Radio reporter hit with crowd-control munition, tear-gassed at LA protest

Pete Demetriou, a reporter for radio station KNX, was hit in the leg with a crowd-control munition and tear-gassed while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.

The protests 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 local 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.

In a June 9 interview with KNX, Demetriou recalled that he and his security detail, Jose Aceves, were caught up in two separate incidents the previous day.

In the first incident, Demetriou said the situation escalated when a few protesters threw full water bottles and soda cans at National Guard troops and Department of Homeland Security agents near the rear entrance of the Federal Building, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was bringing detainees.

Within seconds, the federal officers responded with pepper spray and tear gas to push the crowd back.

“You’ve got a mist and then all of a sudden, you got a white cloud of smoke coming at you,” Demetriou recalled, “Your eyes close, your nose shuts down, your throat locks up. You can’t do anything but try to struggle to breathe.”

Demetriou and Aceves got into their car, grabbed bottles of water and turned on recycled air to recover.

Demetriou said at that point, his main objective was to regroup and get back on the air. “I can’t do my job if I can’t tell people what’s going on.”

They soon went back out to continue covering the protest.

In the second incident, Demetriou told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Los Angeles Police Department officers had formed a skirmish line to try to prevent protesters from going onto a street leading to the U.S. 101 freeway. Police fired dispersal rounds and impact rounds.

Demetriou was struck with a 40 mm impact round. He was broadcasting live when he was hit.

“Sorry, got a little bit dicey here, folks. I just took a hit to the leg with a 40-millimeter impact round. It’s blue, hard rubber,” Demetriou said during the broadcast.

When anchor Rob Archer asked how he could stay on the air after getting hit, Demetriou replied, “You stay on the air because you have to. It’s your job.”

Asked in the KNX interview whether the officer deliberately aimed at him, Demetriou said “Probably not.” He added that he received only minor irritation from the impact.

When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning Demetriou or multiple other journalists assaulted while documenting protests that day.

In a statement emailed to the Tracker, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”