Journalist struck with baton, finger injured amid protests in downtown LA

Status Coup journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved and struck multiple times with a baton by police, injuring her finger, while reporting on immigration protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 8, 2025.

Protests in LA began in early June in response to federal raids of workplaces and areas in and around the city where immigrant day laborers gather, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. Raids at Home Depots in early August took place seemingly in defiance of a July 11 court order temporarily prohibiting federal agents from using discriminatory profiling.

On Aug. 8, two days after an immigration raid in the parking lot of a Home Depot in LA’s Westlake neighborhood, protesters gathered at the store and marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown. The demonstrators and the journalists covering them encountered a violent response from Los Angeles Police Department officers, violating a court order protecting the press from arrest, assault or other interference.

Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that once the march reached the detention center, protesters gathered largely in the street in front of the building.

When police arrived, she said officers spoke to the organizer, who then announced that if everyone got on the sidewalk, they’d be fine. Berg said that, despite moving to comply, the police suddenly “went ham for no reason.”

“There was no warning. They didn’t call an unlawful assembly at all,” she told the Tracker. Multiple journalists found themselves “sandwiched” between protesters and the advancing police line, Berg said. “It was almost like they were way more aggressive with us than they were to the protesters.”

When a fellow journalist was knocked to the ground, Berg said she went to try to help. It was either just before or after that Berg was struck in the arm and back with a baton, bruising her and leaving welts on her arm. The pinkie finger of her left hand was also split open.

“It was wild: At first, I didn’t even realize I was injured. And then I looked down and there was blood dripping everywhere,” she said, noting that she’s not certain how it happened. “Honestly, it was such chaos. It could have been a baton, it could have been something else.”

Berg told the Tracker she wasn’t carrying most of her usual protective gear — just ballistic goggles and a small respirator — and had left her helmet in her car.

She left the protest soon after, alongside multiple other journalists who had been injured — including photographer Nick Stern — to find an open urgent care center, but were unsuccessful.

Berg said that, while having covered demonstrations in Southern California for years, this was the first time she had sought medical care.

“I’ve never felt the need before. I’m pretty tough, so if I’m going to the doctor, you know it’s bad,” she said. After flushing the wound and applying antibiotic cream and a stitchless wound closure, she was told to repeat the process as needed to keep it clean.

The injury was expected to keep her out of the field and off the job for approximately two weeks, Berg said. “I can’t go out until my fingers heal. I just don’t want an infection.”

The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for additional comment. In a statement posted to the social platform X, the department’s Central Division wrote that an unlawful assembly was declared “due to the aggressive nature of a few demonstrators.”

“The protest went into the late night hours with people refusing to disperse,” it continued. “Central Division will continue to support 1st Amendment rights of all people. However, if violence or criminal activity occurs, laws will be enforced.”

Berg disputed the department’s characterization of the protest. “Nobody was throwing anything. They didn’t give a warning, didn’t call an unlawful, and then they just swept in and started beating people,” she said. “I have the strong belief that until these individual officers are held accountable for their actions, there will be no change.”

The Los Angeles Press Club filed a motion Aug. 13 to hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt for violating the temporary restraining order in place to protect journalists while they’re covering protests, citing the Aug. 8 assaults of Berg and others, as well as the detention of multiple members of the press.

“Defendants’ actions evince a blatant disregard for the First Amendment and an unwillingness or an inability or both on the part of the City to take steps necessary to ensure compliance with this Court’s Injunction,” the motion read. “What will it take to get the LAPD to respect the constitutional rights of journalists?”