British photographer hit by non-lethal bullets during LA protests, undergoes surgery
A British news photographer has undergone emergency surgery after being hit by non-lethal rounds during protests in Los Angeles.
Nick Stern was documenting a stand-off between anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) protesters and police outside a Home Depot in Paramount, a city in LA county and a location known as a hiring spot for day labourers, when a 14mm 'sponge bullet' tore into his thigh.
He told the PA news agency: 'My initial concern was, were they firing live rounds? 'Some of the protesters came and helped me, and they ended up carrying me, and I noticed that there was blood pouring down my leg.' He was treated by a medic who urged him to go to hospital.
At one point, Mr Stern says he passed out from the pain. He is now recovering at Long Beach Memorial Medical Centre following emergency surgery. Mr Stern, who emigrated to the US in 2007, said he typically makes himself 'as visible as possible' while working in hostile situations. 'That way you're less likely to get hit because they know you're media,' he said.
It is the second incident of its kind for Mr Stern, who said he sustained 'substantial' bruising after being hit by another live round during the George Floyd protests in 2020. 'The communities in LA are very tight and very close-knit,' Mr Stern said. 'So an outside organisation like Ice coming in and removing – whatever you want to call it, removing, kidnapping, abducting people from the community – is not going to go down well at all.'
It comes after US President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to California to quell the protests, which began on Friday in downtown LA before spreading. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was 'essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States'.
The decision drew sharp criticism from Democratic politicians, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move 'purposefully inflammatory'. Demonstrators have been protesting the Trump administration's immigration raids, which last month aimed to detain as many as 3,000 people per day.
Despite his injury, Mr Stern says he is eager to return to work. 'I intend, as soon as I am well enough, to get back out there,' he said. 'This is too important and it needs documenting.'
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