DHS officer smacks photojournalist’s camera at LA protest

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.

The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, one of some 3,300 against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.

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 in June 2025. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.

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.

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.

“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 video he posted on social media.

“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.”

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.

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.

The incident occurred just after another DHS officer shoved his colleague, photojournalist Jill Connelly, and tried to knock her down as she was taking a photo.

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.

DHS officers also released chemical irritants 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.

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.”

The Tracker has documented more than 20 press freedom violations committed by local and federal law enforcement at the March 28 protest in LA.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment.