Victor Montiel, a photographer for Los Angeles Pierce College’s The Bull Magazine, was cornered by police, ordered to show press credentials and escorted away from a protest that he was covering 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.
Violet Garcia, editor-in-chief of The Bull Magazine, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived to cover the events near the detention center along with Montiel, managing editor Daniela Raymundo and art director and photographer Abraham Elizalde.
Montiel was carrying a credential issued by the Press Photographers Association of Greater LA, while Garcia, Raymundo and Elizalde had press passes issued by Pierce College. All four were carrying professional camera equipment.
Garcia said they entered an area near the intersection of Temple and Alameda streets at around 7 p.m. after showing credentials to an officer, who she described as “collaborative.” The officer told them, however, that they entered at their own risk.
Garcia said the area was heavily barricaded and separate from larger crowds, and that she saw protesters assisting others who had been affected by chemical irritants.
“While I was filming a woman questioning officers about their conduct toward her, a group of media members was suddenly confronted by different, visibly armed officers,” Garcia said, adding that the officers “shouted orders for press to show credentials yet again.”
The conflict escalated, Garcia said, when some journalists resisted showing passes, citing their First Amendment rights, and the LAPD “would no longer allow any of us to leave prior to showing our credentials again, whether we wanted to leave that instant or not.”
“They kept us in a circular group, holding guns in their arms in front of their torsos, and were now screaming orders, not at protesters but at the media. Some who tried to walk away were stopped and forced to wait,” Garcia recounted.
Officers then began “escorting” press out two at a time, she said, walking them back to an intersection a block away, Garcia said. The police warned that they were going to begin arresting people and deploying chemical irritants.
Garcia said that she, her staff and other journalists in the group began to feel mild effects of tear gas nearby, but couldn’t see where it was coming from.
“Our eyes were stinging, and then it went a little bit past stinging, and they were burning and tearing up, but we were still able to see. Our noses were starting to burn a little bit as well. And then some of my colleagues started to describe a foul taste,” Garcia, who was wearing a KN95 mask, explained.
“Some further protested being sent out, citing that, as press, we had a right to stay and document. The LAPD reiterated it didn’t matter who; if we were in the way, they would spray,” she said.
Garcia said that she and her staff members were escorted out and then denied reentry to that area, without further explanation.
In a written statement shared April 2, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those involving media members, would be investigated and addressed.
“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.
The Tracker has documented more than a dozen other instances of journalists being obstructed, detained and assaulted on March 28 in LA.
Montiel was hit with projectiles fired by law enforcement while covering immigration protests in LA in January and June 2025.
A police officer grabs a protester near an immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles on March 28, 2026. Photographer Victor Montiel of Los Angeles Pierce College’s The Bull Magazine was surrounded by police and escorted away from the protest.
","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":["Victor Montiel (The [Los Angeles Pierce College] Bull Magazine)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Student journalist detained, zip-tied while documenting LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-zip-tied-while-documenting-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-06T18:12:01.029004Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-08T13:29:48.984057Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-08T13:29:48.778070Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Jose Ossa, a student filmmaker, 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.
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.
","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":["Jose Ossa (California State University, Dominguez Hills)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Police officer pushes photojournalist at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-officer-pushes-photojournalist-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-21T14:10:16.789082Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-21T14:10:16.789082Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-21T14:10:16.700796Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Photojournalist Jill Connelly was pushed by a police officer and later obstructed while documenting a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
The protest followed a “No Kings” demonstration held earlier in the day in LA, one of thousands across the U.S. that organizers said drew more than 8 million people against Trump administration policies.
After the main march, people gathered outside downtown LA’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025.
Connelly, who was on assignment for The Associated Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was pushed by an LA Police Department officer who was moving people back. She was wearing a helmet that said “press” on the front and back, and a clearly visible LAPD press credential around her neck.
She called the push “unnecessary,” but said it was not the level of targeted violence she experienced earlier that day, when she was shoved by a Department of Homeland Security agent as she took a photo of an arrest.
Connelly also said that she was among a group of press who were forced far back from a group of protesters that police had herded into an area near the detention center.
“We were trying to photograph what they were doing to these people, and they moved us really far back, so we couldn’t see what they were doing. And they knew we were press.”
