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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 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.
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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.
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 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.
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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.
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.
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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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.
Cherry told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that after arriving to cover the protest, he was struck with crowd-control munitions in the feet and helmet, even though he was clearly identified as press, with a press vest, press helmet and credentials.
“I was clearly identified as media; they could have not hit me,” he said, adding that he felt targeted as a journalist and didn’t venture further into the fray for fear of getting injured or detained. “They’ve seen me before. I recognized them, and they recognized me.”
He also said that despite having goggles and a respirator mask, he was affected by the chemical irritants, as Department of Homeland Security officers deployed tear gas canisters, then sprayed pepper balls into the crowd as protesters attempted to toss the canisters back.
“I would have to get off the line for a second so I could breathe,” he told the Tracker. “It’s so permeating.”
DHS did not respond to a request for comment. On the night of the protest, the agency wrote on the social platform X that people at the protest were throwing things at officers, two of whom were receiving medical care after being hit. It did not address the use of munitions against members of the press.
Federal officers at a protest outside a federal building March 28, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Photojournalist Henry Cherry was struck with projectiles 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":["chemical irritant","Department of Homeland Security","immigration","protest","shot / shot at"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Henry Cherry (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Reporter shoved, lunged at by police at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shoved-lunged-at-by-police-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-01T17:06:27.347262Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-07T20:31:37.384321Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-07T20:31:37.280223Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Ryanne Mena, a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, was pushed by one police officer and lunged at by another while covering a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
The protest followed a “No Kings” demonstration held earlier in the day in LA, one of thousands across the U.S. that organizers said drew more than 8 million people against Trump administration policies.
After the main march, people gathered outside downtown LA’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025.
Mena, who was wearing a press badge, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was near the detention center when federal agents began deploying tear gas and chemical irritants. By the time she put on her safety goggles, the irritant had already seeped into her eyes.
“I was totally debilitated; it was really painful,” Mena said.
Later on, the LA Police Department started pushing protesters away. In one video Mena shared with the Tracker, officers are seen telling her to move.
“I’m a journalist; I don’t have to go,” Mena said.
“No, you’ve got to go,” an officer responded before pushing her.
“Don’t push me,” Mena said. “It’s literally the law. I can be here. I’m a journalist.”
Shortly after, as she moved toward the sidewalk to film from a different vantage point, another officer lunged at her with a baton. Video of the encounter was later posted to Instagram. In a separate video Mena shared with the Tracker, the same officer can be heard warning her not to follow too closely behind him.
Also that day, Mena and about a dozen other journalists were sequestered to a designated area while officers made arrests. News media were not allowed to get close enough to document the process.
“I couldn’t report an accurate number of arrests that evening. I couldn’t document how those arrests were taking place,” Mena said. “And that’s a pretty important part of the story.”
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.
A police line at a “No Kings” protest against Trump administration policies on March 28, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Reporter Ryanne Mena was pushed by an officer 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":["chemical irritant","immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Ryanne Mena ([Los Angeles] Daily News)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Student documentarian detained, zip-tied while covering LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-documentarian-detained-zip-tied-while-covering-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-06T18:21:11.932195Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-08T13:31:24.912532Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-08T13:31:24.688904Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Film student Giovanni Cruz was detained in a police kettle and placed in zip ties while he was documenting a protest outside an immigration detention center 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.
Cruz and Jose Ossa, students in film and TV production at California State University, Dominguez Hills, 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 told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Cruz was carrying a Fujifilm photo camera, and Ossa was carrying a cinema 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 near the detention center, 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.
Cruz told the Tracker that he was briefly affected by the irritant, but was protected by his mask and goggles.
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, Ossa 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.
Eventually, the two students were the only people remaining in the kettle, Ossa said. The police put Cruz and Ossa in zip ties.
Ossa 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 detain protesters and members of the press in a police kettle in Los Angeles, California, after a “No Kings” rally on March 28, 2026. Giovanni Cruz, a film student documenting the protest, was detained and put in zip ties before being released.
","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":["Giovanni Cruz (California State University, Dominguez Hills)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"FCC Chair Brendan Carr targets news outlets","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets/","first_published_at":"2026-03-16T19:53:37.411255Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-16T19:53:37.411255Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-16T19:53:37.313879Z","date":"2026-03-14","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"As President Donald Trump’s second term continued in 2026, his Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, took steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration critically. We’re documenting Carr’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.
Also read about Carr’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 March 16, 2026.
March 14, 2026 | FCC chair threatens licenses of broadcasters for Iran war coverage
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on March 14, 2026, threatened broadcasters with the loss of their licenses for what he characterized as “running hoaxes and news distortions” in their accounts of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
In a social media post, Carr quoted a screenshot of a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump, in which the president alleged that The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and “other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media” want the U.S. to lose the war with Iran.
Although Trump did not mention any TV news outlets by name, Carr noted, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.” The FCC chair then added that those broadcasters “have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.”
“The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves,” he continued. “It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.”
According to the FCC, while over-the-air local broadcast television stations are subject to the agency’s jurisdiction with respect to “news distortion,” newspapers are not.
In a Truth Social post the next day, Trump said he was “thrilled” to see that Carr was looking into the licenses of “some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.”
Trump added: “They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, ‘FIRED.’”
