Journalist shot by projectiles, injuring torso, at LA protest

Independent journalist Anthony Cabassa was shot in the torso with impact projectiles fired by law enforcement while covering an immigration rights protest in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.

Cabassa, who was unsure which agency the officer belonged to but asserted that the shot was deliberate, said the crowd-control munitions hit his press badge while he was reporting near the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.

The impact split the skin beneath the badge, leaving his stomach raw and bleeding.

“They knew that we were press, and they just shot us anyway,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

The demonstration was part of nationwide protests that began that day and also followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers have shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement has continued since June.

During the protest, Cabassa said he and other journalists repeatedly identified themselves to officers.

“We put our hands up so that they know we’re not a threat while we’re recording,” he said.

Cabassa said he was documenting LAPD officers as they pushed protesters away from the federal building when an impact projectile fired by a police officer struck him in the back of the thigh. He’s not sure whether that shot was intentional.

Moments later, he was hit again, this time in the midsection, directly on his press badge.

“I just felt two shots in my stomach, and I’m like, ‘Why the heck did I just get shot?’” Cabassa said. “How can you not know I’m press if you literally shot me in my press badge?”

Unable to continue reporting, Cabassa left the protest early and returned the following day, but said the worsening pain forced him to leave again. Cabassa said his leg is still bruised and his torso is bandaged and raw, which makes it difficult for him to sleep.

The LAPD’s actions on Jan. 30 appeared to violate a California law prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which a federal court reinforced with a preliminary injunction issued to the agency last year.

A request for comment sent to the LAPD was not immediately returned. In a social media post on X the evening of the protest, the LAPD said it used crowd munitions in response to violence against officers, but did not address their use of force against members of the press.