Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 8, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Victor Montiel (Independent)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Law enforcement at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. Photographer Victor Montiel was shot at with a crowd-control munition while covering the demonstration.
Independent photographer Victor Montiel was targeted with a crowd-control munition by a member of the California National Guard while documenting an immigration protest 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.
Montiel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and a friend were leaving the protest with their cameras and press passes visible when a member of the National Guard fired a projectile directly at them.
“We were walking down the stairs to leave the protests, and one of the officers shot at us,” he said. “It hit my phone instead, and it ricocheted, so it didn’t leave any marks on us.”
The impact caused slight cosmetic damage to Montiel’s phone case. He added that the projectile appeared to be one of the larger crowd-control rounds.
In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.” She did not address the use of crowd-control munitions against members of the press.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
