Photojournalist knocked to the ground by mounted officer at LA protest

Independent photojournalist Nick Stern was felled by a policeman on horseback and threatened with arrest while covering a “No Kings” protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 18, 2025.

The police actions at the rally, one of thousands nationwide that day voicing opposition to the Trump administration, appeared to violate a state law prohibiting officers from firing munitions at members of the press.

They also seemed to flout a preliminary injunction issued earlier this fall that bars the Los Angeles Police Department during protests from restricting press access to areas that are not crime scenes.

Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived at the protest late in the day and found a peaceful march underway. Around 7 p.m., the LAPD issued a dispersal warning.

Shortly after, about 10 officers on horseback descended on the group near the Metropolitan Detention Center and started pushing the crowd back. Stern said one mounted officer instructed him to move onto the sidewalk. But moments later, another officer charged onto the sidewalk, toppling him and ordering him to disperse.

In a video Stern posted to Instagram, he is seen falling, which he said caused a scrape on his right knee. An officer can be heard shouting, “You’re obstructing, leave the area!”

When Stern identified himself as press, the officer said he needed to identify himself, despite Stern clearly wearing a press badge around his neck.

“I was threatened with arrest at least a couple of times for not dispersing,” he told the Tracker. “On one occasion, I was told that because I was protesting their order to disperse, and protesting the fact that I was media, that then means I am a protester and not a journalist.”

The LAPD said in a statement that it is investigating all use-of-force incidents from Oct. 18 and could not comment on active investigations.

Stern has been documenting protests in LA since June, following federal raids of workplaces and areas in and around the city where immigrant day laborers gather. During his coverage, he was struck in the face with a baton and suffered a severe leg injury from shrapnel caused by a crowd-control munition.

With the federal injunction still in place — under which the LAPD is barred from using force against clearly identified journalists engaged in news gathering — Stern asked: “What more can we do? What will it take to get LAPD to respect the constitutional rights of journalists?”