Incident details
- Date of incident
- March 28, 2026
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Department of Homeland Security agents restrain a protester near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Photojournalist Jill Connelly was shoved by an agent while taking the photo.
Photojournalist Jill Connelly was forcefully pushed and almost knocked over by a federal agent while taking a photo at a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
The protest followed a “No Kings” demonstration held earlier in the day in LA, one of thousands across the U.S. that organizers said drew more than 8 million people against Trump administration policies.
After the main march, people gathered outside downtown LA’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025.
Connelly, who was on assignment for The Associated Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was photographing Department of Homeland Security agents on top of a protester when one agent shoved her and tried to knock her down.
“A few of them were saying, ‘Back up, back up.’ But this one guy ran up to me, and with all his weight, tried to knock me down while I was taking pictures,” she said.
She was wearing a helmet that said “press” on the front and back, and a clearly visible LA Police Department press credential around her neck.
Connelly said that later that evening, she was pushed by an LAPD officer who was moving people away from the protest, and was among a group of press who were forced far back from a group of demonstrators and journalists that police had kettled in an area near the detention center.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
