Reporter detained while reporting on LA encampment sweep

Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter for L.A. Taco, was detained and released without charges while reporting on a homeless encampment cleanup operation in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 17, 2024.

Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has been covering such operations for months. California has ratcheted up encampment sweeps as part of a campaign by Gov. Gavin Newsom directing cities and state agencies to stop people from sleeping in public spaces.

Ray arrived to report on a sweep in downtown L.A.’s Skid Row neighborhood at around 10:30 a.m. that day. He said multiple LA Sanitation employees directed him to leave the designated “work zone” when the cleaning began. He was able to continue reporting, however, until just after 11 a.m.

In footage Ray captured in the moments before his arrest, the journalist tells a sanitation worker, “I’ll stay out of your way, man, I’m not going to get close.” The worker then tells a pair of Los Angeles Police Department officers, “At this point he’s interfering. I just need him behind the yellow tape that’s up.”

An officer then tells Ray that he is under arrest and the clip ends with the reporter’s hands being pulled behind his back.

Ray told the Tracker that he was held in the back of a police vehicle for approximately 45 minutes before he was released without a citation. He said he didn’t see officers search his equipment after it was taken from him, and all of his belongings were returned to him upon his release.

Ray had been threatened with arrest while documenting similar homeless encampment sweeps nearly half a dozen times in recent months, including on Aug. 28, Sept. 18 and Oct. 10.

“Threats of arrests definitely have a chilling effect,” Ray wrote. “And I can’t do my job to the best of my ability if I’m in handcuffs.”

Attorneys with the ACLU of Southern California and First Amendment Coalition sent a letter on Oct. 8 to LAPD Chief Dominic Choi, asking that he take action to ensure that such threats cease.

“Mr. Ray was not obstructing any city employees when he was threatened with arrest, and his presence at the encampment sites did not present any safety risk,” the letter stated. “The arrest threats therefore infringed on Mr. Ray’s First Amendment rights to observe and document these operations, which are of immense public concern.”

Journalists from Sacramento to Los Angeles have had their access restricted or been forced to leave cleanup operations under threat of arrest. On the day of Ray’s arrest, a second journalist, Jonathan Green, was also ordered to leave the Skid Row site, and reporter Yesica Prado was arrested on Sept. 17 while covering an operation in Oakland.

Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project, and a coalition of press freedom and transparency organizations warned authorities across California that journalists have a right under state law to access restricted areas to document newsworthy events. They urged local governments to operate transparently and respect the role of the press in observing encampment sweeps.

“Homelessness is one of the biggest stories across the state. With recent legal and political developments triggering a new wave of sweeps, Californians are counting on journalists to cover the story,” the Sept. 10 letter said.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told the Tracker via email that they could not provide any information on the incident because Ray was detained, not arrested.

An officer at the scene made the same distinction to Ray, and told the journalist he was being released because the officer had determined that there wasn’t a violation of the Los Angeles municipal code “due to your media First Amendment status.”

L.A. Taco was expected to make a statement about the arrest but had not by deadline.