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April 20, 2026 | Patel sues The Atlantic for defamation
\r\nFeb. 28, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s girlfriend
As President Donald Trump’s second term continued in 2026, his FBI director, Kash Patel, took steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration critically. We’re documenting Patel’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.
Also read about Patel’s efforts in 2025, and how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more.
This article was first published on April 20, 2026.
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April 20, 2026 | Patel sues The Atlantic for defamation
\r\nFeb. 28, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s girlfriend
April 20, 2026 | Patel sues The Atlantic for defamation
Attorneys for FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic and its reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, on April 20, 2026, accusing them of defaming him in an article about Patel’s alleged erratic behavior and poor job performance.
Fitzpatrick’s article, published April 17, reported that Patel’s conduct on the job has included “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” and that more than two dozen sources, including current and former FBI officials, “described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability.”
Patel’s lack of availability has exacerbated bureaucratic delays at the FBI, Fitzpatrick reported, and his alleged excessive drinking may have led to his sharing inaccurate information about active law enforcement investigations.
Fitzpatrick quoted a statement from the FBI, attributed to Patel, responding to her list of questions: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook.”
The day the article was published, Patel’s attorney Jesse Binnall posted a letter on social platform X that he said he had sent to The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick, alleging that Fitzpatrick’s questions had contained false claims and threatening legal action if those claims were published.
Three days later, Patel’s attorneys filed their complaint in federal court for defamation, claiming that the article’s allegations were “designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,” and that the article’s publication was done with “actual malice,” and demanded $250 million in damages.
“The statements,” the complaint argued, “falsely assert that the Director of the FBI—the nation’s chief federal law-enforcement officer—is a habitual drunk, unable to perform the duties of his office, is a threat to public safety, is vulnerable to foreign coercion, has violated DOJ ethics rules, is unreachable in emergencies, has required the deployment of ‘breaching equipment’ to extract him from locked rooms, allows alcohol to influence his public statements about criminal investigations, and behaves erratically in a manner that compromises national security.”
The Atlantic responded to the suit on X, writing: “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit.”
Feb. 28, 2026 | FBI investigates reporter who wrote about Patel’s girlfriend
The FBI investigated New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she published a report on Feb. 28, 2026, that the agency’s director, Kash Patel, had provided unprecedented transportation and security resources for his girlfriend.
FBI agents searched databases for information on Williamson and recommended further investigation to determine whether she had broken federal stalking laws while reporting the story, the Times reported April 22.
Justice Department officials, however, “determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation,” and the FBI dropped the case.
Williamson had reported that Patel’s girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, has been assigned an escort of SWAT personnel and that “Mr. Patel’s demand that rotating SWAT teams provide his girlfriend with security for singing appearances, personal engagements and errands is unprecedented in the F.B.I.”
The day the article was published, Wilkins received a threatening, anonymous email, which she forwarded to the FBI, the Times wrote. The email’s alleged sender was later criminally prosecuted and said they had sent the email after reading Williamson’s article, according to an affidavit in the case.
The FBI then interviewed Wilkins, who said she felt “harassed” by Williamson’s reporting, which had involved reaching out to numerous people who knew her. Agents then launched the investigation into Williamson, citing laws against stalking and threats as justification.
Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn called the investigation “alarming,” telling the paper, “The F.B.I.’s attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth’s First Amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions.”
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FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"District of Columbia","abbreviation":"DC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["The Atlantic"],"tags":["Department of Justice","Donald Trump"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":["Sarah Fitzpatrick (The Atlantic)","Elizabeth Williamson (The New York Times)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Independent journalist held overnight for documenting city curfew in Virginia","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-held-overnight-for-documenting-city-curfew-in-virginia/","first_published_at":"2026-04-27T20:42:58.398260Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-27T20:42:58.398260Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-27T20:40:01.239211Z","date":"2026-04-18","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Virginia Beach","longitude":-75.97799,"latitude":36.85293,"body":"Mickey Barker, an independent journalist, was arrested by police in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as he documented the city’s curfew on April 18, 2026.
Barker was recording on his iPhone in the oceanfront area, where an all-ages curfew had been imposed after two earlier shootings in March and April. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was looking for local business owners and residents to interview about the effects of the curfew when officers stopped him.
Though the City Council exempted members of the media from the curfew, Barker said he was treated differently because he is an independent journalist.
In a video Barker posted of the interaction, an officer asks, “Sir, do you have credentials?”
“The First Amendment, yes, of the Constitution,” Barker replies.
“That’s not how that works,” says the officer, who was joined by other police asking Barker to leave the oceanfront area.
Although credentials are not a requirement under the city ordinance, the officers demanded them after Barker asserted that he was an independent journalist gathering content for a story.
“You’re not press,” an officer was heard telling the journalist, before Barker insisted that he hadn’t broken any law and refused to provide his identification. The officer then took Barker’s phone and detained him in an overheated police van for about 45 minutes before taking him to jail.
“I’m an Iraq veteran, and I’ve never sweat so hard,” Barker told the Tracker, adding, “They handcuffed me so tight that I had numbness and tingling in my fingers for about three days afterward.”
Barker was released from jail early the next morning, and his case was dismissed April 24, according to Barker and his attorney, Tim Anderson, who say they’re preparing a civil suit.
“The First Amendment issue is as simple as this — CNN could have been there, but this guy couldn’t,” Anderson told The Virginian-Pilot. “That’s the shocking part of this. If the guy had a CNN jacket on, he would have been allowed to be down there, but this independent, amateur journalist gets put in handcuffs.”
Barker documents happenings in his community to a small following on his Facebook page, titled Billy the Billy of Rights Billy Goat, which contains occasional political commentary and documents Barker participating in protests.
“Anybody who documents and tries to make some of it publicly accessible is a journalist,” he told the Tracker. “Journalism is an activity, not an occupation. It’s the activity that is protected in our constitutional rights.”
A police officer is seen in this video still asking for independent journalist Mickey Barker’s press credentials, before arresting him for violating curfew in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on April 18, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":"arrested and released","release_date":"2026-04-19","detention_date":"2026-04-18","unnecessary_use_of_force":true,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"Virginia","abbreviation":"VA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Arrest/Criminal Charge"],"targeted_journalists":["Mickey Barker (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Reporter pushed, threatened with arrest while trying to question Florida mayor","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-threatened-with-arrest-while-trying-to-question-florida-mayor/","first_published_at":"2026-04-28T14:56:52.100611Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-28T14:56:52.100611Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-28T14:56:45.089911Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Miami Beach","longitude":-80.13005,"latitude":25.79065,"body":"WPLG investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier was shoved and threatened with jail by a plainclothes Miami-Dade County sheriff’s deputy while approaching the county’s mayor for an interview in Miami Beach, Florida, on April 11, 2026.