She said the police kept driving them back further until one photographer asked for a supervisor, and that officer eventually moved them to where they could see arrests being made.
The press was “still far from the kettle where they were being handcuffed, but where we could see people being processed before they were put in vehicles for transport,” Connelly said.
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.
Police detain a protester in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Photojournalist Jill Connelly, who was pushed by an officer during the protest, captured this image once allowed to move from an obstructed area.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"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":"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":["Jill Connelly (The Associated Press)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photojournalist hit with munitions at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-munitions-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-01T21:01:10.982441Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-07T20:48:20.660177Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-07T20:48:20.572822Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photojournalist Henry Cherry was struck with multiple projectiles while covering a protest outside an immigration detention center 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.
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":"Student photojournalist blocked by police from leaving LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-blocked-by-police-from-leaving-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-05-08T17:16:00.483581Z","last_published_at":"2026-05-08T17:16:00.483581Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-05-08T17:14:04.474872Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Ethan Cohen, a student photojournalist for California State University’s Long Beach Current, was caught in a police kettle with other media and threatened with arrest while documenting a protest in Los Angeles 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.
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.
“That somewhat affected my coverage, to where I wasn’t able to get out,” Cohen said. “It was one of those things where next thing you know, you were surrounded.”
At first, Cohen 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 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. Cohen and others were eventually allowed to leave after police negotiated the exit of the 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.
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.
Police officers at a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Photojournalist Ethan Cohen was kettled by police, unable to leave, while covering the demonstration.
","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":["immigration","kettle","protest","student journalism"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Arrest/Criminal Charge"],"targeted_journalists":["Ethan Cohen ([California State University] Long Beach Current)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Independent photographer hit with pepper balls while covering LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photographer-hit-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-05-04T15:06:08.559843Z","last_published_at":"2026-05-04T15:06:08.559843Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-05-04T15:06:08.461274Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photographer Hank Leahy was hit in the leg by pepper balls fired by federal agents while documenting an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, one of some 3,300 against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main march, people gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Leahy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was among a group of photographers standing next to the fence outside the detention center when Department of Homeland Security officers fired chemical irritants from inside the fence.
“I felt a sharp impact on the back of my leg, followed by a cloud of white dust.”
Leahy, who was wearing a lanyard with his press identification cards, said he did not know whether the officers targeted him as a member of the press, because they “tend to use deterrents on everyone in the area.”
He added that the dust from the pepper balls seeped through a gap in his goggles, “causing severe eye pain” and impacting his directional awareness.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
The Tracker has documented more than 20 press freedom violations committed by local and federal law enforcement at the March 28 protest in LA.
Federal agents fire chemical irritants into a crowd at a protest at an immigration detention center in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Independent photographer Hank Leahy was hit in the leg by pepper balls fired by the agents.
","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":"unknown","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":["Hank Leahy (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Police surround student journalist, escort him from LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-surround-student-journalist-escort-him-from-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-21T20:05:52.859256Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-21T20:05:52.859256Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-21T20:05:52.747408Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Abraham Elizalde, an art director and photographer for Los Angeles Pierce College’s The Bull Magazine, was cornered by police, ordered to show press credentials and escorted away from a protest that he was covering 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.
Violet Garcia, editor-in-chief of The Bull Magazine, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived to cover the events near the detention center along with Elizalde, photographer Victor Montiel and managing editor Daniela Raymundo.
Elizalde, Garcia and Raymundo had press passes issued by Pierce College, while Montiel was carrying a credential issued by the Press Photographers Association of Greater LA. All four were carrying professional camera equipment.
Garcia said they entered an area near the intersection of Temple and Alameda streets at around 7 p.m. after showing credentials to an officer, who she described as “collaborative.” The officer told them, however, that they entered at their own risk.
Garcia said the area was heavily barricaded and separate from larger crowds, and that she saw protesters assisting others who had been affected by chemical irritants.
“While I was filming a woman questioning officers about their conduct toward her, a group of media members was suddenly confronted by different, visibly armed officers,” Garcia said, adding that the officers “shouted orders for press to show credentials yet again.”
The conflict escalated, Garcia said, when some journalists resisted showing passes, citing their First Amendment rights, and the LAPD “would no longer allow any of us to leave prior to showing our credentials again, whether we wanted to leave that instant or not.”
