Reporter detained in police kettle at May Day protest in LA

L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.

Thousands rallied in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since June 2025. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.

Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that LA Police Department officers had already formed a skirmish line by the time he arrived at the detention center, where officers on motorcycles started ordering people onto the sidewalk.

One of the officers grabbed and arrested Ray, ultimately issuing the journalist a citation for being in the roadway before releasing him.

Later, LAPD officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.

“We basically had nowhere to go, and we were surrounded by cops,” Ray said. “It was mostly just press at the end of the protest, very few protesters, so we should have never been kettled in the first place.”

Ray remained inside the kettle for about 15 minutes before being released and moved to a media staging area on the sidewalk.

“After I left, a journalist was arrested. I was able to document them taking him to a van or something to process them,” Ray said, referring to photojournalist Nick Stern. “But I wasn’t there when he was actually being arrested, and I would have liked to be, and it wasn’t the most ideal spot to be.”

Ray has been involved in 16 incidents in LA documented by the Tracker, half of which took place in the past year. He said what happened May 1 was “one of the most egregious examples” of how police have treated the press at demonstrations.

California law exempts journalists from dispersal orders and protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A federal preliminary injunction against the city is in place to uphold those protections.

Weston Rowland, an attorney representing the Los Angeles Press Club who was arrested alongside Stern, told the Tracker that the police response that day showed a blatant disregard for these legal protections.

“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that the freedom of the press is well protected under our constitution,” Rowland said. “In 2025 and 2026, it seems like they’re doing things that are specifically targeting the press. That’s stepping back, not forward.”

The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a statement posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”

In an earlier statement following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in more than two dozen press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.

“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.