first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2021-08-09 18:32:06.274644+00:00,2022-03-10 21:42:05.311127+00:00,"Documentarian pushed, sprayed with chemical irritant while covering LA anti-mask protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-pushed-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-while-covering-la-anti-mask-protest/,2022-03-10 21:42:05.235694+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Rocky Romano (Independent),,2021-07-22,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"
Documentary writer, director and producer Rocky Romano was shoved and sprayed with bear mace and his camera was knocked from his hands while he was covering anti-mask protests in Los Angeles, California, on July 22, 2021.
Romano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering demonstrations outside the Cedars-Sinai Breast Health Services Building in West Hollywood, where demonstrators had gathered to protest the clinic’s requirement that patients wear masks indoors. Similar rules have been put in place across the country in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 variations, particularly among unvaccinated populations.
“The group consisted of anti-maskers holding signs with anti-vaxx and QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories gathered on the sidewalk by the cancer clinic harassing patients and doctors,” Romano wrote in an email to the Tracker. “Community members arrived and attempted to thwart the efforts of the anti-vaxxers and violence erupted.”
Romano said that at approximately 11 a.m. an anti-vaccine protester struck him, knocking his camera to the ground, when he attempted to ask why the protest was taking place. The individual then kicked the camera into the street, and both Romano and his assailant raced to get it; Romano said he was able to retrieve the camera before his assailant was able to kick it again into the intersection.
I was assaulted and had my camera knocked out of my hand when I tried to inquire as to why the anti-vaccine protestors chose to protest a cancer clinic. Later I was bear maced along with @Katerqburns. @PlasticJesus9 @wysiwygtv @chadloder @misstessowen pic.twitter.com/rALYP6ICHG
— Rocky Romano (he/him) (@directedbyrocky) July 24, 2021
The camera sustained minor damage Romano said, and he was able to continue filming the protest.
Approximately three hours later, Romano said he was covering the main crowd of protesters in front of the clinic when an individual pulled out what he described as a can of bear mace and sprayed Romano, as well as a cancer patient and multiple counterprotesters.
Anti-vax protestor assaults members of the community, a credentialed media person (me), and cancer patient @Katerqburns with bear mace to their faces. Notice the community member assisting the cancer patient to safety. @misstessowen @chadloder @VPS_Reports @PlasticJesus9 pic.twitter.com/rKhGii6MWn
— Rocky Romano (he/him) (@directedbyrocky) July 24, 2021
In footage of the incident Romano posted to Twitter, Romano appears to have been one of the first people targeted with the bear mace. In the footage, Romano can clearly be seen wearing a helmet and flak jacket labeled “PRESS.”
Romano told the Tracker his lungs and eyes were inflamed for four to six hours after he was sprayed, and it took him 24 hours to recover fully. He said he hasn’t yet filed a police report about the incident.
Documentary writer, director and producer Rocky Romano was struck over the head with a baton while he was documenting protests outside a spa in Los Angeles, California, on July 3, 2021.
Wi Spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video which police are now treating as a hoax, Slate reported. Romano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that a loose coalition of LGBTQ, antifa and leftist demonstrators had assembled outside the spa shortly before 10 a.m. in support of transgender individuals’ rights.
Romano said he and his team at Winters Rock Entertainment are working on a feature-length documentary on the civil rights movement in LA since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Romano said he and his team discussed the potential dangers when they arrived in the area, as had become routine with their coverage of dozens of protests over the past year.
“We knew that there had been threats issued by far right extremists and, as always, we came prepared with our limited protective gear, which thankfully included my helmet,” Romano said. “What we did not know was the extent of the danger we would be facing.”
Shortly after the documentarians arrived, several more groups Romano described as QAnon believers, Trump supporters and religious zealots arrived at the spa. Animosity between the groups of protesters and counterprotesters escalated.
“As tensions rose, fights began to break out and I ended up being hit with a cloud of mace as I filmed,” Romano said. “As the acts of violence began to escalate even more, I began to try and de-escalate certain situations where violence could reach the point of major bodily harm or death.”
“Just as I stepped in to allow a far-right protester to get to his feet after falling to the ground after a confrontation, I was hit from behind by some sort of blunt instrument,” Romano said.
In footage captured by independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, an individual in a plaid shirt can be seen advancing down the street toward a crowd of scuffling protesters. Approximately 15 seconds into the clip, the individual appears to deliberately approach Romano, who is wearing a flak jacket labeled with “PRESS” and a helmet while filming, and strike him across the head with what appears to be a club.
More footage from yesterday's WiSpa anti trans demonstration. An anti trans agitator approaches a man wearing a press flack jacket from behind and hits him with a pipe on the back of his head pic.twitter.com/IRoLQYGHNu
— Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face, Milkshake Whisperer (@TinaDesireeBerg) July 4, 2021
The individual can then be seen running back down the street, and appears to taunt Romano and the crowd before turning down a side street and getting into a vehicle parked nearby.
Romano said that the individual dropped the club as he fled and that someone was able to recover it. Romano subsequently identified the weapon as a “Tire Thumper” — a hickory wood baton weighted with three inches of iron rivet embedded inside — which qualifies as a “generally prohibited weapon” under the state’s penal code.
Following the assault, Romano told the Tracker he didn’t seek medical attention but followed best practices for someone suffering from a concussion. Later that night, Romano said, he could feel that his scalp had split slightly because of the force of the impact.
Romano said he has been in contact with the Los Angeles Police Department and is consulting with Winters Rock Entertainment’s legal counsel about the best way to move forward.
The LAPD didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
Winters Rock Entertainment documentarians, Miranda Winters, left, and Rocky Romano film at a protest in L.A. in November 2020. Romano was hit over the head with a baton while filming another protest on July 3, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"LGBTQ+ rights, protest",,,