The TV station reported that the incident took place while the mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, was appearing at an event at a public park.
Weinsier tried to ask her why electric city buses that cost taxpayers more than $60 million were taken out of service. The reporter sought out the mayor at the public event because, for weeks, her communications staff had told him that she would not do an interview on the issue, according to WPLG.
After Levine Cava finished an interview with the county’s own television channel, Weinsier walked up to her and asked a question. WPLG’s video report on the incident shows a woman standing next to the mayor saying, “We can speak after the program.”
Then, a man wearing a black jacket and sunglasses but no visible badge or credentials steps forward and pushes Weinsier back. The man — later identified as a Miami-Dade sheriff’s deputy, Lester Aguilar, part of the mayor’s security detail — tells everyone to move back, and shoves Weinsier several times.
The reporter repeatedly says, “Don’t push me,” to which Aguilar replies, “Do you want to go to jail?
“For what? Standing and trying to interview the mayor?” Weinsier asks.
At no point does Aguilar identify himself as law enforcement or as a member of the mayor’s security team.
Aguilar alleged that the reporter made contact with him. “The next time you put your hands on me, you will go to jail. I was just trying to do my job,” he says later.
“And I as well,” Weinsier replies.
Later that day, the mayor agreed to answer Weinsier’s questions about the buses.
WPLG reported that the Sheriff’s Office had opened an internal affairs investigation into the incident.
Weinsier told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that WPLG submitted a public records request to the Sheriff’s Office, seeking its policies and procedures about plainclothes officers identifying themselves when interacting with the public, “particularly before or while giving orders.”
He said the incident hasn’t deterred their reporting. “Our focus remains on getting answers regarding the taxpayer-funded electric bus program and continuing to ask questions of public officials.”
“That said, I do think there are broader questions that come out of this. If there are specific protocols, boundaries or a defined perimeter around the mayor when she is in a public setting, that is something journalists and the public should clearly understand,” Weinsier added.
The Miami-Dade Mayor’s Office and Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
“Ultimately, I think the key issue here is clarity. If plainclothes officers are going to engage with members of the media or the public in that way, there should be clear identification and clear rules governing those interactions,” Weinsier said.
WPLG television reporter Jeff Weinsier, at left holding microphone, was pushed by a plainclothes sheriff’s deputy while trying to ask Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava a question on April 11, 2026, in Miami Beach, Florida.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"Florida","abbreviation":"FL"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Jeff Weinsier (WPLG)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Reporter assaulted by individuals at Minnesota immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-by-individuals-at-minnesota-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-23T20:59:42.406483Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-23T20:59:42.406483Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-23T20:59:42.234985Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Fort Snelling","longitude":null,"latitude":null,"body":"Savanah Hernandez, a reporter for Frontlines TPUSA, suffered a concussion after she was attacked by a group of people attending an immigration protest in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on April 11, 2026.
The demonstration was one of many nationwide protests that day against increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and shot and wounded another man. Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have since sued the Trump administration, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.
Hernandez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was reporting for Frontlines TPUSA, the online news arm of the conservative activist organization Turning Point USA.
While Hernandez filmed the demonstration outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, several people attending the protest surrounded her after learning she was affiliated with TPUSA. Hernandez told the group she was only there to observe and record, but the situation began to escalate.
“The crowd became increasingly more volatile,” Hernandez told the Tracker. “They just heard the name, ‘Turning Point USA,’ and that’s what got them very aggressive with me.”
Hernandez filmed as people blew whistles and blowhorns at her. One woman blew a whistle inches from her ear, and someone on a megaphone yelled, “Get the fuck out of here.”
“Stop. Leave me alone,” Hernandez said in the video. “People are being extremely aggressive here.”
Moments later, Hernandez was shoved to the ground, her camera jostling.
Hernandez pushed away another woman who aggressively approached her. “Get off of me,” Hernandez said. “Stop touching me.” Hernandez is then tackled to the ground.
Hernandez is seen being shoved by a man in one video. Another shows a woman pushing her into a fence. Hernandez throws a punch at the woman in a third clip.
“I realized these people were not going to let me leave,” Hernandez said. “I was basically like, ‘I feel like I’m just going to have to fight my way out of this.’”
Eventually, police intervened and escorted Hernandez away. Hernandez’s glasses were broken after the encounter. A doctor diagnosed her with a concussion. She also suffered sprains, bruising and a stiff neck. Her legs were scraped, and her neck and back were sore.
A Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office report shows that Paige Ostroushko and her father, Christopher, were arrested in connection with the assault. The sheriff submitted charges to the county attorney, which are now under review for potential charging. The report lists a third offender, Deyanna Ostroushko, who has not been arrested.
Chris Ostroushko told the New York Post that he was defending his wife and daughter, who claimed they were acting in self-defense after Hernandez attacked them. “We are absolutely not violent people,” he said. “In fact, we tend to shy away from it.”
Hernandez said she felt targeted by the group, who she believes attacked her to make sure she couldn’t do her job.
“I would like to see the First Amendment protected more in the United States of America,” Hernandez told the Tracker. “I would like to see the law applied equally, so that journalists and reporters are protected no matter which city they’re in, because this type of violence against people has been happening for far too long.”
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon confirmed that the FBI was also investigating the assault. Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the federal investigation as well.
Frontlines TPUSA reporter Savanah Hernandez, at left, with two individuals arrested in connection with an assault against her, seen in a video screengrab from an immigration protest in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on April 11, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"private individual","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"Minnesota","abbreviation":"MN"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Savanah Hernandez (Frontlines TPUSA)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographer pushed, jabbed by police baton at LA immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-jabbed-by-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-15T19:26:02.851677Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-15T19:26:02.851677Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-15T19:26:02.672098Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photographer Enrique Dominguez was shoved by officers and poked with a police baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.
The protest, which included a few dozen participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in June 2025.
Dominguez, who was not wearing a press badge but has since received one from the National Press Photographers Association, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was taking pictures of the protest and is working on a documentary film.
While on the scene, the LA Police Department started forcing members of the press backward, away from the detention center. Dominguez said he tried to take a picture of a woman being arrested at a certain angle, but he was diverted after an officer pushed him, followed by several others.
