Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 14, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Henry Cherry (Independent)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
- Equipment damaged
- Actor
- Law enforcement
Equipment Damage
A mirror shows law enforcement at a protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025. Photojournalist Henry Cherry was hit with crowd-control munitions at the protest, damaging his camera.
Henry Cherry, an independent photojournalist, was shot at with crowd-control munitions, damaging his camera and leaving him bruised, at a protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.
The downtown LA protest was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed days of protests in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.
Cherry told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that federal officers fired tear gas and pepper balls, which then hit his camera, the pepper ball powder causing the focus ring to malfunction.
“I had to switch cameras because it got hit, and the pepper spray was reducing the ability to zoom in or out,” he said.
At another point in the protest, officers with the LA Police Department tried to detain him and dozens of protesters, as well as other journalists, when they were closing down the area. Cherry, who was clearly identifiable as a member of the press, told the Tracker he kept walking and avoided being detained.
“It was an intensely hectic scenario; there was a lot of frustration,” Cherry said. “They didn’t seem to know that they weren’t allowed to arrest journalists.”
That day, he also suffered a bruise on his left arm from what he said came from either a police baton or projectile.
When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 15 statement posted to social platform X, the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” and made arrests related to protest activity when responding to the demonstrations.
The statement did not address the detainment of media members or use of munitions against identifiable press.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
