Incident details
- Date of incident
- March 28, 2026
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Hank Leahy (Independent)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
Federal agents fire chemical irritants into a crowd at a protest at an immigration detention center in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Independent photographer Hank Leahy was hit in the leg by pepper balls fired by the agents.
Independent photographer Hank Leahy was hit in the leg by pepper balls fired by federal agents while documenting 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.
Leahy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was among a group of photographers standing next to the fence outside the detention center when Department of Homeland Security officers fired chemical irritants from inside the fence.
“I felt a sharp impact on the back of my leg, followed by a cloud of white dust.”
Leahy, who was wearing a lanyard with his press identification cards, said he did not know whether the officers targeted him as a member of the press, because they “tend to use deterrents on everyone in the area.”
He added that the dust from the pepper balls seeped through a gap in his goggles, “causing severe eye pain” and impacting his directional awareness.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
The Tracker has documented more than 20 press freedom violations committed by local and federal law enforcement at the March 28 protest in LA.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
