Australian PM blasts targeting of journalist in LA unrest
Australia's prime minister on Tuesday denounced the 'horrific' shooting of a rubber bullet at an Australian television reporter covering unrest in Los Angeles.
Australian 9News reporter Lauren Tomasi was hit in the leg by a rubber bullet on Sunday while reporting on live television. Her employer said she was sore but unharmed.
'She is going ok. She is pretty resilient, I have got to say, but that footage was horrific,' Albanese told reporters after speaking to Tomasi.
Albanese said the reporter could reasonably have expected not to be 'targeted' with a rubber bullet while doing her job in Los Angeles.
The footage showed she was 'clearly identified' as a member of the media, with 'no ambiguity,' he said.
'We don't find it acceptable that it occurred, and we think the role of the media is particularly important.'
Albanese said his government had raised the incident with the US administration but he would not comment on any future discussion with US President Donald Trump.
Trump ordered 700 US Marines and 2,000 more National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Monday after days of street protests sparked by dozens of immigration arrests.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
38 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Nighttime curfew in protest-hit LA as Trump vows to ‘liberate' city
A nighttime curfew was in force in Los Angeles on Tuesday as local officials sought to get a handle on protests that Donald Trump claimed were an invasion by a 'foreign enemy.' Looting and vandalism have scarred the heart of America's second-biggest city as largely peaceful protests over immigration arrests turned ugly after dark. 'I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting,' Mayor Karen Bass told reporters. One square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of the city's more than 500-square-mile area will be off-limits until 6:00 am (1300 GMT) for everyone apart from residents, journalists, and emergency services, she added. One protester told AFP that the arrest of migrants in a city with large foreign-born and Latino populations was the root of the unrest. 'I think that obviously they're doing it for safety,' she said of the curfew. 'But I don't think that part of the problem is the peaceful protests. It's whatever else is happening on the other side that is inciting violence.' Small-scale and largely peaceful protests — marred by eye-catching acts of violence — began Friday in Los Angeles as anger swelled over ramped-up arrests by immigration authorities. At their largest, a few thousand people have taken to the streets, but smaller mobs have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti, and smash windows. Overnight Monday, 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested over recent days. Protests have also sprung up in cities around the country, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco. 'Provide protection' Trump has ordered 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he claims is a necessary escalation to take back control — despite the insistence of local law enforcement that they can handle matters. A military spokeswoman said the soldiers were expected to be on the streets later Tuesday or sometime on Wednesday. Their mission will be to guard federal facilities and to accompany 'federal officers in immigration enforcement operations in order to provide protection.' Demonstrators told AFP the soldiers 'should be respected' because they hadn't chosen to be in LA, but Lisa Orman blasted the move as 'ridiculous.' 'I was here for the Dodger parade,' she said, referring to the LA team's World Series victory. 'It was 100 times bigger. So the idea that the Marines [are] here — it's a big show. The president wants a big show.' The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers $134 million. Photographs issued by the Marine Corps showed men in combat fatigues using riot shields to practice crowd control techniques at the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. 'Behaving like a tyrant' Two dozen miles (40 kilometers) north, the sprawling city of Los Angeles spent the day much as it usually does: tourists thronged Hollywood Boulevard, tens of thousands of children went to school, and commuter traffic choked the streets. But at a military base in North Carolina, Trump was painting a much darker picture. 'What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and national sovereignty,' he told troops at Fort Bragg. 'This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.' California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has clashed with the president before, said Trump's shock militarization of the city was the behavior of 'a tyrant, not a president.' 'Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy,' he said. In a live-streamed address, Newsom called Trump a 'president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American tradition. 'California may be first, but it clearly will not end here.' In a filing to the US District Court in Northern California, Newsom asked for an injunction preventing the use of troops for policing. 'Incredibly rare' Trump's use of the military is an 'incredibly rare' move for a US president, Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and a former US Air Force lieutenant colonel, told AFP. US law largely prevents the use of the military as a policing force — absent the declaration of an insurrection, which Trump again mused about on Tuesday. Trump 'is trying to use emergency declarations to justify bringing in first the National Guard and then mobilizing Marines,' said law professor Frank Bowman of the University of Missouri.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump deploys Marines as tensions rise over Los Angeles protests
