Los Angeles riot: Australian news reporter Lauren Tomasi shot with rubber bullet during immigration protests

West Australian

4 days ago

An Australian TV reporter has been shot with a rubber bullet as she stood relaying news on the immigration protest riots that have engulfed Los Angeles.
Nine News correspondent Lauren Tomasi, was standing in a location between police, US National Guard personnel and the rioters when she was struck in the leg after shots were fired in her direction in a bid to move the protesters back.
Tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bang explosives have been raining down on the rioters since the large crowds became violent and charged at authorities on Sunday.
Ms Tomasi was delivering an update live to camera describing the tense situation and the rubber bullets which were being used against the rioters, before she was struck by the projectile which appeared to be fired from the police front line.
After she was hit in the leg, a member of the crowd can be screaming at the police saying, 'You just shot the f...ing reporter'.
Ms Tomasi's cameraman can also be heard asking 'are you okay' as the pair hurriedly moved away from the centre of the clashes.
California National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles to quell the demonstrations over President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement, as the state's Democratic governor labelled their deployment unlawful.
The National Guard began deploying on Sunday as demonstrations over federal immigration raids continued for a third day in Los Angeles, culminating in confrontations between protesters and police.
Los Angeles police declared one rally near City Hall to be an 'unlawful assembly', alleging that some protesters threw concrete, bottles and other objects at police.
'Arrests are being initiated,' the department wrote in a post on social media.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he requested the Trump administration withdraw its order to deploy 2000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles County, calling it unlawful.
Newsom accused Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis and violating California's state sovereignty. 'These are the acts of a dictator, not a President,' he wrote in a post on X.
The White House disputed Newsom's characterisation, saying in a statement that 'everyone saw the chaos, violence and lawlessness'.
Earlier, about a dozen National Guard members, along with Department of Homeland Security personnel, pushed back a group of demonstrators that amassed outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles.
Trump called the demonstrators 'violent, insurrectionist mobs' and said he was directing his cabinet officers 'to take all such action necessary' to stop what he called 'riots'.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, he threatened violence against demonstrators who spit on police or National Guard troops, saying 'they spit, we hit'.
'If we see danger to our country and to our citizens, it will be very, very strong in terms of law and order,' Mr Trump said.
National Guard troops were also seen in Paramount, in southeast Los Angeles, near the Home Depot, the site of altercations between protesters and police on Saturday.
Law enforcement faced off with a few hundred protesters in Paramount and 100 in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, with federal officers firing gas canisters in efforts to disperse crowds.
Authorities in Los Angeles arrested about 30 people on Saturday, including three on suspicion of assaulting an officer. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said three deputies sustained minor injuries.
With AAP.