Incident details
- Date of incident
- July 4, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Ethan Noah Roy (Freelance)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
A Los Angeles police officer pushes photojournalist Ethan Noah Roy at a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on July 4, 2025.
Freelance photojournalist Ethan Noah Roy was repeatedly shoved by police officers while documenting a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on July 4, 2025.
Roy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that officers appeared particularly hostile toward the press that day, at 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.
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 pushed back several times by Los Angeles Police Department officers as they tried to control the crowd during the demonstration, despite his clearly visible helmet, camera gear and vest marked “PRESS.”
In a photo taken by another journalist, an LAPD officer is seen pushing Roy.
“There was no mistake that I was press,” he said.
In a video interview the LAPD posted to Instagram on July 7, Police Chief Jim McDonnell told KTLA-TV that the department issues dispersal orders during these protests to regain control over the area and restore order.
“The reporters who are in the area have the right by law to stay in that area, but by staying in that area, they’re also subject to what’s going to go on in that area,” he said. “And much like some of the reporters suffered injuries, they were not targeted, nor were police officers who also suffered injuries.”
Roy said the escalating confrontations of the summer changed his safety practices. In June, he was shot at with pepper balls, targeted with a stun grenade and struck in the shoulder with a projectile.
“I could have a big neon sign on me that says ‘press’,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