“They pushed us more aggressively when we started taking pictures of them arresting everybody,” Dominguez said. “The police started jabbing me with their batons and started pushing me.”
At one point, an officer pointed at him and told him that he would be detained next. Dominguez said he just walked away.
California law allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also 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.
In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”
The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in at least a dozen press freedom violations — 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.
Police push press back at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Independent photographer Enrique Dominguez was shoved by officers and poked with a police baton while documenting the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Enrique Dominguez (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographer pushed, hit with baton at LA immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-hit-with-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-23T18:43:16.181221Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-23T18:43:16.181221Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-23T18:43:15.986487Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photographer Jonny Morales was shoved by police and jabbed in the ribs with a police baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.
The protest, which included a few dozen participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in June 2025.
Morales told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing the protest outside the detention center when police forced protesters to leave and began making targeted arrests.
Officers then gave conflicting directions to members of the press. One directed the reporters to the sidewalk, while another threatened the media with arrest for staying. While standing on the sidewalk with other reporters, Morales was pushed by an officer, who also struck him with his baton.
“Because of that interaction, I didn’t feel safe,” Morales told the Tracker. “That was just really scary and intimidating.”
Morales, who was carrying gear and wearing a vest that identified him as press, said one officer told him that he would be considered a protester because he did not have a press credential.
“I’m an independent, I’m considered press, I’m protected under state law,” Morales told police, who he said ignored his assertions.
California law allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police during demonstrations, and does not require journalists to wear credentials to be considered press. A federal preliminary injunction against the city is in place to uphold those protections.
After leaving the protest, Morales said his ribs were sore and red. Other journalists were also shoved and hit during the scrum, impeding their ability to report.
“I was forced to stop documenting because I was concerned about my well-being and my friends’ well-being,” Morales said.
In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”
The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement after a March 28 “No Kings” rally two weeks earlier — which resulted in at least 17 press freedom violations — 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.
Officers push members of the press back during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Photographer Jonny Morales was struck with a police baton while covering the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Jonny Morales (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographer shoved by police, federal officers at LA immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-by-police-federal-officers-at-la-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-24T20:51:53.440663Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-24T20:51:53.440663Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-24T20:51:53.237814Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photographer Steven Berumen was pushed by both federal officers and local police while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.
The protest, which included a few dozen participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in June 2025.
Berumen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that an LA Police Department officer shoved him with his baton as police pushed members of the media away from documenting arrests.
“They didn’t want me photographing,” Berumen said. “They always yell at me, ‘Just get your photo and go.’”
Berumen, who was wearing a vest marking him as press, said when he documents protests, he tries to maintain a respectful distance between himself and officers, but finds that officers still try to push him or block his shot.
“They were targeting press; they complain when you’re taking photos, and they push you.”
Later that day, Berumen documented federal officers and LAPD making arrests outside the detention center when Department of Homeland Security agents also shoved him.
“I was getting photos of them and, from my right side, they came in and pushed me,” he said. “I was pushed, and then I was pushed again, but it didn’t really register with me because I was just focused on taking the photos.”
California law allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police during demonstrations, and does not require journalists to wear credentials to be considered press. A federal preliminary injunction against the city and DHS is in place to uphold those protections.
In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”
The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement after a March 28 “No Kings” rally two weeks earlier — which resulted in at least 18 press freedom violations — 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.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Law enforcement at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Photographer Steven Berumen was shoved by police and federal officers while documenting the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Steven Berumen (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Journalist shoved by LAPD, threatened with arrest at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-by-lapd-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-14T19:06:30.525585Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-15T17:10:44.755447Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-15T17:10:44.625337Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent journalist Mel Buer was pushed by police and warned she would be detained while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.
The protest, which included a few dozen participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in June 2025.
Buer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was filming outside the detention center when the LA Police Department started making arrests. Officers pushed about a half-dozen reporters down the street, away from the police action.
“I was shoved pretty hard by an officer,” said Buer, who recalled her ribs hurting for about two hours after. “My colleagues say I took a baton to the ribs, but I don’t remember feeling it.”
In a video Buer posted on Bluesky, police moved in to arrest a protester. Other officers then positioned themselves in front of members of the media and aggressively advanced on them, using their batons and yelling for them to back up. One journalist was kicked.
“You have been advised to leave, all the members of press. You are subject to arrest — all of you. Now,” an officer told them, adding, “You cannot get in the way of arrests.”
“We’re not,” one journalist said.
“You’re coming over here when we’re making arrests,” the officer replied.
California law 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.
While the statute states press may access closed areas during emergencies, it does not extend that access to designated crime scenes or secured perimeters established by law enforcement. In one video, an officer using a megaphone told the media they were subject to arrest, and the area had been declared an emergency operation.
Police make the designated area broad — across a block or more — to prevent press from crossing the line during a dispersal, Buer said.
Buer, who two weeks earlier had been caught in a police kettle and threatened with arrest, told the Tracker that her main frustration is the confusing and often contradictory directives provided to the press at protests.
“There’s no main point of contact telling us where to go. Everyone’s giving different directions, and when we don’t move out of the way fast enough, they use their batons and shove us,” Buer said. “I should not be shoved by an officer in such a way when I’m attempting to film what is happening.”
In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”
The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in at least 11 press freedom violations — 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.
Update: This story was revised to include comment from an LAPD spokesperson.
Police respond to a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Journalist Mel Buer was pushed by an officer while documenting the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Mel Buer (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photojournalist kicked in chest by police at LA immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-kicked-in-chest-by-police-at-la-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-16T16:27:29.045336Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-16T16:27:29.045336Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-16T16:27:28.803285Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photojournalist Nick Stern was kicked in the chest by a police officer while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.
The protest, which included a few dozen participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in June 2025.
Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that once the LA Police Department called a dispersal order, they directed journalists at first to leave the area. They then told the press to go onto the other side of the street on the sidewalk to photograph.
“We were then charged by some of the same officers,” he said. “Contrary to what they told us.”
Stern, who was identified as press on his T-shirt and was wearing a press badge around his neck, said a majority of the people remaining were media. At one point, a group of officers ran up to arrest a woman and as they did so, a number of journalists moved forward to document it. Police pushed them with batons.
“We then as a group were shuffling back,” Stern said.
Still trying to get a shot, Stern held his camera up high, over the officers’ heads.
“As they were pushing us, one officer then kicked me in the chest with his right leg.”
Stern said that officer was then pulled back by a senior officer, seemingly reprimanded for his action, which was captured on a video the journalist posted to one of his social media accounts.
