"Completely unacceptable": Several journalists injured by law enforcement while covering LA protests
The Committee to Protect Journalists released a statement Monday noting that several journalists have sustained injuries from law enforcement while reporting on protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles over the weekend.
'Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,' Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator, said in the statement.
Lauren Tomasi, an Australian journalist for 9News, was wrapping up a live broadcast on Sunday when she was shot with a rubber bullet by a police officer from close range. 9News reported that Tomasi was sore but unharmed. In a video of the incident, law enforcement appears to turn and aim at Tomasi then fire. A bystander can be heard saying: 'You just shot the f**king reporter.'
The Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called the incident 'completely unacceptable' and implored the Australian prime minister to address the matter with President Donald Trump.
A British photojournalist, Nick Stern, was also taken into emergency surgery on Sunday after being hit in the thigh by a three-inch plastic bullet fired by police. Stern told the BBC that he was being 'very deliberate and very obvious" about his role as media, wearing his press pass and a huge camera around his neck.Tomasi and Stern aren't an anomaly. Other reporters injured by law enforcement over the weekend include Ryanne Mena, a crime reporter with the Los Angeles Daily News, and Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a freelance reporter, who were both shot with nonlethal rounds and teargassed by law enforcement. A New York Times reporter also visited the hospital after sustaining injuries from a nonlethal round.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shocking Video Shows Reporter Struck by Rubber Bullet in L.A.
A journalist was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet by a law enforcement officer in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday night, her employer, 9 News Australia, reported. In footage shared by the Australian national news service, U.S. correspondent Lauren Tomasi cries out in pain after an officer appears to point directly at her and shoot. 'You just... shot the reporter,' someone shouts immediately afterwards, according to a caption. 'I'm good, I'm good,' Tomasi can be heard shrieking. The journalist had been reporting that 'after hours of standing off, this situation has now rapidly deteriorated. The LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of L.A.' In a statement provided to the Daily Beast, a 9 News spokesperson said 'Lauren and her camera operator are safe and will continue their essential work covering these events,' adding that the 'incident serves as a stark reminder of the inherent dangers journalists can face while reporting from the frontlines of protests, underscoring the importance of their role in providing vital information.' Reached for comment by the Daily Beast, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said the LAPD was not aware of the video and said it was still dealing with the evolving situation in the city. Clashes between law enforcement and protesters intensified on Sunday after the Trump administration deployed the National Guard and sent in troops in what local leaders called a dramatic and unnecessary escalation. The protests broke out over federal immigration raids last week.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Deployed The National Guard To Combat Deportation Protesters In LA — Here Are Some Of The Truly Unbelievable Photos Taken This Weekend
All eyes were on Los Angeles this weekend as law enforcement escalated their response to anti-deportation and anti-ICE protests. There have been seemingly unending recent reports of ICE presence at places like schools and workplaces in Los Angeles County, home to the United States' second-largest city and an estimated 951,000 undocumented residents (about 10% of its population). Against the wishes of state and local officials, namely Governor Gavin Newsom, President Donald Trump deployed at least 2,000 National Guard troops to control the protests. Here are some photos that document the ongoing clash. Note: Some images contain depictions of police violence. in riot gear with Los Angeles City Hall looming in the background through a cloud of tear gas: with their hands up on the 101 Freeway in downtown LA... 3.... the officers facing them: a wider look at a scene on the 101: a close-up of one of the confrontations there: some point, police started blocking the entrance to the freeway: Related: "Honestly Speechless At How Evil This Is": 26 Brutal, Brutal, Brutal Political Tweets Of The Week flipping on their skateboard with utter chaos in the background: is one of the many times an officer fired a rubber bullet from a "non-lethal" weapon: one where an officer hit a protester in the head with a rubber bullet and then refused to call an ambulance: here's the moment Australian news correspondent Lauren Tomasi was targeted and shot in the leg with a rubber bullet: Related: AOC's Viral Response About A Potential Presidential Run Has Everyone Watching, And I'm Honestly Living For It militarized stand-off in front of LA's Metropolitan Detention Center: masked officer ready to aim and fire from above: barrier AND a line of riot shields: 15.A small glimpse at just how many people showed up to protest in downtown LA: of the Waymo cars targeted for vandalizing: Waymo vehicles may have been targeted because they are constantly recording from several angles and can be used to assist police with surveillance. some people waving flags as the self-driving cars burn around them: woman smashing a car window: constantly documenting the detainments of fellow protesters: on horseback creating some tense encounters: this moment where horse-mounted LAPD officers knocked down and confronted a protester with batons on the freeway: born-and-raised Angeleno asking if ICE is planning to deport him "back to the hood": 23.A protester being hauled away in the fetal position: finally, these poetically-framed shots of officers in tactical gear carrying a detainee down the freeway... lining up in front of a political mural outside a famed contemporary art museum in downtown LA: Also in In the News: Republicans Are Calling Tim Walz "Tampon Tim," And The Backlash From Women Is Too Good Not To Share Also in In the News: JD Vance Shared The Most Bizarre Tweet Of Him Serving "Food" As Donald Trump's Housewife Also in In the News: A NSFW Float Depicting Donald Trump's "MAGA" Penis Was Just Paraded Around Germany, And It'