In a March 16 statement, Anna Gomez, the FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner, noted that the agency “licenses local broadcast stations, not networks, and no licenses are up for renewal until 2028.” She added that Carr’s threats “are grounded in neither reality nor law and would not survive judicial scrutiny, just as other recent attempts by this Administration to push beyond constitutional limits have repeatedly failed in court.”
“The concern over the chilling effect of these actions, however, is very real,” she said.
\r\n
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr testifies at a House hearing in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 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":["Media"],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth targets news outlets, leakers","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-targets-news-outlets-leakers/","first_published_at":"2026-02-17T18:03:13.887855Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-18T16:19:50.993617Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-18T16:19:50.897035Z","date":"2026-03-09","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"As the second year of President Donald Trump’s second term began, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continued taking steps to intimidate leakers and news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting Hegseth’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.
Read about Hegseth’s efforts in 2025 to chill coverage here, and how Trump’s other appointees and allies in Congress are striving to intimidate reporters, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more here.
This article was first published on Feb. 17, 2026.
\r\n
March 9, 2026 | Pentagon sets increased oversight, content limits for military newspaper\r\n
Jan. 15, 2026 | Defense Department announces overhaul of military newspaper, calling it ‘woke’\r\n
March 9, 2026 | Pentagon sets increased oversight, content limits for military newspaper
The Department of Defense laid out plans to expand oversight of military newspaper Stars and Stripes in a March 9, 2026, memo, as part of a “modernization” of the outlet that left some press freedom observers alarmed over the potential loss of independence.
The memo, sent by Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg and first reported by Stars and Stripes, outlines an “interim policy” governing the outlet that takes effect immediately.
The memo states that Stars and Stripes will continue to “operate with editorial independence.” But it prohibits the outlet’s use of wire service stories, comic strips and editorial cartoons due to the “digital availability of such content globally,” unless an exception is granted by the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.
According to the memo, the “primary justification for Stripes’ continued existence is to deliver content, specifically relevant to Service members and their families, that is not usually covered by commercial media.”
It continued, “Accordingly, there is no operational need to serve as a reprint vehicle for commercial news publications that are otherwise readily accessible.”
Jacqueline Smith, Stars and Stripes’ ombudsman who is charged by Congress with defending the outlet’s editorial independence, told the outlet that without access to wire service content, the paper would lose the ability to provide reporting on topics such as national sports and entertainment, which “contribute to the morale of troops.”
Among other changes, the memo states that the outlet “should” republish Defense Department public affairs materials — clearly labeled as such — as deemed necessary by the publisher, and requires the outlet’s ombudsman to send information previously sent directly to Congress through the department’s Legislative Affairs Office first.
It also bans reporters from making Freedom of Information Act requests in an official capacity, though it does allow for them to make submissions “in their individual capacities” when not acting on behalf of the outlet.
The policy changes came in the wake of a January social media post by Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell, in which he announced plans to overhaul Stars and Stripes and “refocus its content away from woke distractions.”
Stars and Stripes reported that its leadership and staff were not informed of the changes directly, but instead learned of them when the memo was found in a search of the Defense Department website.
Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes’ editor-in-chief, said in a statement published by the outlet, “It is unlikely that the Pentagon was aware of the extensive modernization that Stars and Stripes had already begun.”
He added, “Over the past year, the changes to our digitally produced news and information have resulted in significant increases in pageviews, engagement and subscribers.”
The Pentagon memo also states that all content must be consistent with “good order and discipline,” a phrase used in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
In an interview with NPR, Slavin expressed concern about that aspect of the policy as it applied to staff who are members of the military. “If they were to complete a story that the Defense Department did not like, and did not find ‘consistent with good order and discipline,’ would they be in legal jeopardy?” Slavin said. “We don’t know the answer to that.”
Smith, the ombudsman, told The Washington Post in an interview that the memo “threatens Stars and Stripes’ continued editorial independence, and it does so at the detriment of the troops who rely on the newspaper for complete coverage and continued accurate coverage that is not propaganda.”
Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director at PEN America, said, “We are alarmed that a Pentagon memo claims to preserve the independence of Stars and Stripes while simultaneously imposing new restrictions that undermine it.”
He called on Congress to “reaffirm First Amendment protections for Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence and ensure the decades-long firewall between the Pentagon and the newsroom remains firmly intact.”
Parnell, in a March 13 statement reported by Stars and Stripes, said that the Defense Department is returning the outlet to “its original mission: an independent news source for service members stationed overseas that is by the warfighter and for the warfighter.”
The Department of Defense announced plans on Jan. 15, 2026, to take over editorial decision-making for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, in a move that jeopardizes its long-held editorial independence.
In a statement posted to social media, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended the move as “returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters.”
“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” he continued. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”
While the newspaper is partially funded by the Pentagon and its staffers are department employees, the outlet reported that it is directed to emulate the best practices of commercial news organizations and provide a free flow of “news and information to its readership without news management or censorship.”
Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin wrote in a Jan. 15 note to staff that the military deserves independent news.
“The people who risk their lives in defense of the Constitution have earned the right to the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Slavin wrote. “We will not compromise on serving them with accurate and balanced coverage, holding military officials to account when called for.”
The Daily Wire reported that department officials told the outlet that Stars and Stripes’ content will no longer be written by its civilian staff but by active-duty service members. Half the newspaper’s content will be generated by the Pentagon, including materials written by the department and images captured by combat cameras.
