Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 8, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Dexter Thomas (Independent)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
A frame grab shows police officers deploying crowd-control munitions during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. Independent journalist Dexter Thomas was grazed by a projectile during the incident.
Independent journalist Dexter Thomas was brushed in the leg by an impact projectile while covering a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 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 LA 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.
Thomas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a protester being detained when the situation escalated. In a video he posted to Instagram, an LA Police Department officer can be seen striking someone with a police baton, followed by smoke from the launching of projectiles.
The footage then pans down to the journalist’s pant leg, showing a visible white residue mark where he was grazed by what he described as a foam round. Thomas said he was grateful he wore baggy pants, which meant the impact only left a mark on his clothing.
“I never had any direct hit with my flesh, no marks, no nothing like that,” he told the Tracker.
He could not definitely say whether the officers were aiming at him.
“I don’t know why this particular shot was fired in this particular direction,” he wrote on Instagram. “What I do know is that they fired the shot, and it left a mark on my clothing. And also, I repeat – I’m fine.”
When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted.
The account did not post any comment concerning Thomas or multiple other journalists assaulted while documenting protests that day.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
