World reacts after LA police shoot Aussie journalist with rubber bullet

News.com.au

6 hours ago

Footage of the moment an Australian reporter was shot by an LA police officer has drawn condemnation across the world and become a flashpoint for groups concerned about press freedom in the US.
Nine's US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet during a live cross amid the tense scenes in downtown Los Angeles.
She has already returned to work, saying she was 'a bit sore, but I'm okay' and vowing to 'keep on telling the stories that need to be told'.
News of the shooting on Monday morning Sydney time, was carried on major international outlets including the BBC, The Independent, CBS, NBC and USA Today.
Channel Nine's footage of the incident, which appears to show an officer taking aim at Tomasi before firing, has also gone viral around the world on social media.
'The police fired rubber bullets at Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi while she was reporting live from Los Angeles today,' Republicans Against Trump wrote on an X post which drew almost nine million views.
'Appalling and unjustified.'
It was also shared by entertainment publication Pop Crave gaining 13.4 million views on X by Tuesday morning, AEST.
More than six million people viewed the footage OSINTdefender's X page, which monitors open-source intelligence from conflicts in Europe.
Notorious hacker group Anonymous also shared vision of the incident to its five million X followers, drawing 460,000 views.
Anti-Trump X page The Tennessee Holler was among the first international X accounts to publish the footage, racking up more than 223,000 views on its post.
The boss of US-based media research organisation Digital Conext Next, Jason Kint, praised Tomasi's quick return to work and commitment to 'bringing facts on the ground to her audience'.
'Remarkable,' he said.
'Grateful for a free and plural press. And yes, it at least appeared an intentional shot. Chilling.'
Freedom of the Press, a New York-based advocacy group, wrote on X that 'this sure doesn't look like an accident'.
'@LAPDHQ needs to investigate and take action immediately.'
British photographer Nick Stern also required emergency surgery after being hit by a nonlethal round while covering the protest in the city of Paramount, Los Angeles County.
Freedom of the Press has joined with other organisations in writing to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to 'express alarm that federal officers may ave violated First Amendment rights of journalists covering recent protests'.
'In some cases, federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news,' the open letter states.
Leona O'Neill, an author and head of journalism at Ulster University, spoke out about the incident, citing parallels to police clashes in her homeland.
'This is utterly disgraceful. Here in Northern Ireland we know exactly the damage rubber bullets can do,' she wrote.
'Attacking the media is abhorrent. Sending solidarity to @LaurenTomasi.'
Tomasi's colleague at Channel 9, Today host Karl Stefanovic on Tuesday demanded an investigation into why she was targeted.
'We don't know what threat was so imminent it required a cop to discharge his weapon on a reporter or whether he meant to shoot her, but it sure looks like that to me,' he said in a monologue.
'The incident was maybe one of three things: a moment where an LA officer so thought his life was in danger, he needed to discharge his weapon, an incompetent warning shot, or the act of a coward.
'Either way, it needs to be properly investigated.'
Stefanovic urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to speak with Donald Trump about the incident at their upcoming meeting, which is expected to take place this month.
'I get that it's dangerous to cops, to what's happened to them in the line of duty, and the position they are in is horrendous,' he said.
'But how is it OK for your police force to be firing at unarmed Australian journalists?
'If Albo is looking for a place to start with Donald Trump, this is it.'