Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 14, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Tod Seelie (Freelance)
- Assailant
- Private individual
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
- Equipment broken
- Actor
- Private individual
Equipment Damage
A protester holds an American flag during the “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie said he was attacked by people at the protest while covering the event.
Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie was attacked by a group of people at an immigration protest while he was covering the event in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.
The protest was part of the nationwide “No Kings” movement opposing President Donald Trump, timed to coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C., celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Tensions in LA were already heightened after a wave of aggressive immigration enforcement raids across Southern California.
Seelie, who was clearly identifiable as press with a patch on his helmet and credentials around his neck, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was surrounded by five or six individuals who objected to being photographed.
“It escalated very suddenly,” he said.
When the group demanded he stop taking pictures, Seelie reminded them they were in a public space where there is no expectation of privacy, and he had a First Amendment right to document the event.
The group surrounded him, knocked him to the ground, and one person swung at his head. Another grabbed his phone and smashed it on the pavement. His camera sustained only cosmetic damage. Seelie ran, then kept shooting, but he spent the rest of the day scanning the crowd for people from the group.
“This is an unprecedented shift in my understanding of the safety of protest,” he said.
Earlier that day, Seelie said he was shoved by deputies as they formed a containment line to trap protesters. During the chaos, he was hit on his right leg by a crowd-control projectile and exposed to tear gas fired into a nearby group of journalists. He sustained only minor injuries — a bruise and irritation from the gas.
“The protesters did more damage than law enforcement did,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