“They kept us in a circular group, holding guns in their arms in front of their torsos, and were now screaming orders, not at protesters but at the media. Some who tried to walk away were stopped and forced to wait,” Garcia recounted.
Officers then began “escorting” press out two at a time, she said, walking them back to an intersection a block away, Garcia said. The police warned that they were going to begin arresting people and deploying chemical irritants.
Garcia said that she, her staff and other journalists in the group began to feel mild effects of tear gas nearby, but couldn’t see where it was coming from.
“Our eyes were stinging, and then it went a little bit past stinging, and they were burning and tearing up, but we were still able to see. Our noses were starting to burn a little bit as well. And then some of my colleagues started to describe a foul taste,” Garcia, who was wearing a KN95 mask, explained.
“Some further protested being sent out, citing that, as press, we had a right to stay and document. The LAPD reiterated it didn’t matter who; if we were in the way, they would spray,” she said.
Garcia said that she and her staff members were escorted out and then denied reentry to that area, without further explanation.
In a written statement shared April 2, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those involving media members, would be investigated and addressed.
“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.
The Tracker has documented more than a dozen other instances of journalists being obstructed, detained and assaulted on March 28 in LA.
A protester is arrested outside an immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles on March 28, 2026. Journalist Abraham Elizalde of Los Angeles Pierce College’s The Bull Magazine was surrounded by police and escorted away from the protest.
","arresting_authority":"Los Angeles Police Department","arrest_status":"detained and released without being processed","release_date":null,"detention_date":"2026-03-28","unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["chemical irritant","immigration","kettle","protest","student journalism"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Arrest/Criminal Charge"],"targeted_journalists":["Abraham Elizalde (The [Los Angeles Pierce College] Bull Magazine)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Reporter pushed, hit with projectiles and obstructed from reporting at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-hit-with-projectiles-and-obstructed-from-reporting-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-13T17:51:47.532176Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-13T17:51:47.532176Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-13T17:51:47.380642Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Kevin Foster, an independent journalist, was shoved by police and struck with crowd-control munitions while covering a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
The protest followed a “No Kings” demonstration held earlier in the day in LA, one of thousands across the U.S. that organizers said drew more than 8 million people against Trump administration policies.
After the main march, people gathered outside downtown LA’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025.
In a video Foster posted to Facebook, he shows clips of himself being shot at with pepper balls fired by Department of Homeland Security officers, one of which he said was aimed at eye level, and another that hit the sleeve of his upper left arm.
In another video, posted on Instagram, Foster said he was hit in the chest with a pepper ball, leaving chemical irritant on his shirt and the lanyard holding his press badge. He did not respond to a request for comment, and it’s unclear if the pepper ball was fired by DHS or if his badge was damaged.
Foster, who was wearing a helmet clearly marked as press, also showed himself being shoved by an LA Police Department officer.
“Their line was disorganized. He could’ve just tapped me,” he wrote in text accompanying the video.
In a separate video Foster posted to Instagram, an officer tells him and other reporters to move to the sidewalk. It also shows L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray being pushed by an officer.
Later, the LAPD called for a dispersal order and began making arrests. Officers formed a kettle, a tactic used to surround and control a crowd, and instructed credentialed press to leave the kettle and continue documenting from the sidewalk.
Some journalists stayed in the kettle to document the arrests, asserting their rights under California law, which allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police while doing so. A federal preliminary injunction against the city is in place to uphold those protections.
In the Facebook video, Foster said he left the arrest area because he assumed he’d be detained otherwise. In the Instagram video, Foster, walking and wearing a gas mask, said, “We’re not allowed to document what’s going on. They want to do this mass arrest in secret?”
In another video, Foster said reporters argued with police for about half hour about letting them get closer, and at one point were told that they had good enough lenses to document from a far distance.
“We’re just trying to do our jobs and get down there,” Foster said. “What are we supposed to do if they don’t let us do our jobs?”
DHS did not reply to a request for comment.
In a written statement shared April 2, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those arrested for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.
“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.
Police responding to a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Journalist Kevin Foster was shoved by police and struck with crowd-control munitions while covering the protest.
