Reporter pushed, hit with projectiles and obstructed from reporting at LA protest

Kevin Foster, an independent journalist, was shoved by police and struck with crowd-control munitions while covering 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.

In a video Foster posted to Facebook, he shows clips of himself being shot at with pepper balls fired by Department of Homeland Security officers, one of which he said was aimed at eye level, and another that hit the sleeve of his upper left arm.

In another video, posted on Instagram, Foster said he was hit in the chest with a pepper ball, leaving chemical irritant on his shirt and the lanyard holding his press badge. He did not respond to a request for comment, and it’s unclear if the pepper ball was fired by DHS or if his badge was damaged.

Foster, who was wearing a helmet clearly marked as press, also showed himself being shoved by an LA Police Department officer.

“Their line was disorganized. He could’ve just tapped me,” he wrote in text accompanying the video.

In a separate video Foster posted to Instagram, an officer tells him and other reporters to move to the sidewalk. It also shows L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray being pushed by an officer.

Later, the LAPD called for a dispersal order and began making arrests. Officers formed a kettle, a tactic used to surround and control a crowd, and instructed credentialed press to leave the kettle and continue documenting from the sidewalk.

Some journalists stayed in the kettle to document the arrests, asserting their rights under California law, which allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police while doing so. A federal preliminary injunction against the city is in place to uphold those protections.

In the Facebook video, Foster said he left the arrest area because he assumed he’d be detained otherwise. In the Instagram video, Foster, walking and wearing a gas mask, said, “We’re not allowed to document what’s going on. They want to do this mass arrest in secret?”

In another video, Foster said reporters argued with police for about half hour about letting them get closer, and at one point were told that they had good enough lenses to document from a far distance.

“We’re just trying to do our jobs and get down there,” Foster said. “What are we supposed to do if they don’t let us do our jobs?”

DHS did not reply to a request for comment.

In a written statement shared April 2, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those arrested for failure to disperse, according to the statement.

McDonnell added 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,” the statement said.