Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 9, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Toby Canham (New York Post)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
New York Post photographer Toby Canham was shot in the head with a rubber bullet while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.
Toby Canham, a photographer for the New York Post, was shot in the forehead with a rubber bullet while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025, the outlet reported.
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 local 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.
Canham was standing just off and above the U.S. 101 freeway, filming the chaos between police officers and protesters, according to the Post, when a California Highway Patrol officer about 100 yards away suddenly turned his weapon toward him and fired.
Canham, who was wearing his press pass, was struck in the head and fell to the ground, according to footage he captured of the moment. He spent the next day in the hospital for whiplash and neck pain, and left with a bruise on his forehead, the Post reported.
“When I got whacked, to my best recollection it was just me filming with my cameras on and then I got shot,” Canham told the newspaper. “Where I was hit, I was the only person overlooking the freeway. I wasn’t surrounded so I was an easy target.”
Before Canham was hit, a flash bang had exploded a few feet from him, causing shrapnel to kick up and leave two holes in his pants, according to the article. Then, he saw someone throw a water bottle at authorities and flee, so he started recording video 20 seconds before he was struck.
“It’s a real shame. I completely understand being in the position where you could get injured, but at the same time, there was no justification for even aiming the rifle at me and pulling the trigger,” Canham told the Post.
The California Highway Patrol did not respond to a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker request for comment, and Canham could not immediately be reached.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