“Everytime we go and argue our rights as journalists, they’re nodding their heads, and we go back out on the streets, and it’s all forgotten,” Stern told the Tracker.
California law allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also 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.
In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”
The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in at least a dozen press freedom violations — 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.
Police push press back at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Photojournalist Nick Stern was kicked by an officer while documenting the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Nick Stern (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Reporter pushed by police while covering LA immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-15T20:08:05.946686Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-15T20:08:05.946686Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-15T19:42:33.964655Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg was pushed back by police and later shoved by an officer while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.
The protest, which included a few dozen participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in June 2025.
Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that an LA Police Department captain directed members of the media to document from the sidewalk, which they did.
“I had my back to the police line, and the next thing I know, we were just being bombarded,” she said. “A group of cops just all ran forward into us.”
Berg, who was clearly identified as press, said she confronted officers for assaulting the media after they had complied with orders to document from the sidewalk. As she was talking to one media relations lieutenant, he told her, “That’s it, I’m done,” before shoving her through the police line.
“I’ve never had a media relations person behave like that,” Berg told the Tracker. “It’s just so offensive.”
In a video posted by journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel on Bluesky, officers positioned themselves in front of the media and aggressively advanced on them, using their batons and yelling for them to back up and leave the area. One journalist was kicked.
“You have been advised to leave, all the members of press. You are subject to arrest — all of you. Now,” an officer told them, adding, “You cannot get in the way of arrests.”
“We’re not,” one journalist said.
“You’re coming over here when we’re making arrests,” the officer replied.
California law 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.
While the statute states press may access closed areas during emergencies, it does not extend that access to designated crime scenes or secured perimeters established by law enforcement. In another video, posted by journalist Mel Buer, an officer invoked that portion of the law, telling the media the area had been declared an emergency operation and they were subject to arrest.
“Here’s the thing that upsets me: It’s never consistent,” Berg said. “Sometimes you have situations on the same day where police handle things appropriately, know what the law says, and then you’ll have the opposite happen in the course of the same protest.”
In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”
The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in at least a dozen press freedom violations — 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.
Journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, center, and other members of the press are pushed back by police while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. She was later shoved across a police line by an officer.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Tina-Desiree Berg (Status Coup)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Journalist pushed, struck with police baton at LA immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-struck-with-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-14T21:04:32.849098Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-15T17:13:44.600693Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-15T17:13:44.170932Z","date":"2026-04-11","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was shoved by police and battered with a baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.
The protest, which included a few dozen participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in June 2025.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the protest outside the detention center when an LA Police Department helicopter called for the crowd below to disperse. Shortly after, officers arrived at the scene and began pushing protesters and members of the press down the street, away from the detention center.
Beckner-Carmitchel was shoved at least three times in the back, shoulders and chest, and hit with a police baton at least twice in the arm. One officer aimed his projectile launcher at him.
“So many of my shots were out of focus because you need a half a second to focus,” he said. “And if you’re constantly being shoved, that’s extremely difficult.”
In a video Beckner-Carmitchel posted to Bluesky, officers positioned themselves in front of the media and aggressively advanced on them, using their batons and yelling for them to back up and leave the area. One journalist was kicked.
“You have been advised to leave, all the members of press. You are subject to arrest — all of you. Now,” an officer told them, adding, “You cannot get in the way of arrests.”
“We’re not,” one journalist said.
“You’re coming over here when we’re making arrests,” the officer replied.
California law 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.
While the statute states press may access closed areas during emergencies, it does not extend that access to designated crime scenes or secured perimeters established by law enforcement.
In one video posted by journalist Mel Buer, an officer using a megaphone told the media they were subject to arrest, and the area had been declared an emergency operation.
“You can’t just declare an entire street your base of operations,” Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker. “They’re making it so they don’t have to accommodate journalists.”
Beckner-Carmitchel, who two weeks earlier had been caught in a police kettle and threatened with arrest, said officers were pushing and using their batons against members of the media who were on the sidewalk, where police had directed them.
“We have a job to do,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “If you don’t want us to interfere, then don’t shove us in the place where you put us.”
In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”
The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in at least 11 press freedom violations — 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.
Update: This story was revised to include comment from an LAPD spokesperson.
An officer tells press they need to leave or be subject to arrest at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was pushed by police and hit with batons while covering the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Army veteran charged under Espionage Act for sharing classified details","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/army-veteran-charged-under-espionage-act-for-sharing-classified-details/","first_published_at":"2026-04-20T14:47:07.346573Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-20T14:47:07.346573Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-20T14:46:56.830505Z","date":"2026-04-08","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Raleigh","longitude":-78.63861,"latitude":35.7721,"body":"Courtney Williams, a retired Army employee with the elite Delta Force, was indicted on April 8, 2026, by a federal grand jury in Raleigh, North Carolina, for allegedly sharing classified information with a journalist, in violation of the Espionage Act.
The journalist went on to write a book and article alleging sexual harassment and discrimination in the secretive unit, according to news reports and court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Although the reporter’s name and the specific military unit are not named in the court filings, the dates and other details coincide with the work of investigative journalist Seth Harp about Delta Force.
Williams was arrested April 7 and appeared in federal court in Raleigh on April 13 to face four counts of felony communicating and disclosing national defense information, under Section 793(d) of the Espionage Act. Each count carries a prison term of up to 10 years, along with monetary fines.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Meyers ordered Williams to remain under house arrest with a monitoring device at her home in Wagram, North Carolina, awaiting trial.
According to the criminal complaint, Williams was hired as a defense contractor in 2010 and became an employee of the Department of Defense months later. She then held top-secret security clearance while working for a special military unit at Fort Bragg until 2016.
The complaint alleges that Williams shared tactics, member names and other classified information related to the Army unit with a journalist. Williams spent more than 10 hours on phone calls and exchanged more than 180 text messages with the journalist between 2022 and 2025, the complaint states.
“The tradecraft, tactics, and techniques used by the U.S. military unit in this case are classified and should be shared only with those with proper clearances and a need to know in order to protect American lives and safeguard classified National Defense information,” Reid Davis, the FBI special agent in charge in North Carolina, said in a statement.
Harp’s 2025 book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces,” included Williams’ claims of mistreatment while working for Delta Force at Fort Bragg. Ahead of the book release, Harp also highlighted Williams’ story in a Politico article, “‘My Life Became a Living Hell’: One Woman’s Career in Delta Force, the Army’s Most Elite Unit.”