","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":["Kevin Foster (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Photographer hit in the shoulder with projectile at LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-in-the-shoulder-with-projectile-at-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-27T13:30:15.854679Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-27T13:30:15.854679Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-27T13:30:15.689826Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent photographer Steven Berumen was struck in the shoulder with a crowd-control munition while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
The protest followed a “No Kings” demonstration held earlier in the day in LA, one of thousands across the U.S. that organizers said drew more than 8 million people against Trump administration policies.
After the main march, people gathered outside downtown LA’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025.
Berumen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was outside the detention center, in front of a fence, when he was hit with the projectile, which he said was fired by a federal officer and left a small bruise on his shoulder.
Although he was wearing a press vest and photographing, Berumun added that he couldn’t tell if he was singled out, due to the limited visibility from the amount of tear gas being deployed, which later caused him to choke.
Later in the day, though, he was targeted by a police officer who shoved his camera in his face.
The March 28 rally resulted in at least 19 press freedom violations that involved both the Department of Homeland Security and the LA Police Department. 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 agents outside the Metropolitan Detention Center during a protest in Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026. Photographer Steven Berumen was struck by a projectile while documenting the demonstration.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":"law enforcement","was_journalist_targeted":"unknown","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"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Steven Berumen (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Student journalist cornered by LAPD, escorted from protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-cornered-by-lapd-escorted-from-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-14T20:52:26.199261Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-14T20:52:26.199261Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-14T20:52:26.080621Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Violet Garcia, editor-in-chief of The Bull Magazine at Los Angeles Pierce College, was blocked by police, ordered to show press credentials and led from a protest that she was covering in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026.
The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, one of some 3,300 against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main march, people gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Garcia told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived to cover the events near the detention center, along with three other student journalists and photographers from the magazine. She was carrying a press pass issued by Pierce College and professional camera equipment.
Garcia said they entered an area near the intersection of Temple and Alameda streets at around 7 p.m. after showing credentials to an officer, whom she described as “collaborative.” The officer told them, however, that they entered at their own risk.
The journalist said the area was heavily barricaded and separate from larger crowds, and that she saw protesters assisting others who had been affected by chemical irritants.
“While I was filming a woman questioning officers about their conduct toward her, a group of media members was suddenly confronted by different, visibly armed officers,” Garcia said, adding that the officers “shouted orders for press to show credentials yet again.”
The conflict escalated, Garcia said, when some journalists resisted showing passes, citing their First Amendment rights, and the LAPD “would no longer allow any of us to leave prior to showing our credentials again, whether we wanted to leave that instant or not.”
“They kept us in a circular group, holding guns in their arms in front of their torsos, and were now screaming orders, not at protesters but at the media. Some who tried to walk away were stopped and forced to wait,” the journalist recounted.
Officers then began “escorting” press out two at a time, she said, walking them back to an intersection a block away. The police warned that they were going to begin arresting people and deploying chemical irritants.
Garcia said that she, her staff and other journalists in the group began to mildly feel the effects of tear gas nearby, but couldn’t see where it was coming from. “Our eyes were stinging, and then it went a little bit past stinging, and they were burning and tearing up, but we were still able to see. Our noses were starting to burn a little bit as well. And then some of my colleagues started to describe a foul taste,” Garcia, who was wearing a KN95 mask, explained.
“Some further protested being sent out, citing that, as press, we had a right to stay and document. The LAPD reiterated it didn’t matter who; if we were in the way, they would spray,” she said.
“Although I was not officially detained, I felt I had no other option. I was physically blocked and stuck in the area. My choices were to move myself or let them move me, regardless of my rights.”
She and her fellow student journalists were ultimately escorted out and then denied reentry to that area, without further explanation.
In a written statement shared April 2, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that police were responding to acts of violence and vandalism and eventually issued a dispersal order. Anyone identifying as a “duly authorized” member of the media was contacted, verified and separated from those facing arrest for failure to disperse, according to the statement.
McDonnell added that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment, including those involving media members, would be investigated and addressed.
“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.
The Tracker has documented numerous other instances of journalists being obstructed, detained and assaulted while covering the March 28 protest in LA.
Police arrest a protester outside an immigration detention center in downtown Los Angeles on March 28, 2026. Violet Garcia, editor-in-chief of Los Angeles Pierce College’s The Bull Magazine, was surrounded by police and escorted away from the protest.
