Incident details
- Date of incident
- July 4, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Department of Homeland Security agents during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on July 4, 2025. Documentarian Rocky Romano was shoved by a federal agent while covering the protest that day.
Documentary producer Rocky Romano was pushed by a federal officer while covering a protest over immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on July 4, 2025.
Romano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was filming for his production company, Winters Rock Entertainment, when Department of Homeland Security officers advanced on journalists and demonstrators near the downtown detention center where immigrants were being held.
Romano said he and others, who were wearing visible press credentials, repeatedly identified themselves as “press” as a line of DHS officers moved forward to clear the sidewalk, which was outside federal property, for incoming federal vehicles.
In a video reviewed by the Tracker, Romano can be heard reminding the officers that he and his colleagues were members of the press. The officer who later shoved Romano replied, “It does not matter. Keep going.”
Romano said the push, while not forceful, was intentional. Officers drove journalists and protesters into the street, leaving the press with a choice of documenting the chaos from the roadway or crossing the street and being forced farther from the scene.
“The fact that they continued — whether they meant to or not — once they were informed, they continued to intimidate the press,” he said. “It was a pretty clear decision on their part.”
Since Romano began covering the immigration protests that erupted in LA in June, he has been struck with pepper balls and hit with a police baton.
In a June statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that President Donald Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