Williams eventually filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reaching a settlement and retiring from the Army in 2018, according to Harp’s Politico article.
In an April 8 post on the social platform X, Harp hailed Williams as a “courageous whistleblower” who “exposed rampant gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the US Army’s Delta Force.”
“Unlike many of my sources, she was adamant that she be quoted by name and made no attempt to conceal her identity because her actions were entirely above-board, legitimate, and admirable,” he wrote.
Harp himself was threatened with a subpoena in January by a member of Congress for his reporting on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela.
“This is very clearly a retaliatory, anti-transparency prosecution and nothing more,” Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation — of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project — said of Williams’ case. “The notion that an administration that casually posts genocide threats during its illegal wars is worried about national security risks from whistleblowers who expose sexual harassment is absurd.”
A portion of a criminal complaint filed on April 3, 2026, in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina, charging Army veteran Courtney Williams with leaking classified material to a journalist. Williams was arrested April 7 and indicted the next day.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":true,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"North Carolina","abbreviation":"NC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":["Seth Harp (Independent)"],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Justice","Espionage Act"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Leak Case"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Journalist caught in police kettle, threatened with arrest at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-caught-in-police-kettle-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-10T18:34:43.534211Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-10T18:34:43.534211Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-10T18:34:43.432530Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was caught up in a police kettle and threatened with arrest, after having been hit with a crowd-control munition, while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
LA’s “No Kings” protest was one of some 3,300 demonstrations against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main protest march, people gathered outside the 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. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when he arrived at the detention center to cover the protest, he saw people kicking the fence and federal agents deploying chemical irritants on the crowd. He said he was affected slightly by the gas before he put his mask on.
He posted a video on Bluesky showing a federal agent tossing a canister toward members of the press outside the center’s gate.
The journalist also said he was hit in the leg by a tear gas canister but did not believe it was intentional.
“If I’m getting the gnarly shot, and I’m hit by a nondirectional, less-lethal, it is what it is, right? Obviously, I’d rather not. But let me put it this way: I would love to get to a point where that’s what I’m complaining about,” he said.
Beckner-Carmitchel said that eventually, the LAPD arrived at the scene, pushed protesters back and sealed off both ends of the street, forming a kettle — a tactic used to surround and control a crowd. They told everyone there they were under arrest.
Soon after, the police began asking if there were members of the media present, and for those who identified as press to show credentials. Beckner-Carmitchel, who was carrying a pass issued by the LA Press Club, as well as his professional Sony camera, said he raised his hand, but asked if he could stay to document.
“They kept telling me, ‘You have to leave, or you’ll get arrested.’ And I kept telling them, ‘Hey, look, I’m just trying to get a few shots. I’m off to the side. I’ll leave when it makes sense to leave.’”
He added that his movement was restricted, “and that ultimately counts as preventing me from doing my job.”
“Eventually we were able to negotiate a spot that made sense for media to be that wasn’t in the kettle itself,” he said.
Beckner-Carmitchel was one of several journalists detained in the kettle that day; some who showed media credentials were allowed to leave, while others who did not have formal credentials were held for longer.
He noted, “My biggest concern was them appearing to be determining who is and is not press, against department policy.”
A September preliminary injunction barred LAPD officers from interfering with journalists covering protests, including by arresting, detaining or citing them solely for failing to disperse, or by identifying media members solely based on whether they have a credential.
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
Journalists dodge a tear gas canister set off by federal agents at a demonstration in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Later that day, independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was kettled by police and threatened with arrest.
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The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, one of some 3,300 against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main march, people gathered outside the 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. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Soqui, who was on assignment for nonprofit newsroom CalMatters, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing an encounter between Department of Homeland Security officers and protesters near the detention center.
He said that he obeyed commands to stay back from a perimeter that officers had formed around other officers who were detaining an individual at the protest.
“The guy came right at my camera. He wasn’t pushing me. He went for the camera, and I tried to move it out of the way,” Soqui said of the encounter with the federal agent, which was captured in a video he posted on social media.
“I wasn’t pushing in tight, so I was fairly compliant,” he said, adding that it appeared that the officer who smacked the camera “wasn’t well trained, and he was acting out.”
However, he added that other individuals in the area who were documenting were not trained for protest situations, and at times were also yelling at the officers, making the situation more confusing and volatile.
Soqui said he was clearly identified as press, wearing an LA Police Department press credential around his neck, as well as a helmet and mask.
The incident occurred just after another DHS officer shoved his colleague, photojournalist Jill Connelly, and tried to knock her down as she was taking a photo.
Soqui said he was unsure whether his camera was damaged by the DHS officer’s hit, but that it had been “acting funny” in the wake of the incident.
DHS officers also released chemical irritants from behind the fence of the detention center into the crowd of protesters and press. The photojournalist said that because he was wearing a premium mask, he was able to withstand the gas.
However, he said, “It ends up everywhere. It dries onto your gear, so you have to de-chemical, use chemical removal to get it off all your clothes. Get it off your cameras, get off your shoes, get out of your hair.”
The Tracker has documented more than 20 press freedom violations committed by local and federal law enforcement at the March 28 protest in LA.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Department of Homeland Security officers detain a protester near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. An officer hit photojournalist Ted Soqui’s camera shortly before he took the photo.
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The demonstration followed a “No Kings” protest 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.
Sheets told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at the detention center as the LA Police Department began making arrests. Officers pushed both protesters and journalists out of the area, blocking off a long stretch of street and preventing them from approaching or observing the arrests as they unfolded.
“There was an arrest operation going on for literally hours, and we could only see what they were allowing us to see, which was certain views and from a significant distance,” Sheets said.
In a video Sheets posted to the social platform X, an officer said they were blocking off the area because, “We’re going to do some mass arrests right now, that’s why. Our main thing is your safety.”
Sheets, wearing two press badges and clearly identifiable as media, asked to speak with a police supervisor. A public information officer later escorted him and a group of other journalists, but told them they could not stop to film.
Later, while hanging back to take pictures of the arrests, another officer approached Sheets and told him he could not remain in the area.
“He grabbed me by my collar from the back and roughly escorted me away,” he said.
Sheets added that he was physically — but not painfully — pushed forward to a designated press area, where journalists were trying to assert their rights under California state law to cover protests and be exempted from dispersal orders without threat of arrest or interference by police. A federal preliminary injunction is in place against the city to uphold those protections.
In a video Sheets posted to X, a police sergeant tells the reporters, “I’m not going to let you walk and film between officers working; the injunction does not require that or allow that.”