","arresting_authority":"Los Angeles Police Department","arrest_status":"detained and released without being processed","release_date":null,"detention_date":"2026-03-28","unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":null,"case_type":null,"status_of_seized_equipment":null,"is_search_warrant_obtained":false,"actor":null,"border_point":null,"target_us_citizenship_status":null,"denial_of_entry":false,"stopped_previously":false,"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access":null,"did_authorities_ask_about_work":null,"assailant":null,"was_journalist_targeted":null,"charged_under_espionage_act":false,"subpoena_type":null,"name_of_business":null,"third_party_business":null,"legal_order_venue":null,"status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"California","abbreviation":"CA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":[],"tags":["chemical irritant","immigration","kettle","protest","student journalism"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Arrest/Criminal Charge"],"targeted_journalists":["Violet Garcia (The [Los Angeles Pierce College] Bull Magazine)"],"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":"Journalist shoved, detained while covering LA protest","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-detained-while-covering-la-protest/","first_published_at":"2026-04-23T21:16:53.488619Z","last_published_at":"2026-04-23T21:16:53.488619Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-04-23T21:16:53.387255Z","date":"2026-03-28","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Los Angeles","longitude":-118.24368,"latitude":34.05223,"body":"Independent journalist Luke Harold was shoved by a federal agent while documenting an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 28, 2026, and was later kettled by police and taken to the police station, before being released without charge.
The protest followed LA’s “No Kings” demonstration, one of some 3,300 against Trump administration policies that took place that day across the U.S., drawing more than 8 million people nationwide, organizers said.
After the main march, people gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are held, and the Roybal Federal Building, locations where many demonstrations have centered since sweeping immigration enforcement began in the city in June 2025. The LA Police Department said 75 people were arrested after officers issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly.
Harold told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he went to take photos and videos of the protest independently, although he is also a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune and member of the journalism faculty at the University of Southern California Annenberg.
He said he was standing in front of the federal building when a few people started kicking the fence and throwing objects over it toward Department of Homeland Security officers on the other side. In response, DHS officers started firing tear gas canisters and pepper balls at the crowd, and most people retreated.
He said he was mostly protected by a gas mask and goggles, but that his eyes were badly affected by the chemical irritants at one point, when he rushed to put on the goggles and they didn’t seal properly.
Shortly after, he was shoved by one of the DHS officers. Harold and other members of the press were documenting officers piled on top of a protester and pinning him to the ground, as other officers formed a perimeter and issued warnings to stay back.
“Those of us who were there trying to document it were not in the way at all, and we were responsive to verbal warnings to stay out of the way as they walked the protester into the building. But that one DHS officer still aggressively walked up to us to shove us backward anyway,” Harold said.
The journalist captured the incident in a video posted on Instagram.
Around the same time, LAPD officers blocked off both ends of the block, effectively penning in the group of protesters and press. Harold said he received a dispersal order on his phone at that point.
“Many others inside the kettle agreed that the phone notification was the first we heard of a dispersal order, but we were not free to leave at that point,” he said.
The police instructed members of the press to go to the sidewalk, and one officer said that press could leave. Harold, who was carrying his digital camera, explained to multiple officers that he was press, was working independently that day and was also employed by the Union-Tribune and USC. However, he was told repeatedly to wait — even when he was sent by an officer to speak to a supervisor.
“I know from dealing with LAPD in my previous job and from this last year covering these protests that if you’re not legacy media or on assignment for an outlet they’re familiar with, the officers on the ground will not consider you a journalist, even though that’s not a legally viable position for them to take,” he 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 order also states that journalists are not required to wear credentials or work for a major media outlet to be considered press, and that carrying professional gear, such as photographic equipment, should be seen as an indicator they are there as journalists.
After about an hour in the kettle, Harold was zip-tied and taken to the booking area of LAPD headquarters. As they were processing his citation for failure to disperse, he asked why he wasn’t allowed to leave the kettle when he identified himself as a member of the press.
He was then pulled aside and eventually spoke to an officer later identified as Lt. Bruce Coss, a media liaison. Harold again explained that he was a journalist, there to document the protest independently, and described his professional affiliations.
“He’s telling me that I was out there as a journalist, but I wasn’t on assignment for anyone, so he said something to the effect that that puts me in a gray area, as far as they’re concerned. He asked if I understood that. I told him no, I don’t understand that. My full-time living for the last 11 years has been as a journalist in Southern California, and that includes my freelance and independent work,” Harold said.
