Incident details
- Date of incident
- June 6, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Ethan Noah Roy (Freelance)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
Federal officers fire crowd-control munitions at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 2025. Photojournalist Ethan Noah Roy was shot at with pepper balls while covering the demonstration.
Freelance photojournalist Ethan Noah Roy was shot at with pepper balls by federal officers while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6, 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 on Sept. 2.
Roy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held. Tensions escalated when protesters tried to move into the parking structure, prompting federal officers to fire pepper balls and pepper spray into the crowd.
Roy, who was clearly identified as press throughout the day, said he was shot at, including while he was holding his hands up and identifying himself as press. The pepper-ball residue and some tear gas got into his eyes, and a colleague photographed a protester helping Roy flush the chemical irritant out.
Amid the chaos, he was also shoved by an officer while trying to regain his footing near a curb, but said he did not believe it was targeted.
At other protests over the summer, Roy was targeted with a stun grenade, struck in the shoulder with a projectile and shoved by police officers.
“It’s made me more cautious and aware of how I can distinguish myself professionally as a member of the press,” he said.
In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists 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.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
