Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 6, 2026
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Jose Mejia (OwlMedia)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Photojournalist Jose Mejia captures the moment he is pepper-sprayed by a federal officer at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2026.
Photojournalist Jose Mejia was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant by a federal officer while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2026.
The protest was held outside the city’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being confined. It marked the anniversary of the large protests against immigration raids that began in and around LA in June 2025.
Mejia told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the protest for the independent media collective OwlMedia. Everything was peaceful outside the detention center, he said, until a brawl with a counterprotester began. Then, Department of Homeland Security officers armed with riot gear advanced on the crowd.
“It all happened so fast,” Mejia said. “They were pushing people super violently.”
Mejia positioned himself in the middle of the action and got close enough to capture DHS making an arrest. Then one officer pointed at Mejia, lifted his right hand and pepper-sprayed him directly in the face.
Mejia’s eyes burned, and he was unable to see for 40 minutes. He said an officer pushed him to the side of a gate outside the facility, where bystanders helped to flush his eyes. Mejia eventually left after LA police announced a dispersal order and threatened to arrest anyone who stayed.
“They feel entitled to do whatever they want,” Mejia said, “and nothing is going to happen to them.”
In a statement to the Tracker on June 24, a DHS spokesperson said law enforcement responded to about 200 protesters outside the detention center and that some individuals threw bottles and assaulted officers.
“We remind members of the media and the public to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots and remind journalists that covering unlawful activities in the field does come with risks — though our officers take every reasonable precaution to mitigate those dangers to those exercising protected First Amendment rights,” the statement said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