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement. McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
Update: This story was revised to include a comment from the LAPD’s police chief.
Police prevent a group of journalists from filming near where officers were making arrests at a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. That day, officers forcibly removed reporter Connor Sheets to a distant designated press area.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Connor Sheets (Los Angeles Times)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photojournalist shoved by DHS agent while covering LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-by-dhs-agent-while-covering-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-21T14:05:05.059354Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-21T14:10:56.675866Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-21T14:10:56.578136Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Photojournalist Jill Connelly was forcefully pushed and almost knocked over by a federal agent while taking a photo at 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.
Connelly, who was on assignment for The Associated Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was photographing Department of Homeland Security agents on top of a protester when one agent shoved her and tried to knock her down.
“A few of them were saying, ‘Back up, back up.’ But this one guy ran up to me, and with all his weight, tried to knock me down while I was taking pictures,” she said.
She was wearing a helmet that said “press” on the front and back, and a clearly visible LA Police Department press credential around her neck.
Connelly said that later that evening, she was pushed by an LAPD officer who was moving people away from the protest, and was among a group of press who were forced far back from a group of demonstrators and journalists that police had kettled in an area near the detention center.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Department of Homeland Security agents restrain a protester near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Photojournalist Jill Connelly was shoved by an agent while taking the photo.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"yes","charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Jill Connelly (The Associated Press)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Journalist kettled, prevented from leaving LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-kettled-prevented-from-leaving-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-08T18:13:01.132660Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-08T20:59:16.568177Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-08T20:59:16.427130Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Journalist Mel Buer was caught in a kettle with journalists and threatened with arrest while documenting 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.
Buer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was reporting at the federal detention center when Department of Homeland Security officers indiscriminately fired into the crowd with chemical irritants, which seeped behind her goggles.
“I was kind of blind for a bit there and unable to see,” Buer recalled. Later that night, she noticed pepper ball residue on her shoes but did not recall feeling any impact from a projectile.
Later, the LA Police Department 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.
“They absolutely prevented us from doing our jobs,” Buer said.
Buer and other 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.
“I would call the entire situation just confusing,” Buer said. “It seemed like not a single officer knew what the law said, what the protocol was, or how to handle the situation.”
In a video that reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, who was also in the kettle, posted to the social platform Bluesky, an officer points at him and tells him to leave the area.
“We’re giving you an opportunity for legitimate media to leave, because we’re going to make arrests,” the officer said.
Ray replied, “But you’re not going to arrest media, are you?”
“Yes, we are. We gave you a dispersal order. We asked you to leave.”
The journalists were held in the kettle for at least 30 minutes, said Buer, who was eventually allowed to leave after police negotiated the exit of media with Adam Rose, press rights chair of the LA Press Club. Rose is also deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project.
“I had a credential; they were checking credentials to let people leave, which again is illegal,” Buer told the Tracker. “You’re not required to have a press pass in order to be a member of the media in California.”
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.
While covering another LA immigration protest in August 2025, Buer was kettled, detained and zip-tied by officers.
Police responding to a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Journalist Mel Buer was kettled and prevented from leaving an area while documenting the demonstration.
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The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, one of some 3,300 against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main march, people gathered outside the 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. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Violet Garcia, editor-in-chief of The Bull Magazine, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived to cover the events near the detention center along with Raymundo, photographer Victor Montiel and art director and photographer Abraham Elizalde.
Raymundo, Garcia and Elizalde had press passes issued by Pierce College, while Montiel was carrying a credential issued by the Press Photographers Association of Greater LA. All four were carrying professional camera equipment.
Garcia said they entered an area near the intersection of Temple and Alameda streets at around 7 p.m. after showing credentials to an officer, who she described as “collaborative.” The officer told them, however, that they entered at their own risk.
Garcia said the area was heavily barricaded and separate from larger crowds, and that she saw protesters assisting others who had been affected by chemical irritants.
“While I was filming a woman questioning officers about their conduct toward her, a group of media members was suddenly confronted by different, visibly armed officers,” Garcia said, adding that the officers “shouted orders for press to show credentials yet again.”
The conflict escalated, Garcia said, when some journalists resisted showing passes, citing their First Amendment rights, and the LAPD “would no longer allow any of us to leave prior to showing our credentials again, whether we wanted to leave that instant or not.”
“They kept us in a circular group, holding guns in their arms in front of their torsos, and were now screaming orders, not at protesters but at the media. Some who tried to walk away were stopped and forced to wait,” Garcia recounted.
Officers then began “escorting” press out two at a time, she said, walking them back to an intersection a block away, Garcia said. The police warned that they were going to begin arresting people and deploying chemical irritants.
Garcia said that she, her staff and other journalists in the group began to feel mild effects of tear gas nearby, but couldn’t see where it was coming from.
“Our eyes were stinging, and then it went a little bit past stinging, and they were burning and tearing up, but we were still able to see. Our noses were starting to burn a little bit as well. And then some of my colleagues started to describe a foul taste,” Garcia, who was wearing a KN95 mask, explained.
“Some further protested being sent out, citing that, as press, we had a right to stay and document. The LAPD reiterated it didn’t matter who; if we were in the way, they would spray,” she said.
Garcia said that she and her staff members were escorted out and then denied reentry to that area, without further explanation.
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
The Tracker has documented more than a dozen other instances of journalists being obstructed, detained and assaulted on March 28 in LA.
A protester is arrested outside an immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles on March 28, 2026. Daniela Raymundo, managing editor of Los Angeles Pierce College’s The Bull Magazine, was surrounded by police and escorted away from the protest.
","arresting_authority":"Los Angeles Police Department","arrest_status":"detained and released without being processed","release_date":null,"detention_date":"2026-03-28","unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["chemical irritant","immigration","kettle","protest","student journalism"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Arrest/Criminal Charge"],"targeted_journalists":["Daniela Raymundo (The [Los Angeles Pierce College] Bull Magazine)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographer’s camera pushed into his face by police at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographers-camera-pushed-into-his-face-by-police-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-27T13:32:48.321937Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-27T13:32:48.321937Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-27T13:32:48.157666Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photographer Steven Berumen had his camera shoved into his face by a police officer while documenting a protest against immigration raids 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.
Berumen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the LA Police Department began pushing people away from the detention center. Some officers were on horseback, while another on foot shoved Berumen’s camera into the photographer’s face, ramming it into his glasses.
“My camera wasn’t damaged, my glasses weren’t damaged, but it was kind of annoying,” Berumen said. “I was following the line. They were telling everyone to move back, including press and protesters; I thought I was a safe distance away.”