President Donald Trump ordered active-duty US Marines and 2,000 more National Guard troops into Los Angeles on Monday, vowing those protesting immigration arrests would be 'hit harder' than ever. The extraordinary mobilization of 700 full-time professional military personnel — and thousands of National Guard troops — looked likely to stoke tensions in a city with a huge Latino population. California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed the move as 'deranged.' 'US Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defense of democracy,' Newsom posted on X. 'They shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president. This is un-American.' The deployment came after demonstrators took over streets in downtown LA on Sunday, torching cars and looting stores in ugly scenes that saw law enforcement responding with tear gas and rubber bullets. The people 'causing the problems are professional agitators and insurrectionists,' Trump told reporters in Washington. On social media, he said protesters spat at troops and if they continued to do so, 'I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated!' One small business owner whose property was graffitied was supportive of the strongarm tactics. 'I think it's needed to stop the vandalism,' she told AFP, declining to give her name. 'Everybody has the right to protest, but do it the right way. Don't vandalize or hurt your own town because you're hurting people that are trying to make a living.' Others were horrified. 'They're meant to be protecting us, but instead, they're like, being sent to attack us,' Kelly Diemer, 47, told AFP. 'This is not a democracy anymore.' A fourth day of protest triggered by dozens of arrests of what authorities said were illegal migrants and gang members unfolded peacefully Monday. 'Pigs go home!' demonstrators shouted at National Guardsmen outside a federal detention center. Others banged on the sides of unmarked vehicles as they passed through police containment lines. A scuffle broke out in the crowd, with one man other protesters said was a Trump supporter being expelled. 'He was basically aggravating people trying to start a fight, which kind of worked. Then everyone started chasing him away,' an 18-year-old woman told AFP, declining to give her name. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said local authorities were able to control the city. 'We have decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to be able to do so professionally and effectively,' he told reporters. 'The introduction of federal, military personnel without direct coordination creates logistical challenges and risks confusion during critical incidents.' Despite isolated and eye-catching acts of violence, which included the torching of several Waymo cars on Sunday, officials and local law enforcement stressed the majority of protesters over the weekend had been peaceful. Schools across Los Angeles were operating normally on Monday, while the rhythms of life in the sprawling city appeared largely unchanged. Mayor Karen Bass said in contrast to Trump's rhetoric, 'this is isolated to a few streets. This is not citywide civil unrest.' At least 56 people were arrested over two days and five officers suffered minor injuries, Los Angeles Police Department officials said, while about 60 people were arrested in protests in San Francisco. Trump's use of the military — which he repeatedly threatened to do while campaigning for the White House — marked a significant break from modern American political practice. The National Guard has not been deployed over the head of a state governor since 1965 at the height of the civil rights movement. US law largely prevents the use of the military as a policing force on home soil absent an insurrection. The Pentagon said late Monday Trump had authorized an extra 2,000 Guardsmen. There were questions over how well prepared the National Guard had been for its sudden deployment, with pictures obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle appearing to show Guardsmen sleeping on the floor of what the paper said was a federal building. 'No federal funding available for food, water, fuel and lodging,' the source of the photos told the paper. 'This is really the failure of the federal government. If you're going to federalize these troops, then take care of them.'
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Pakistani man who allegedly plotted US attack linked to ISIS extradited from Canada
A Pakistani man was extradited from Canada to the United States on Tuesday to face charges of plotting an attack targeting Jews in New York City, the Justice Department said. Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested in Canada in September. According to a criminal complaint, Khan planned to travel to New York and carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish center in Brooklyn on the October 7 anniversary of the deadly 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. 'He planned to use automatic weapons to kill as many members of our Jewish community as possible, all in support of ISIS,' US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. Khan allegedly disclosed his plans during conversations with conspirators who were actually undercover law enforcement officers, according to the Justice Department. He was taken into custody by Canadian authorities in the municipality of Ormstown, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the US-Canada border. Khan is charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to commit acts of terrorism. He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
