Incident details
- Date of incident
- October 18, 2025
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Jalyssa Dugrot (MintPress News)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Police officers hold batons and green munition launchers during a “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 18, 2025.
MintPress News reporter Jalyssa Dugrot was hit twice in the legs by police impact projectiles while covering the “No Kings” protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 18, 2025.
Dugrot told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting interactions between Los Angeles Police Department officers, demonstrators and members of the press when officers declared the protest an unlawful assembly.
Police instructed Dugrot and others to get behind them as they pushed through the crowd, which made documenting what was going on unfeasible.
“That made it very difficult for press and media to even report,” she said.
After receiving permission from one officer to move closer, Dugrot, who wore a large “PRESS” label on her vest, said she began filming at the front of the police line as mounted officers advanced on the crowd, waiving their batons, and firing flash bangs and other munitions.
One officer deliberately aimed a projectile launcher at her, video of which Dugrot posted on Instagram.
“They were very familiar with who I was,” she said. “So for him to take his nonlethal and deliberately shoot me, it was pretty intentional.”
Dugrot said she was struck twice in the legs, leaving deep bruises.
“It definitely makes you a lot more wary of having to cover these kinds of things,” Dugrot said. “It’s a bit worrisome when even if you’re complying, you’re still at risk of being shot and targeted.”
The police actions at the rally, one of thousands nationwide that day voicing opposition to the Trump administration, appeared to violate a state law prohibiting officers from firing munitions at members of the press.
It also seemed to flout a preliminary injunction issued earlier this fall that bars the LAPD from restricting press access to areas that are not crime scenes during protests.
The LAPD said in a statement that it is investigating all use-of-force incidents from Oct. 18 and could not comment on active investigations.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