Stars and Stripes reported that its ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, said the changes would amount to “unnecessary control and the perception of propaganda.” The ombudsman is a congressionally mandated position tasked with ensuring the outlet’s editorial independence.
“That is public relations, not independent journalism,” she said. “The other ‘fifty percent’ of the content would hold no credibility.”
The news came the day after The Washington Post reported that applicants for positions at the newspaper were being asked, “How would you advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”
Leadership at Stars and Stripes wasn’t aware of the questions until asked about them, Smith told the Post, later confirming that they had been added by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management without notifying them.
“Asking prospective employees how they would support the administration’s policies is antithetical to Stripes’ journalistic and federally mandated mission,” Smith told the Post. “Journalistically, it’s against ethics, because reporters or any staff member — editors, photographers — should be impartial.”
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee told Stars and Stripes that any efforts to infringe on the newspaper’s editorial independence amounted to an attack on the First Amendment, with several voicing support for the newspaper. None of the Republican lawmakers contacted by Stars and Stripes responded to requests for comment.
\r\n
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to the media in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 7, 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":["Stars and Stripes"],"tags":["Department of Defense","Donald Trump"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Spanish-language journalist arrested by ICE in Tennessee","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spanish-language-journalist-arrested-by-ice-in-tennessee/","first_published_at":"2026-03-10T20:59:13.419612Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-19T21:28:45.251477Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-19T21:28:45.108397Z","date":"2026-03-04","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Nashville","longitude":-86.78444,"latitude":36.16589,"body":"Spanish-language reporter Estefany Rodríguez was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 4, 2026 — one day after reporting on ICE arrests in the area.
Rodríguez has worked for the Hispanic news outlet Nashville Noticias since 2022 and began regularly covering immigration arrests for the outlet in November 2025, federal court records show.
On the morning of March 4, immigration agents followed Rodríguez and her husband as they drove to the gym in her work car, which bore the Nashville Noticias logo, the station reported. When they parked, several men surrounded the car and demanded Rodríguez be taken into custody.
During the encounter, Rodríguez noted that one ICE agent had a photograph of her work car on his cellphone, her attorney wrote in a court filing.
After her arrest, Rodríguez filed a complaint against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and other federal officials, arguing that her detention violated her constitutional rights. Her attorneys wrote that she was illegally detained, without a warrant or due process, and in retaliation for her reporting on ICE operations.
Rodríguez’s attorneys filed an emergency petition in federal court seeking a writ of habeas corpus, asking a judge to review whether her detention was lawful and to order her immediate release. According to court documents, Rodriguez was most recently being held in Alabama.
The federal government disputed Rodríguez’s claims in court filings, asserting she was arrested under a valid warrant issued two days earlier and that her visa had expired in September 2021, leaving her in the country without legal status.
Rodríguez had entered the United States legally in 2021 on a tourist visa, but later applied for political asylum, fearing persecution for her reporting on armed militia groups if she returned to her native Colombia. While her asylum case was pending, she received a work permit in 2022 and applied for a green card after marrying a U.S. citizen in January 2026.
That same month, ICE asked her to appear at its field office, but the appointment was canceled and later rescheduled due to a winter storm. In February, agents said they could not find a record of her appointment and issued a new reporting date for March 17, according to court records.
Rodríguez’s case comes amid broader concerns about journalists covering immigration enforcement. In a separate case, Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara was deported in October after being arrested four months earlier while covering a “No Kings” protest in Atlanta, Georgia.
After Rodríguez was arrested, a coalition of 41 press freedom groups called for her immediate release.
“Rodriguez’s detention is part of a broader erosion of democratic norms and human rights in the United States in which immigration authorities are increasingly being used to chill free expression and First Amendment rights,” the coalition wrote in a statement.
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists said it “denounces immigration tactics that detain journalists and any efforts to interfere with news coverage of immigration enforcement.”
In a statement, Nashville Noticias wrote it respects the laws of the U.S. and “hopes that this situation will be resolved favorably for our colleague so that she can be released soon, as she needs to reunite with her young daughter and husband.”
District Judge Eli Richardson will decide whether to grant Rodriguez’s emergency request for release. He has ordered the government to file a response justifying her arrest and detention. A hearing is set for March 17.
Reporter Estefany Rodríguez, who was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 4, 2026, is seen in an earlier reporting assignment.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":"3:26-cv-00247","case_type":"CIVIL","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":"Tennessee","abbreviation":"TN"},"updates":["(2026-03-19 14:02:00+00:00) Spanish-language reporter freed from ICE facility after Tennessee arrest"],"case_statuses":["ongoing"],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","ICE detention","immigration"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Other Incident"],"targeted_journalists":["Estefany Rodríguez (Nashville Noticias)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographers barred from Pentagon briefings after ‘unflattering’ photos","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographers-barred-from-pentagon-briefings-after-unflattering-photos/","first_published_at":"2026-03-13T18:28:34.243974Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-13T18:28:34.243974Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-13T18:23:53.865501Z","date":"2026-03-04","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Arlington","longitude":-77.10428,"latitude":38.88101,"body":"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth barred photojournalists from attending Pentagon news briefings at the Pentagon’s Arlington, Virginia headquarters, about the Iran war and the United States’ role in the conflict, beginning on March 4, 2026.
