do some mass arrests right now, that’s why. Our main thing is your safety.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD escorted me by the literal collar out of the area in front of MDC where one officer told me they are about to conduct “mass arrests.” This is minutes later. About 15 journalists on this side alone are being blocked from accessing the area. <a href=\"https://t.co/Rn9R6GYfzK\">pic.twitter.com/Rn9R6GYfzK</a></p>— Connor Sheets (@ConnorASheets) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ConnorASheets/status/2038064381129531829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 29, 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=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hmsga\">Sheets, wearing two press badges and clearly identifiable as media, asked to speak with a police supervisor. A public information officer later escorted him and a group of other journalists, but told them they could not stop to film.</p><p data-block-key=\"3engo\">Later, while hanging back to take pictures of the arrests, another officer approached Sheets and told him he could not remain in the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"evl06\">“He grabbed me by my collar from the back and roughly escorted me away,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"d91oo\">Sheets added that he was physically — but not painfully — pushed forward to a designated press area, where journalists were trying to assert their rights under California state law to cover protests and be exempted from dispersal orders without threat of arrest or interference by police. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> is in place against the city to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"6c7ai\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/ConnorASheets/status/2038065047801573766?s=20\">a video Sheets posted</a> to X, a police sergeant tells the reporters, “I’m not going to let you walk and film between officers working; the injunction does not require that or allow that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"krsh\">In a written <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement shared April 2</a>, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement. McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those involving media members, would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"28g4s\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p><p data-block-key=\"csh82\"><i>Update: This story was revised to include a comment from the LAPD’s police chief.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/HEiq_MbbEAASweP.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"612wx\">Police prevent a group of journalists from filming near where officers were making arrests at a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. That day, officers forcibly removed reporter Connor Sheets to a distant designated press area.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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