“It kind of defeats the purpose of journalism if LAPD gets to regulate who gets to hold them accountable in those situations,” he added.
The officers eventually acknowledged that Harold was a member of the press and let him go without a citation for failure to disperse. He said his belongings, including his digital camera and phone, which were confiscated when he was arrested, were returned to him.
However, the journalist said that Coss and another officer separately gave him warnings that if he went back out to the federal building, he could get arrested again, and then they would give him a citation.
“So on one hand, they’re acknowledging that I’m a journalist and letting me go without a citation, but on the other, they’re saying I won’t have the protections I’m supposed to be entitled to if I go back out there and continue to act as a journalist, which perfectly sums up the arbitrary standards, if not outright disregard, they have for the terms of the federal injunction,” he said.
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.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Several journalists were detained in the kettle that day; some who showed media credentials were allowed to leave, while others who did not have formal credentials were held for longer.
“It is frustrating that LAPD lacks any coherent policies or procedures to deal with press at these protests,” Harold said. “You pretty much can’t get an LAPD-issued press card unless you’re legacy media who covers them regularly, which means they have no system in place to deal with the much wider array of journalists who come out to cover something as big as a No Kings Day.”
Journalists document a protest near a federal building in Los Angeles on March 28, 2026. The photographer, independent journalist Luke Harold, was shoved by a federal agent and detained by LA police that day.
","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":"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","kettle","protest"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Arrest/Criminal Charge","Assault"],"targeted_journalists":["Luke Harold (Independent)"],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"title":"Pentagon responds to court ruling with new press access restrictions","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pentagon-responds-to-court-ruling-with-new-press-access-restrictions/","first_published_at":"2026-05-27T17:09:35.803553Z","last_published_at":"2026-05-27T17:09:35.803553Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-05-27T17:08:05.302616Z","date":"2026-03-23","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Arlington","longitude":-77.10428,"latitude":38.88101,"body":"Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced March 23, 2026, that the Defense Department would move journalists from their designated offices in the building into a separate annex and mandate escorts for journalists at the Arlington, Virginia, complex.
Parnell, in a statement, framed the rules as necessary security measures in response to a March 20 court order that declared portions of the department’s press guidelines, implemented last fall, to be unconstitutional.
The New York Times, in response, sued the department in federal court on May 18, calling the revised rules unconstitutional.
In September 2025, the Pentagon distributed new restrictions mandating that journalists pledge to obtain approval for releasing information gathered there, even if unclassified, and warning that press credentials could be revoked or denied if a journalist “is reasonably determined to pose a security or safety risk.”
Dozens of Defense Department correspondents refused to sign on to the new guidelines and were then forced to surrender their press badges.
In December, The New York Times sued the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Parnell over the guidelines.
In March 2026, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled that portions of the September guidelines under which press credentials could be revoked violated the First and Fifth amendments and could not be enforced. He also mandated that the Pentagon restore press credentials to seven Times journalists.
Three days after the ruling, Parnell announced that the Defense Department would move journalists from their designated offices in the building into a separate annex and mandate escorts for journalists at the Pentagon, framing those changes as necessary security measures.
Parnell also issued a memo to senior Pentagon leadership announcing changes to the wording of the original policy, including a change from prohibiting “solicitation” of information by reporters to “intentional inducement of unauthorized disclosure” of confidential information.
The next day, the Times filed a motion to compel the department to comply with the March 20 order, calling the new policy “an attempted end-run around this Court’s ruling” and the Pentagon’s actions “disrespectful to the Court, the Constitution, and the American public.”
Friedman agreed, granting the motion and ruling that the prohibitions on “intentional inducement of unauthorized disclosure,” the escort requirements and the access restrictions on journalists violated his March 20 order and could not be enforced.
The Pentagon immediately appealed the ruling and filed an emergency request with the appeals court to put the portion of the order reinstating journalists’ unescorted access to the Pentagon’s main building on hold.
On April 27, two members of a three-judge appellate panel allowed the request. They wrote that the escort requirement hadn’t been included in the original guidelines at the core of the Times’ lawsuit, and therefore, the district court’s March order didn’t address it. Also, they wrote, “the district court did not hold that the escort requirement independently violates the First or Fifth Amendment.”
