Photojournalist hit with chemical irritant, pepper-sprayed at LA protest

Photojournalist Jill Connelly was struck in the back with a chemical irritant and pepper-sprayed by a Department of Homeland Security officer while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 1, 2025.

It was one of many protests that 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. Trump’s deployment of federal troops to LA was ruled illegal by a federal judge Sept. 2.

Connelly, a freelancer on assignment for Zuma Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and other journalists were photographing near the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.

Connelly was wearing a helmet identifying her as press, along with a media credential on a lanyard around her neck, and was carrying two SLR cameras.

While covering the protest, Connelly worked along a narrow sidewalk near the detention center, photographing protesters on one side and a mass of armored federal officers behind a black fence on the other, according to a declaration she wrote for the American Civil Liberties Union and provided the Tracker. Connelly, who is not a party to a lawsuit, said she provided the declaration only to document the events.

“You can see it is pretty clear we are all press,” she wrote of images accompanying her declaration. “We are taking photos behind a fence and in no way threatening or interfering with the officer.”

A section of the fence briefly popped open as protesters shook it, though no one attempted to pass through and most stepped back, the declaration states.

Connelly said she turned away to move to a new position when she was suddenly shot in the back by a projectile that released a chemical irritant, triggering immediate, intense burning.

The declaration’s photographs show the moment she was hit and the white powder residue that streaked across her clothing afterward.

Shortly after, officers began pepper-spraying the crowd.

“I was struck by the indiscriminate way they were shooting the chemical agent, because they were not simply directing it at the protesters but instead spraying in a wide sweep at everyone on the other side of the fence, including a bunch of photojournalists who were separated from the protesters,” Connelly wrote.

Among those sprayed was freelance photographer Benjamin Hanson, who was hit directly in the face with the irritant, which seeped into his eyes and left him incapacitated for approximately 30 minutes.

Connelly said she heard no warnings before officers opened fire with the spray. As the burning intensified, she decided to leave the area. The pain continued for hours, despite attempts to wash the irritant from her skin, according to the declaration.

“I pride myself on doing my job well but also evaluating when a situation feels too unsafe to remain in and leaving if necessary,” Connelly wrote. “Before this year, I had never been hit with any chemical irritants or less-lethal weapons, despite having covered protests for many years.”

While Connelly said she didn’t feel either incident was an intentional attack against the press, she emphasized the need for the department to be trained on how to work with the media during high-intensity situations.

“I don’t so much feel targeted as the untrained DHS officers randomly spray a crowd that isn’t threatening, is on the other side of a fence and are exercising their First Amendment rights,” she wrote in an email.

At the outset of the LA protests in June, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists in a statement to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”