Earlier in the day, he was also struck with a crowd-control munition fired by federal officers, but he said it was unclear if that assault was targeted against him as a member of the press.
The March 28 rally resulted in at least 19 press freedom violations. 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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement. McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
Law enforcement responds to an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Photographer Steven Berumen said an officer shoved his camera into his face while he was documenting the protest.
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The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, one of some 3,300 against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main march, people gathered outside the 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. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Restrepo, primarily a street and landscape photographer who had covered previous “No Kings” protests, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the March 28 protest at the detention center with two professional cameras.
As he arrived, he saw a crowd outside the center’s fence, and federal agents on the other side. The agents soon started deploying pepper balls and tear gas canisters.
Restrepo retreated, but had to stop photographing because his eyes were tearing up, he was coughing and his skin was burning due to the irritants. He was treated on the street by a medic.
He then went back to the area near the detention center to continue photographing the protest.
At that point, LAPD officers arrived in riot gear and on horseback, forming a barricade at the northern end of the block. The federal agents continued to deploy chemical irritants, and Restrepo said he decided it was time to leave — but the LAPD had also blocked off the other end of the street.
“We didn’t know what to expect. We just knew that we were being corralled and we weren’t being allowed to leave,” he said.
Police initially allowed journalists who had credentials or were wearing gear identifying them as press to leave, Restrepo said, so he also alerted the officers that he was there to document.
“So I had my cameras out. I walked up to the front where they were letting people leave, and I said, ‘Hey, I’m here as a journalist. I’m here documenting.’”
One of the officers asked what outlet he was with, to which Restrepo replied that he was freelance.
“And he kind of just shook his head and told me to go back to where I was standing,” Restrepo recalled. “After that, I was like, ‘OK, well, I’m not getting out of here.’”
However, a September preliminary injunction states that journalists are not required to wear credentials or work for a major media outlet to be considered press, and that carrying professional gear, such as photographic equipment, should be seen as an indicator they are there as journalists. The order also bars LAPD officers from interfering with journalists covering protests, including by arresting, detaining or citing them solely for failing to disperse.
Restrepo said that after about an hour, officers pulled him out of the kettle, zip-tied his hands and took his gear, including his cameras. They then took him in a patrol wagon to a nearby police station, where others who had been in the kettle were being held.
At one point, when he was taken to use the restroom, he again told an officer that he was at the protest to document as press, but they continued to hold him for around four hours, with his hands zip-tied behind his back nearly the whole time.
Restrepo said he was ultimately released with a citation for failing to disperse, with a hearing on May 1. He said all his equipment was returned to him, and he did not believe it was searched in police custody.
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those involving media members, would be investigated and addressed.
At least a dozen journalists were detained in the kettle that day; some who showed media credentials were allowed to leave, while others who did not have formal credentials were held for longer.
Police officers line up near media during a protest at LA’s immigration detention center on March 28, 2026. Independent photographer Santiago Restrepo was kettled and arrested while documenting the protest, and cited for failing to disperse.
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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.
Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after he arrived, people at the protest began kicking and pushing at the gate at the detention center. Federal agents responded by firing pepper balls and tear gas into the crowd, though Ray said he was mostly shielded by his gas mask.
Later in the afternoon, the LA Police Department pushed the crowd away from the detention center and down the street. While walking backward and filming, an officer shoved Ray into a metal gate. At the time, he was among other journalists, clearly marked as press and wearing visible credentials.
Police began making arrests and formed a kettle, a tactic used to surround and control a crowd. Officers instructed credentialed press to leave the kettle and continue documenting from the sidewalk.
“I wasn’t interested in doing that; I wanted to be able to document arrests from inside the kettle, where I could get a better view,” Ray told the Tracker.
In a video Ray posted to the social platform Bluesky, an officer points at him and tells him to leave the area.
“We’re giving you an opportunity for legitimate media to leave, because we’re going to make arrests,” the officer said.
Ray replied, “But you’re not going to arrest media, are you?”
“Yes, we are. We gave you a dispersal order. We asked you to leave.”
The officer ignored Ray’s assertion of his rights as a journalist 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 also in place to uphold those protections.
“Either they don’t seem to be clear on the law, or they just ignored it,” Ray told the Tracker. “It didn’t feel like I could move around freely, that I could leave, and I was very clearly told that I was going to be arrested.”
Ray was in the kettle for about a half hour. He was eventually allowed to leave after police negotiated the exit of members of the press with Adam Rose, press rights chair of the LA Press Club. Rose is also deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project.
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement. McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
Ray was similarly kettled and threatened with arrest at another protest in January 2026.
Police kettle protesters and members of the media at a demonstration in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was pushed by an officer and threatened with arrest while covering the demonstration.
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The protest followed a “No Kings” demonstration held earlier in the day in LA, one of thousands held nationwide against the Trump administration’s policies, drawing over 8 million people, organizers said.
In downtown LA, at least 75 people were arrested near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, according to the LA Police Department. The site has become a focal point for demonstrations since the start of sweeping immigration enforcement actions in June.
The obstructions described by reporters on the ground echo incidents documented during protests in June 2025 and January 2026.
Although these incidents do not meet the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s standards for official documentation of press freedom violations, they have been compiled below. This roundup will be updated as additional incidents are verified. And you can see our reporting on the March 28 violations in LA here.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, in a written statement shared April 2, 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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement. McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
A September preliminary injunction barred LAPD officers from interfering with journalists covering protests, including by arresting, detaining or citing them solely for failing to disperse.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment about the cases of journalists who faced press violations on March 28.
To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit our FAQ page.
Police clear the street near a federal immigration detention center after a “No Kings” protest against Trump administration policies in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["Media"],"tags":["chemical irritant","Department of Homeland Security","immigration","protest","student journalism"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Other Incident"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Journalist caught in police kettle at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-caught-in-police-kettle-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-08T20:55:05.428485Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-08T20:55:05.428485Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-08T20:54:52.275353Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent journalist Dexter Thomas was caught in a kettle and threatened with arrest while documenting 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.
Thomas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was filming the protest at the detention center, where federal officers deployed tear gas that got into his eyes. Later, the LA Police Department began pushing people down the street and eventually declared an unlawful assembly.
As police began making arrests, they 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.
“They tried to say where press could be, which we were not going to abide by that,” Thomas said. “We don’t need to stand on the sidewalk, that’s not the law.”