In a dissent, Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs argued that the revised policy had clearly violated the March order and had “imposed a new access regime.”
Rather than reinstate the Times reporters’ credentials as the March order intended, Childs wrote, the revisions had substantially reduced access for all credential holders. “Reporters can hardly verify sources, gather information, or speak candidly with Department personnel with an escort looming over their shoulders,” she wrote.
Parnell applauded the majority’s ruling, writing on social media, “Despite what many in the media have told you, the Department’s policy has never been about limiting journalism — it is about safeguarding classified information that protects American lives.”
The Times then filed a new suit in federal court against the Department of Defense, Hegseth, Parnell and department advisor Timothy Parlatore. The outlet’s complaint argued that the revised policy violated both the First and Fifth amendments and asked the court to vacate it.
The filing called the revised policy “retaliatory, utterly unreasonable, and manifestly arbitrary and capricious,” and alleged the Pentagon issued it “as a means to thwart a district court order and to punish The Times both for its editorial viewpoint and its successful suit vindicating its constitutional rights.”
The Times also requested a preliminary injunction preventing the Pentagon from enforcing the escort requirement, pointing out that to ask one question of a Pentagon official, credentialed journalists “must obtain an appointment, get an escort, ask their question, and return to the library located in a separate building—only to repeat the process for the next official.”
The Department has thus made sure, the filing argues, “that certain newsworthy information—obtained through unplanned interactions between credentialed journalists and Department officials on Pentagon grounds, or through conversations with multiple press officials in different press offices—will be simply unavailable to The Times and, accordingly, the public.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at an April 8, 2026, press briefing at the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia. The Defense Department instituted new policy guidelines on March 23, 2026, severely curtailing journalists’ access to the building.
","arresting_authority":null,"arrest_status":null,"release_date":null,"detention_date":null,"unnecessary_use_of_force":false,"case_number":"1:26-cv-01690","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":"Virginia","abbreviation":"VA"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":["ongoing"],"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":"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":"2026-05-07T17:26:26.755602Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-05-07T17:26:26.597462Z","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 Rodríguez’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":"DOJ subpoenas Wall Street Journal amid internal leak investigation","url":"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/doj-subpoenas-wall-street-journal-amid-internal-leak-investigation/","first_published_at":"2026-05-13T20:42:04.759994Z","last_published_at":"2026-05-13T20:42:04.759994Z","latest_revision_created_at":"2026-05-13T20:37:20.699092Z","date":"2026-03-04","exact_date_unknown":false,"city":"Washington","longitude":-77.03637,"latitude":38.89511,"body":"The Department of Justice obtained multiple subpoenas targeting The Wall Street Journal on March 4, 2026, as part of an internal leak investigation following reporting on the Iran war, the newspaper reported May 11.
According to the Journal, the grand jury subpoenas issued to the news outlet concerned a Feb. 23 article about warnings given to President Donald Trump about the risks of a prolonged military campaign against Iran.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to verify the number of subpoenas obtained, to whom they were issued and what information each sought.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, said in a statement: “The government’s subpoenas to The Wall Street Journal and our reporters represent an attack on constitutionally protected newsgathering. We will vigorously oppose this effort to stifle and intimidate essential reporting.”
Then-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded Biden-era policies protecting journalists from becoming embroiled in federal leak investigations in April 2025.
After her removal from that position a year later, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche made clear that the department would not hesitate to subpoena members of the press who receive classified information.
“Prosecuting leakers who share our nation’s secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration,” Blanche wrote in a May 12 statement on social media. “Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material.”
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, at left, with FBI Director Kash Patel during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 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":"Federal","status_of_prior_restraint":null,"mistakenly_released_materials":false,"links":[],"equipment_seized":[],"equipment_broken":[],"state":{"name":"District of Columbia","abbreviation":"DC"},"updates":[],"case_statuses":[],"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained":[],"target_nationality":[],"targeted_institutions":["The Wall Street Journal"],"tags":["Department of Justice"],"politicians_or_public_figures_involved":[],"authors":[],"categories":["Subpoena/Legal Order"],"targeted_journalists":[],"subpoena_statuses":null,"type_of_denial":[]},{"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":[]}]