The decision came after Hegseth’s staff deemed recently published photos of him at a briefing “unflattering,” The Washington Post reported. The photos were taken March 2, days after a joint military strike on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The briefing also marked the first time Hegseth had spoken from the Pentagon briefing room podium since June 26, according to the Post. Several news organizations — including The Associated Press, Reuters and Getty Images — had sent photographers to cover the briefing from Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
After the news outlets published the photos, which were shared and licensed globally, members of Hegseth’s staff told colleagues they did not like the way he looked in them. His aides then decided to exclude photographers from the next two briefings at the Pentagon, held on March 4 and March 10, the Post reported.
Since then, only the Defense Department’s staff photographers have been permitted into the briefings.
In a statement to the newspaper, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson wrote: “In order to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively, we are allowing one representative per news outlet if uncredentialed, excluding pool. Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use. If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”
In a statement, the National Press Photographers Association denounced the Defense Department’s decision, saying it appeared to be retaliatory and raised First Amendment concerns. It called upon the Pentagon to restore the photographers’ access.
“Excluding photographers from Pentagon briefings because officials did not like how published images portrayed them shows an astonishingly poor sense of priorities in the midst of a war and is, for a public servant, not a good look,” the association’s President Alex Garcia said. “A free press cannot function if government officials decide that only favorable images of public officials may be created or distributed.”
Since being named secretary, Hegseth has frequently clashed with the press, including targeting news outlets and media leaks. He also issued new restrictions that mandated journalists pledge to obtain approval for releasing information gathered at the Pentagon, even if unclassified, and threatened to revoke their credentials.
Instead of complying with the pledge by the October deadline, dozens of correspondents left their offices and surrendered their press badges. The New York Times has sued the government over the policy, arguing it violates the constitutional protections of press freedom and due process.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a news briefing on the Iran conflict at Pentagon headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on March 2, 2026. After photos of the briefing were published, press photographers were barred from briefings starting March 4.
","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":"Virginia","abbreviation":"VA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["Media"],"tags":["Department of Defense"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":["Federal government: Agency"],"authors":[],"categories":["Denial of Access"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":["Change in policy or practice"]},{"title":"Documentarian pushed by deputy at Minnesota immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-pushed-by-deputy-at-minnesota-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-03-06T19:55:41.938842Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-06T19:55:41.938842Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-06T19:55:41.776945Z","date":"2026-03-01","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Fort Snelling","longitude":null,"latitude":null,"body":"Independent documentarian Adriano Kalin was pushed by a Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy while documenting a protest outside a federal building in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on March 1, 2026.
The Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which houses an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center, has been a focal point of protests. Demonstrations intensified in January after federal immigration agents shot and killed two Minneapolis residents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and wounded a man in separate incidents. Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have sued the Trump administration, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.
Kalin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting demonstrators who were gathering the morning of March 1 at the federal building. He was wearing a press badge, and a vest and a helmet identifying himself as a member of the press.
In the north parking lot, where he started reporting, law enforcement allowed Kalin and other journalists to do their job. However, the atmosphere changed as the protest grew larger in the south parking lot and officers began declaring the gathering unlawful, Kalin said. The law enforcement present included members of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department, the Minnesota State Patrol and the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
“The line between protester and press started kind of diffusing, if you will, and they didn’t care if you were press,” he said.
Kalin said Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies were indiscriminately aggressive, even against members of the press as they tried to document arrests and other police activity.
“The sheriff’s department were like, ‘No, you need to move,’ and shoving press,” Kalin said. “And we were saying, ‘We have a job to do, we’re strictly documenting.’”
According to Kalin, a large deputy who had been shouting at media members eventually shoved him toward protesters and told him he couldn’t be there. Although officers were shouting at members of the press, Kalin said he didn’t feel specifically targeted when he was pushed.
The photographer said the situation made it harder to safely capture images of events as they unfolded.
“It definitely made it more difficult for me to do my job,” he said. “I had to walk very fast and take the photo and pray that I got it because I was kind of getting rushed, and I was worried for myself, if I was going to get arrested.”
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies at an immigration protest outside the Whipple Federal Building on March 1, 2026, in Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Documentarian Adriano Kalin was shoved by a deputy 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":"no","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":["Adriano Kalin (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographer indicted after Minnesota church protest coverage","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-indicted-after-minnesota-church-protest-coverage/","first_published_at":"2026-03-03T20:25:27.065892Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-03T20:26:45.113377Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-03T20:26:44.988163Z","date":"2026-02-27","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Shane Ryan Bollman, a documentary photographer known professionally as Junn Bollmann, was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 27, 2026, after a grand jury indicted him the previous day on charges connected to his coverage of a protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service in January.
Demonstrations in the Twin Cities area had been taking place since the beginning of January, following the expansion of an immigration enforcement crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Multiple members of the press followed demonstrators as they entered Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18 to voice their opposition to ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Protest organizers said the church was targeted because one of the pastors was allegedly an interim director for the local ICE field office.
The indictment alleges Bollmann was present at a pre-demonstration meeting at a nearby shopping center, but the photographer is not included among those accused of engaging in “various chants,” “hostile and aggressive gestures” or any other activities while at the church.
He was, however, charged the same as the church protesters — conspiring to deprive rights and interfering with someone’s religious freedom in a house of worship.
Independent journalist Georgia Fort and former CNN anchor Don Lemon were also indicted in January for their coverage and were named in the superseding indictment.
Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Bollman on Feb. 27 outside his LA apartment, transferring him from the city’s Roybal Federal Building to the U.S. Marshals Service building and back before his arraignment and release, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
CPJ reported that the photographer’s electronic devices — including his cellphone, camera and laptop — were seized during his arrest and had yet to be returned.
Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the Lemon and Fort arrests at the time as “naked attacks on freedom of the press.”
“The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s chief of advocacy. “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment.”
Photographer Junn Bollmann was arrested in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 2026, after he was indicted on civil rights charges for his coverage of a protest that disrupted services at Cities Church, above, in St. Paul, Minnesota, in January.
","arresting_authority":"Homeland Security Investigations","arrest_status":"arrested and released","release_date":"2026-02-27","detention_date":"2026-02-27","unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":"in custody","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":[{"quantity":1,"equipment":"camera"},{"quantity":1,"equipment":"cellphone"},{"quantity":1,"equipment":"computer"}],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","Department of Justice","immigration","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Arrest/Criminal Charge","Equipment Search or Seizure"],"targeted_journalists":["Junn Bollmann (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"TV photographer nearly hit by car after Pennsylvania court hearing","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photographer-nearly-hit-by-car-after-pennsylvania-court-hearing/","first_published_at":"2026-03-26T20:32:54.741625Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-26T20:45:39.510048Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-26T20:45:39.377689Z","date":"2026-02-18","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Cheswick","longitude":-79.79922,"latitude":40.54173,"body":"David Clark, a photographer for TV station WPXI, was nearly run over by a car outside a court building in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 18, 2026. The station identified the driver as the father of the defendant whose case he was covering.
After the hearing in the Pittsburgh suburb, Clark and reporter Gabriella DeLuca were questioning Sean Dicer, a former teacher accused of sexually assaulting students, according to the Tribune-Review, which identified Clark.
Video published by the station shows Dicer and his father, Harold Dicer, getting into a white car and backing out of a parking space before accelerating toward the news crew.
“Are you going to run me over?” Clark can be heard saying.
In DeLuca’s news report, she said Sean Dicer avoided the camera and questions, but his father did not.
“He shouted explicit language toward our crew, and at one point accelerated his car, coming inches away from hitting us,” she said.
Harold Dicer is charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, court records show. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for April 22.
Clark did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The car that advanced toward WPXI TV photographer David Clark and reporter Gabriella DeLuca while they were covering a court hearing in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 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":"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":"Pennsylvania","abbreviation":"PA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["David Clark (WPXI)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"TV reporter nearly hit by car after Pennsylvania court hearing","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-nearly-hit-by-car-after-pennsylvania-court-hearing/","first_published_at":"2026-03-26T20:32:42.580088Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-26T20:45:56.277670Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-26T20:45:56.175987Z","date":"2026-02-18","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Cheswick","longitude":-79.79922,"latitude":40.54173,"body":"Gabriella DeLuca, a reporter for TV station WPXI, was nearly run over by a car outside a court building in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 18, 2026. The station identified the driver as the father of the defendant whose case she was covering.
After the hearing in the Pittsburgh suburb, DeLuca and photographer David Clark questioned Sean Dicer, a former teacher accused of sexually assaulting students, according to the Tribune-Review, which identified Clark.
Video published by the station shows Dicer and his father, Harold Dicer, getting into a white car and backing out of a parking space before accelerating toward the news crew.
“Are you going to run me over?” Clark can be heard saying.
In DeLuca’s news report, she said Sean Dicer avoided the camera and questions, but his father did not.
“He shouted explicit language toward our crew, and at one point accelerated his car, coming inches away from hitting us,” she said.
Harold Dicer is charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, court records show. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for April 22.
DeLuca did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WPXI journalist Gabriella DeLuca, reporting after a man allegedly tried to run her and a photographer over while covering a court hearing in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 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":"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":"Pennsylvania","abbreviation":"PA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Gabriella DeLuca (WPXI)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Interior Department orders park service to cut off SFGate after critical coverage","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/interior-department-orders-park-service-to-cut-off-sfgate-after-critical-coverage/","first_published_at":"2026-03-24T20:54:48.976275Z","last_published_at":"2026-03-24T20:54:48.976275Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-03-24T20:54:48.882497Z","date":"2026-02-10","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"San Francisco","longitude":-122.41942,"latitude":37.77493,"body":"National Park Service public affairs employees were instructed not to respond to inquiries from SFGate after the San Francisco, California, outlet published a Feb. 10, 2026, article critical of new park service media rules, it reported.
In a March 18 article, SFGate detailed how the online news site’s national parks bureau had sent “dozens of inquiries” to the National Park Service for stories over the previous month, but did not receive any responses.
Citing internal department communications that the outlet reviewed, as well as interviews with “multiple insiders” who were granted anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, SFGate reported that it was “blacklisted” by the public affairs office at the Department of the Interior, which oversees the park service, after publication of the Feb. 10 article.
The piece detailed a new approval process for park exhibits and other public-facing content, as well as limits on how the park service may interact with the media and the public. The process is designed to help the service align with a Trump administration executive order that critics in the report characterized as “part of a broad attempt to control the nation’s narratives.”
The Feb. 10 article, quoting park service insiders and nonprofit leaders, described how “confusion over the new policies is rampant, a culture of fear is pervasive, and ignored or denied media requests have become commonplace.”
SFGate reported that in the wake of that article, a park service employee told the outlet that they had been instructed not to respond to any of its inquiries — while continuing to respond to other outlets about the same topics.