New York Post
29 minutes ago
- New York Post
LA anti-ICE rioters enrage locals with revolting anti-American displays and contempt for law and order: ‘Everything that is happening is very bad'
LOS ANGELES — Rioters called for the destruction of the US and spit on a flaming American flag while chanting 'burn it down' in a sickening caught-on-video display — as the violent protests entered their fourth day in the City of Angels. The sickening scene unfolded Sunday night as other rioters looted businesses and rained bricks, scooters and other deadly missiles onto cops from a highway overpass. And many Angelinos are fed up with the anti-American madness. 'Everything that is happening is very bad,' said Maria Fabila, owner of a Mexican dress shop near the site of a rash of smash-and-grab looting Sunday night, adding that customers have forfeited deposits on dresses and suits because they're afraid to go out in the streets. The protests began Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement executed a series of raids around the city, rounding up more than 100 illegal immigrants. Hundreds took to the streets in opposition, waving anti-ICE signs and Mexican flags while facing off against cops and federal immigration officers. Anti-ICE protesters burned and ripped up American flags. CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock But the demonstrations soon descended into anarchy in downtown LA and the nearby cities of Compton and Paramount on Saturday and Sunday night — as rioters burned cars, vandalized public buildings and property and even looted local businesses, much of the destruction captured on video. An ICE source told The Post the protesters — whether they know it or not — are advocating 'for the actual criminals … sex offenders and the terrorists' the agency is targeting in its raids, exhibiting a gross misunderstanding of who is guilty or innocent. 'You have criminals, gang members, terrorists, child molesters, sex offenders that are being arrested, but since people don't know the background of the case or what's going on, everybody's innocent,' the source described. 'And that's who they're protesting for, the actual criminals that are being arrested, the sex offenders, the terrorists, all that.' Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of downtown LA throughout the weekend — including at least one group with ties to the Democratic Party and another linked to the Chinese Communist Party. Disturbing footage of one downtown riot shows a rowdy mob setting an American flag on fire in the streets, spitting on Old Glory as a man with a bullhorn spewed anti-American slogans through a megaphone to egg on the braying herd. One group of demonstrators burned an American flag in the middle of the street while angrily spitting at Old Glory. AFP via Getty Images 'This is not just a gesture, this is something we need to make real. We need to take down this empire once and for all,' the man called out to the crowd, some of whom stepped into the circle to spray the flag with lighter fluid. On Sunday night, the havoc devolved into looting as thugs smashed their way into businesses — including a Foot Locker, a T-Mobile store and a local convenience shop — and helped themselves to anything that wasn't nailed down. In an act of absolute lawlessness, a gang of hoodlums rushed inside the shoe store and emerged minutes later with large stacks of Nike sneakers still in the box as onlookers cheered them on. Footage of inside the businesses filmed through the destroyed front doors showed the stores had been virtually picked clean by the criminal thugs, who fled into the night with their plundered lucre. Pedro Perez, who was working at a Boost Mobile store in a Compton strip mall that was hit by vandals, said the criminal behavior ran counter to the stated purpose of the protests. 'Spray painting and all this damage, that's not helping anybody. And right here whey they were spray painting, mainly all these people are all Hispanic owners,' he told The Post. 'The whole point is to be united, and you guys are damaging your own people's businesses. I just think it's stupid.' Most residents interviewed by The Post in this bright blue city said they blame Trump for escalating the situation — even as they acknowledged that the rioters are making everything worse. Earlier Sunday, at least 2,000 anti-ICE protesters took over LA's 101 Freeway, bringing traffic to a standstill as California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear responded and corralled the crowd onto an exit ramp, forcing them off the roadway. The freeway briefly reopened, but was shut down again around 7:30 p.m. after rioters began hurling objects including bricks onto southbound lanes, damaging police cards, the LAPD said. The simmering violence became so out of control that President Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles on Saturday, and mobilized 700 active-duty Marines early Monday evening. California's lefty Gov. Gavin Newsom said he plans on filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the National Guard deployment, and dared Trump's border czar Tom Homan to slap him in cuffs in an interview with NBC News. 'Come after me. Arrest me. Let's just get it over with, tough guy,' he taunted. This prompted the president to fire back that he would arrest Newsom if he was Homan. Speaking on MSNBC Monday, Homan said the ICE raids that sparked the riots in the first place had nothing to do with rounding up migrants. They were part of an ongoing criminal investigation into money laundering, tax evasion and customs fraud. 'It was to serve of three criminal warrants at locations based on a large criminal conspiracy that ICE is investigating,' Homan told the outlet. However, ICE was spotted operating across Southern California again on Monday — with federal law enforcement sources saying, 'We're going harder now … we're not backing down.' The Justice Department said that anyone who broke the law will be found and punished. 'This Department of Justice is actively investigating several cases for prosecution and working to identify any rioter who broke federal law.'
