Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 9, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Arrest status
- Detained and released without being processed
- Arresting authority
- Los Angeles Police Department
- Unnecessary use of force?
- No
Arrest/Criminal Charge
Police stand guard during an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Philip Cheung was documenting the demonstrations for The New York Times that day when he was detained in a police kettle.
Freelance documentary photographer Philip Cheung was detained in a kettle by police while covering an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.
The protests began June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.
Cheung was on assignment for The New York Times, documenting protests centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA’s Little Tokyo neighborhood.
After the Los Angeles Police Department declared the protests an unlawful assembly, officers began herding the crowd and ultimately surrounded them using a technique called kettling.
Multiple journalists caught in the kettle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police were removing journalists and demonstrators one by one, and did not make it clear whether members of the press were under arrest.
When each of the journalists was removed from the kettle, officers directed them to place their hands behind their back and then held their arms in place while walking them out of the area. Once the members of the press provided their names and basic information, officers allowed them to leave with a warning that, if they returned, they would be subject to arrest.
Cheung confirmed that he was among the media members kettled, detained and escorted out of the protest area, but declined to comment further.
When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 news release posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