SFGate quoted a park service communications employee as saying, “On a national level, you guys are the only ones I’ve ever heard of getting blacklisted.”
In an emailed statement for the March 18 article, Interior Department Communications Director Katie Martin told SFGate that the outlet “has distorted the facts and has caused confusion with their reporting with the mainstream media. This has caused the Department to spend countless hours correcting their false narrative with other media outlets.”
Martin also challenged the assertion that the outlet had been shut out in the wake of the Feb. 10 story, noting that a contributor received an email from the department Feb. 12 in response to a question about how to attribute a statement about an executive order by President Donald Trump. “Once again, SFGate is choosing their own narrative regardless of the facts,” Martin wrote.
However, SFGate noted, “Apart from that email, another reiterating a similar statement about Trump’s order and the ones sent in response to inquiries for this story, the Department of the Interior hasn’t responded to any media request.” It added that the National Park Service had not responded to a single inquiry in that time period.
SFGate reported that in the week the Feb. 10 article was published, spokespeople for the park service said they started receiving verbal instructions from Elizabeth Peace, an Interior Department senior public affairs specialist, to ignore the outlet. And then in early March, department officials gave instructions, through internal communications that the outlet reviewed, to ignore SFGate journalists.
SFGate noted that it had several Freedom of Information Act requests pending with the Interior Department, and that it expected a response to those, as required by law.
“In the meantime, we’ll file more requests and continue connecting with our large network of sources inside and outside the Park Service. We’ll keep producing hard-hitting journalism that holds the Trump administration accountable for its handling of the public’s most beloved federal agency — and do more stories like the one that apparently triggered this ban,” SFGate Editor-in-Chief Grant Marek told the outlet.
The Interior Department, National Park Service and SFGate did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Interior Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. The agency directed National Park Service employees to stop responding to inquiries from SFGate after the San Francisco-based outlet published a Feb. 10, 2026, story critical of Interior policies.
","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":["SFGate"],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":["Federal government: Agency"],"authors":[],"categories":["Denial of Access"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":["Press credential or media list"]},{"title":"Filmmaker pushed to the ground during interview attempt in Ohio","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-pushed-to-the-ground-during-interview-attempt-in-ohio/","first_published_at":"2026-02-26T19:37:02.463965Z","last_published_at":"2026-02-26T19:37:02.463965Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-02-26T19:37:02.231245Z","date":"2026-02-09","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Columbus","longitude":-82.99879,"latitude":39.96118,"body":"Independent documentarian Michael Newman was pushed to the ground, his phone slapped from his hand, on Feb. 9, 2026, while filming inside a campus building at Ohio State University in Columbus.
“I was scared, I was shocked, I was confused,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I’ve never felt that violated before in my life. It was very surreal.”
Newman had been filming inside the Smith Laboratory building for a mini-documentary on D.J. Byrnes, who runs the political blog The Rooster, and wanted to question the former president of the university, E. Gordon Gee, after a speech.
At one point, Assistant Professor Luke Perez, who was in the public hallway, made it clear he did not want to be filmed.
“I specifically tell him I’m not interested in him; I won’t get him on video,” Newman said. “There was no tension, there was no aggression on our part.”
Video published later by The Rooster captured the confrontation, which unfolded after Newman tried to ask Gee a question about student debt. In the footage, staff members can be heard telling Newman that Gee is finished taking questions.
Newman moves forward, and Perez quickly positions himself in front of him. Newman steps back and, within seconds, Perez knocks the equipment from Newman’s hand and drives him to the ground.
“I told you not to put that in my face,” Perez says in the video. “I’m not going to ask you again. … You put your hands on me, sir. You shoved that camera into my face, sir.”
Newman said there was no noticeable damage to his camera but that the monopod used to hold his cellphone broke in the attack. His neck and back were also sore, and he has had a hard time sleeping. A doctor told him he had whiplash.
“After I say, ‘One more question,’ next thing I know I’m attacked and on the ground,” he said. “I definitely did not shove my camera in his face; he shoved his face in my camera. I didn’t invade his personal space. You can see in the video I tried to step back, but I didn’t have a chance.”
Newman said the university police told him and Byrnes they were trespassed from the building and warned they would be arrested if they returned to campus. That order was rescinded a few days later.
The university has since placed Perez on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
At a Feb. 23 arraignment, Perez, who pleaded not guilty to an assault charge, was served a temporary protective order by a Franklin County judge, according to court records.
A hearing is scheduled for April 6.
For Newman, the fallout has prompted him to carry pepper spray while working.
“I’ll always be on edge now,” he said. “I’m always going to wonder, ‘Is this person going to attack me because I’m asking them questions?’”
Independent documentarian Mike Newman is seen being tackled by a professor while filming at Ohio State University in Columbus on Feb. 9, 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":"private individual","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":[{"quantity":1,"equipment":"camera equipment"}],"state":{"name":"Ohio","abbreviation":"OH"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":[],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault","Equipment Damage"],"targeted_journalists":["Michael Newman (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photojournalist struck with police baton at LA immigration protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-02-06T17:50:55.215553Z","last_published_at":"2026-02-06T17:50:55.215553Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-02-06T17:50:55.045113Z","date":"2026-02-04","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photographer Jackson Tammariello was beaten with a baton by police while covering a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 4, 2026.