Thomas and other 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 a video that reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, who was also in the kettle, posted to the social platform Bluesky, an officer said they were going to arrest media members who did not abide by the dispersal order.
“They were saying, ‘You can’t leave now,’” said Thomas, who recalled being in the kettle, unable to exit, for about a half hour. “You had your opportunity, and that’s no longer available to you.”
Thomas was eventually allowed to leave after police negotiated the exit of media with Adam Rose, press rights chair of the LA Press Club. Rose is also deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project.
The experience left Thomas frustrated; he said he felt that officers were trying to renegotiate the law in real time.
“What they can do is make your life very difficult by actually arresting you and taking your equipment,” he said. “And if I have filmed something which needs to be seen, and they take my equipment, then I have a problem.”
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
Thomas was similarly kettled and threatened with arrest at another protest in January 2026.
A frame grab from a subtitled video showing law enforcement responding to a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Later that day, journalist Dexter Thomas was among press facing arrest as they were kettled by police.
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LA’s “No Kings” protest was one of some 3,300 demonstrations against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main protest march, people gathered outside the 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. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Violet Garcia, editor-in-chief of The Bull Magazine, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived to cover the events near the detention center along with Montiel, managing editor Daniela Raymundo and art director and photographer Abraham Elizalde.
Montiel was carrying a credential issued by the Press Photographers Association of Greater LA, while Garcia, Raymundo and Elizalde had press passes issued by Pierce College. All four were carrying professional camera equipment.
Garcia said they entered an area near the intersection of Temple and Alameda streets at around 7 p.m. after showing credentials to an officer, who she described as “collaborative.” The officer told them, however, that they entered at their own risk.
Garcia said the area was heavily barricaded and separate from larger crowds, and that she saw protesters assisting others who had been affected by chemical irritants.
“While I was filming a woman questioning officers about their conduct toward her, a group of media members was suddenly confronted by different, visibly armed officers,” Garcia said, adding that the officers “shouted orders for press to show credentials yet again.”
The conflict escalated, Garcia said, when some journalists resisted showing passes, citing their First Amendment rights, and the LAPD “would no longer allow any of us to leave prior to showing our credentials again, whether we wanted to leave that instant or not.”
“They kept us in a circular group, holding guns in their arms in front of their torsos, and were now screaming orders, not at protesters but at the media. Some who tried to walk away were stopped and forced to wait,” Garcia recounted.
Officers then began “escorting” press out two at a time, she said, walking them back to an intersection a block away, Garcia said. The police warned that they were going to begin arresting people and deploying chemical irritants.
Garcia said that she, her staff and other journalists in the group began to feel mild effects of tear gas nearby, but couldn’t see where it was coming from.
“Our eyes were stinging, and then it went a little bit past stinging, and they were burning and tearing up, but we were still able to see. Our noses were starting to burn a little bit as well. And then some of my colleagues started to describe a foul taste,” Garcia, who was wearing a KN95 mask, explained.
“Some further protested being sent out, citing that, as press, we had a right to stay and document. The LAPD reiterated it didn’t matter who; if we were in the way, they would spray,” she said.
Garcia said that she and her staff members were escorted out and then denied reentry to that area, without further explanation.
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
The Tracker has documented more than a dozen other instances of journalists being obstructed, detained and assaulted on March 28 in LA.
Montiel was hit with projectiles fired by law enforcement while covering immigration protests in LA in January and June 2025.
A police officer grabs a protester near an immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles on March 28, 2026. Photographer Victor Montiel of Los Angeles Pierce College’s The Bull Magazine was surrounded by police and escorted away from the protest.
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LA’s “No Kings” protest was one of some 3,300 demonstrations against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main protest march, people gathered outside the 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. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Ossa, a student in film and TV production at California State University, Dominguez Hills, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and fellow student Giovanni Cruz went to the protest to capture B-roll footage for a documentary about photography as social activism they’re working on for a course.
Ossa was carrying a cinema camera, and Cruz was carrying a Fujifilm photo camera, clearly indicating that both were there to document the protest.
Ossa said they went to the area near the detention center to try to meet up with a photographer they had interviewed as part of their film project. But as they approached the adjacent intersection, Ossa said his eyes and later his respiratory system were affected by the residue of a chemical irritant in the air, even though he was wearing a mask and goggles. They had to retreat from the area twice before the air cleared.
They eventually were able to approach the gate of the detention center, where protesters had gathered, and saw that police behind the gate had started to come out and were throwing individuals to the ground and detaining them, he said.
The LAPD then started setting up blockades that penned in the protesters and press who were in front of the detention center, Ossa said. Police began to push inward from both directions, effectively sandwiching the crowd, and then closed off the group in a semicircle to form a kettle.
Ossa said that police allowed some, but not all, members of the press who were in the kettle to leave.
Ossa, holding his cinema camera and student ID, made his way to the front and informed the same officer twice that he and Cruz were students and were there to film a documentary. He asked if they were allowed to leave, but got little reaction from the officer.
Around 15 minutes later, Ossa went to the side of the kettle and relayed the same information to a row of four officers, again asking to leave. The officers did not respond.
“There was no effort made to get me and my classmate, Giovanni, out of there, even though we were members of the press. We were clearly there to document.”
Ossa said he and Cruz remained in the kettle as police grabbed and arrested others, further compressing the group. He said he was growing more anxious as the night wore on and the situation remained volatile, and was especially concerned about the implications of an arrest.
Eventually, the two students were the only people remaining in the kettle. The police called Ossa over and aggressively told him to put down his camera and backpack, and to put his hands behind his back. They continued to repeat the commands even though he was complying, Ossa said.
They then roughly put his hands in zip ties, asking him questions about the camera he was carrying — which belonged to his professor — including how much it cost.
He said a lead officer questioned him about why they were there. Ossa explained again, in detail, that he and Cruz were students making a documentary.
After around five minutes, that officer said the two students could go, indicating that he was doing them a favor, Ossa said. The officer told the student journalist that he could have confiscated the camera and detained them.
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 facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those 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.
A September preliminary injunction barred LAPD officers from interfering with journalists covering protests, including by arresting, detaining or citing them solely for failing to disperse.
The Tracker has documented multiple cases of journalists who faced press violations that day by the LAPD and federal agents.
Update: This story was revised to include a comment from the LAPD’s police chief.
Police arrest protesters in downtown Los Angeles, California, after a “No Kings” rally on March 28, 2026. Jose Ossa, a film student documenting the protest, was detained in a police kettle and put in zip ties before being released.
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