The demonstration began when hundreds of students walked out of school to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement practices. It also came after similar demonstrations in Minnesota, where federal officers had killed two U.S. citizens. In LA, aggressive immigration enforcement has been happening since June.
Tammariello told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that after most of the crowd dispersed, some adults and high school students made their way to the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants were being held.
The students lined up outside at a nearby intersection, which the LA Police Department had taped off. Tammariello said that without much warning, officers suddenly charged the line of student protesters, pushing them out of the way. One officer, while chasing a protester, turned toward Tammariello and slammed his baton into his arm.
“Just because he saw that I was in his path, he decided he could deploy whatever force necessary,” he told the Tracker. “In this instance, it did feel targeted.”
Tammariello was wearing a media credential, although he was later told by another officer, “You’re not press.”
The journalist said the blow left him feeling sore, rattled and exposed, but not deterred.
“There’s a large pepperoni-looking bruise on my arm,” he said. “I hope I can just be out there covering what I’ve been covering as soon as possible.”
The LAPD officer’s actions appeared to violate California law prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with a preliminary injunction last year.
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment. In a social media post on X, the department said it had made arrests on charges of battery on a police officer and felony vandalism. It did not address the use of force against members of the press.
The Los Angeles Police Department officer who is alleged to have struck photographer Jackson Tammariello during an immigration protest there on Feb. 4, 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":"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":["Jackson Tammariello (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"FBI questions Oregon photographer about protesters’ identities","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-questions-oregon-photographer-about-protesters-identities/","first_published_at":"2026-02-18T17:23:33.920311Z","last_published_at":"2026-02-18T17:23:33.920311Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-02-18T17:23:33.810929Z","date":"2026-02-04","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Eugene","longitude":-123.08675,"latitude":44.05207,"body":"Independent photographer Robert Scherle was questioned at his Eugene, Oregon, home by FBI agents on Feb. 4, 2026, about the identities of people who attended protests he covered.
Scherle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has been documenting recent demonstrations at Eugene’s Federal Building, where Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operations are based.
The building had been the focal point of escalating anti-deportation protests in the city during late January, Eugene Weekly reported. On Jan. 30, it was vandalized and windows were damaged.
Scherle said that two FBI agents, a man and a woman wearing civilian clothing, came to his door, and showed him their badges and identification. The agents were affiliated with the Eugene agency of the FBI’s Portland, Oregon, field office.
“They immediately said, ‘You’re not in any trouble at all. We just want to talk to you, don’t worry.’ And then they started asking me if I had photos to share with them of protesters destroying federal property, and I said no.”
Scherle said they then asked if he could help them identify other protesters. He told the agents that he could not identify anyone because the scene was “too chaotic,” and the protesters were wearing masks.
While the agents were not threatening or coercive, Scherle added, he was “stressed” by the encounter.
“It was sort of just an implied threat, just by the fact that they’re there,” he said.
He added that the agents did not ask the journalist to follow up with them, but did provide a business card upon request.
The FBI’s Portland office did not respond to the Tracker’s emailed request for comment.
In a statement to Eugene Weekly, the office said: “During our investigative efforts, we have interviewed members of the public who were taking images and/or video on the ground that evening and asked for footage. Should an interviewee identify themselves as a member of the media and produce identification or credentials, we have processes in place to request information that adheres to the Constitutional right ensuring freedom of the press.”
While covering a Jan. 27 protest at the Federal Building and the response by DHS officers, Scherle was shoved and hit with crowd-control munitions and a chemical irritant, and later that evening was again hit with projectiles.
Federal agents approach protesters at the Federal Building in Eugene, Oregon, on Jan. 27, 2026. A week later, on Feb. 4, the FBI questioned photographer Robert Scherle at his Eugene home about the identities of protesters.
","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":"Oregon","abbreviation":"OR"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["Department of Justice","immigration"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Other Incident"],"targeted_journalists":["Robert Scherle (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem targets press, leakers","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem-targets-press-leakers/","first_published_at":"2026-02-17T16:57:14.825230Z","last_published_at":"2026-02-17T16:57:14.825230Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-02-17T16:57:14.614324Z","date":"2026-02-04","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"As the second year of President Donald Trump’s second term began, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continued taking steps to intimidate leakers and news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting her efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.
Read about Noem’s efforts in 2025 to chill coverage here, and how Trump’s other appointees and allies in Congress are striving to intimidate reporters, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more here.
This article was first published on Feb. 17, 2026.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced via social media on Feb. 4, 2026, that her office had identified another alleged leaker, claiming the employee had been sharing information with Daily Mail senior reporter Shawn Cohen.
“We just caught another prolific leaker putting our @DHSgov law enforcement at risk as they already face 8,000% increase in death threats against them,” Noem wrote, adding that she plans to refer the individual to the Justice Department for prosecution. “We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment, or status as a career civil servant—we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
In 2025, Noem oversaw the unprecedented polygraphing of department employees as part of her efforts to clamp down on leaks, questioning them about whether they’ve been sharing unapproved information with the media, even if unclassified.
The identity of the alleged leaker has not been made public as of publication.
Cohen declined to comment when reached by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
\r\n
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 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":[],"tags":["Department of Homeland Security","Donald Trump"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Chilling Statement"],"targeted_journalists":["Shawn Cohen (Daily Mail)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Journalist shoved while reporting on Minneapolis anti-ICE barricade","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-while-reporting-on-minneapolis-anti-ice-barricade/","first_published_at":"2026-02-10T21:04:47.956536Z","last_published_at":"2026-02-10T21:04:47.956536Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-02-10T20:16:19.012216Z","date":"2026-02-02","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Minneapolis","longitude":-93.26384,"latitude":44.97997,"body":"Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura was repeatedly shoved and his phone knocked from his hands by individuals angry with his coverage of an anti-immigration authority barricade in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026.
Demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the expansion of an ICE crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Ventura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had seen photos on social media of what was being referred to as a “filter blockade,” a makeshift barricade in the middle of the road meant to hinder ICE operations in a south Minneapolis neighborhood.
He and independent photojournalist Erik Herrera took a car together to where it was reportedly set up. “It was just a bunch of random things in the middle of the intersection, so stuff like wood pallets, dumpsters, mattresses,” Ventura said.
He added that the checkpoint was being operated by several individuals, some of whom immediately approached to ask who they were.
“I said, ‘Hey, we’re reporters, I work for the Daily Caller.’ And then they didn’t actually mind it,” Ventura said.
As the journalists began documenting the scene, Ventura said he noticed that one of the individuals had approached their ride-share driver.
“A couple of individuals basically said that our Uber driver was an ICE agent, because, I guess, they ran his license plate in their ‘database,’” he told the Tracker. “I head over there, and I’m just like, ‘Hey, he’s not an ICE agent, he’s Somalian, clearly.’ So that kind of started our interaction.”
Ventura said he tried to ask the individual about the database they had referenced and the checkpoint, but after a few questions, the man declined to do an interview and walked away. Then Ventura noticed that individuals manning the barricade were forcing two SUVs to turn around.
“It’s unconfirmed if they were federal agents, but they did have the markings: they had the all-black, tinted windows, and they were turning them around. So I started to zoom in and shoot video of that,” he said.
That’s when Ventura said two individuals began shoving him, blocking him from moving forward and telling him to leave. One also attempted to grab the phone Ventura was using to record from his hands.
The individuals also shoved Herrera and forced him to move back toward their waiting car.
“Then they kind of, in a way, forced me back to the Uber and kind of shoved me in,” Ventura said. “I’m still filming a bit, and one of them actually smacks my phone out of my hand, and I kind of spring out of the car seat.”
Ventura launched himself headfirst through the window, falling onto his phone atop a snowbank. “I panicked,” he said. “I felt like they were going to run off with it.”
He told the Tracker he was able to retrieve his phone, and the pair then left the scene after only five minutes. Over the next few hours, they clipped together their footage and posted it online.
Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura, partly visible at left, being pushed and harassed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026, while reporting on a makeshift checkpoint intended to thwart immigration operations in the 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":"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":["Jorge Ventura (Daily Caller)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photojournalist shoved while covering Minneapolis anti-ICE barricade","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-while-covering-minneapolis-anti-ice-barricade/","first_published_at":"2026-02-10T21:06:48.940038Z","last_published_at":"2026-02-10T21:06:48.940038Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-02-10T20:16:55.714810Z","date":"2026-02-02","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Minneapolis","longitude":-93.26384,"latitude":44.97997,"body":"Independent photojournalist Erik Herrera was repeatedly shoved by individuals angry with his coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement barricade in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026.
Demonstrations against ICE actions in the Twin Cities area have been mounting since the beginning of January, following the expansion of an immigration crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Herrera was working alongside Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura, documenting what was being referred to as a “filter blockade” — a makeshift barricade in the middle of the road meant to hinder ICE operations — in a south Minneapolis neighborhood.
The journalists took a car together to where it was reportedly set up. “It was just a bunch of random things in the middle of the intersection, so stuff like wood pallets, dumpsters, mattresses,” Ventura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
He added that the checkpoint was being operated by several individuals, some of whom immediately approached to ask who they were. When they identified themselves as press, the individuals didn’t seem to mind them being there, Ventura said.
As the journalists began documenting the scene, Ventura said he noticed that one of the individuals had approached their ride-share driver.
“A couple of individuals basically said that our Uber driver was an ICE agent, because, I guess, they ran his license plate in their ‘database,’” he told the Tracker. “I head over there, and I’m just like, ‘Hey, he’s not an ICE agent, he’s Somalian, clearly.’ So that kind of started our interaction.”
Ventura said he tried to ask the individual about the database they had referenced and the checkpoint, but after a few questions, the man declined to do an interview and walked away. Then Ventura noticed that individuals manning the barricade were forcing two SUVs to turn around.
“It’s unconfirmed if they were federal agents, but they did have the markings: they had the all-black, tinted windows, and they were turning them around. So I started to zoom in and shoot video of that,” he said.
That’s when Ventura said two individuals began shoving both him and Ventura, attempting to block them from recording and forcing them to move back toward their waiting car. One also attempted several times to grab Ventura’s phone, at one point knocking it into the snow.
He told the Tracker he was able to retrieve his phone, and the pair then left the scene after only five minutes. Over the next few hours, they clipped together their footage and posted it online.
Herrera did not respond to a request for comment.
Independent photojournalist Erik Herrera, left, was repeatedly pushed and harassed by individuals in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 2, 2026, while reporting on a makeshift checkpoint intended to thwart immigration operations in the 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":"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":["Erik Herrera (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]}]