Australian reporter shot with rubber bullet during L.A. protests
Video shows the moment Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was shot with a rubber bullet while covering the L.A. protests. 9News said in a statement that Tomasi and her crew were safe and would 'continue their essential work' covering the events.June 9, 2025
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
3 hours ago
- NBC News
Australian reporter shot with rubber bullet during L.A. protests
Video shows the moment Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was shot with a rubber bullet while covering the L.A. protests. 9News said in a statement that Tomasi and her crew were safe and would 'continue their essential work' covering the 9, 2025
The Herald Scotland
5 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
This is why you should never trust a man with three names
Robinson's 'big lie' was to convince his customers that some of the world's finest teas could be grown, not in Sri Lanka or China, but here in Scotland. Last week Robinson – also known as Thomas O'Brien and Tam O'Braan – was convicted of fraud, after a court heard he imported sacks of bog-standard commercial tea from abroad, and passed it off as exclusive, specialist varieties, grown on his 'plantations' in Perthshire and Dumfries and Galloway. Never trust a man with three names. Read More Among his victims, duped out of almost £600,000, were some of the UK's top hotels and exclusive retailers like Fortnum and Mason. In a world where avoiding being fleeced by ever more audacious and resourceful online scammers has become a daily challenge, nothing is any longer safe or sacred – not even the good old British cuppa. The media is awash with stories of people being left high-and-dry after going along with a plausible story, or an inviting opportunity, only to learn when it is too late that they have been cleaned-out by shadowy and amoral swindlers. Some of the most heart-wrenching examples are of people who lost their pensions or life savings, after being smooth-talked into investing in dubious schemes. Banks are notoriously unsympathetic to people who have willingly handed over their funds to people they have only just met, only to learn that they are not what they seemed. And yet, as we have seen, some of the most suggestible marks for fraudsters and scammers are not pensioners, but large commercial enterprises who really should know better. Among the most watched shows currently streaming is the Netflix documentary The Search for Instagram's Worst Con Artist and the new Apple series, Cider Vinegar. Both tell the story of the disgraced Australian wellness influencer, Belle Gibson, who built a huge online following, and made a fortune, by falsely claiming to have cured her brain cancer through alternative therapies. Gibson rose to fame in 2013 by documenting her fabricated cancer battle on Instagram, gaining more than 200,000 followers. She later launched The Whole Pantry, a wellness app and cookbook, which earned her more than $400,000 AUD. Arguably more shocking than her deception was the way in which large companies lined up to associate themselves with her and her story, seemingly without doing even a modicum of due diligence. Taken in by her tale of courage and survival against-the-odds, Penguin offered her a lucrative book deal, while Apple featured her app on its new watch. Both will have eyed the potential profits to be made in the emerging success of the wellness industry. However, a 2023 study found that many influencers promote unscientific or unrealistic health claims. Speaking to any oncologist worth their salt would have raised alarm bells at Apple and Penguin, given the planet-sized holes in Gibson's story. The hotels and shops where Robinson's teas were sold were doubtless seduced by his claims to have developed a "special biodegradable polymer" that allowed his plants – which had names like White Dalreoch, Scottish Antlers and Highland Green - to grow in half the usual time in the inclement Scottish climate. The court was told it looked like a black bin liner. Prosecutor Joanne Ritchie said: 'When you look at what he was actually doing, the suggestion that this was genuine Scottish tea, or these were Scottish-grown plants, is almost laughable.' Whether it's a sharp-talking fraudster, an eye-catching ad on social media, or a plausible politician promising simple solutions to complicated problems, we seem willing to drop our defences at the first hint of a likely story. The notion that the leaves in your teapot were teased into existence on the drizzly hills of a verdant Perthshire hillside was enough to convince customers to shell-out a hefty premium, even though the liquid didn't taste any different to a cup of Typhoo. Robinson even boasted that tea he had supplied to London's Dorchester Hotel was "the Queen's favourite". Kerching. It's significant that he wasn't rumbled by anyone who had tasted his tea, but rather by trading standards officials who became suspicious when he couldn't produce any import documents. A growing source of fraud is social media adverts posted by companies that don't exist, or which deliver products that are wildly different from what is featured online. One Scottish couple was promised a hot tub for the bargain price of £20, but instead received an inflatable children's rubber ring. Such scams prey on the assumption that most people will be too embarrassed to admit they genuinely believed they would receive a hot tub for such a modest amount, and that they will write-off the loss. Such a lack of critical application extends well beyond online adverts. The phenomenal rise of Reform UK as the country's dominant political force, less than a year after Labour's landslide general election victory, says much about the willingness of voters to entertain the blandishments of false prophets. It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump failed to follow through on his range of promises – to end the Ukraine War, solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict, and bring down the price of eggs – all on the first day of his presidency. And yet, his approval ratings have plummeted, as a result. In our collective desire to improve our lives, we have apparently lost sight of an important maxim, that if a story sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn't . Anyone who took the time to read the tea leaves could have reasoned that Robinson's cha empire was a figment of his creative imagination, and you can put the kettle on for that. Carlos Alba is a journalist, author, and PR consultant at Carlos Alba Media. His latest novel, There's a Problem with Dad, explores the issue of undiagnosed autism among older people
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Aussie reporter breaks her silence on the traumatic moment she was shot by police during LA riots
An Australian news reporter covering the Los Angeles riots has spoken about the terrifying moment she was shot with a rubber bullet fired by a tactical police officer. Lauren Tomasi was reporting on the 'rapidly deteriorating' situation in the famous Californian city on Sunday evening, local time, when she was hit in the leg. 'I'm okay. My cameraman Jimmy and I are both safe,' she said. 'This is just one of the unfortunate realities of reporting on these kinds of incidents.' After addressing the incident, an impressively professional Tomasi then gave an updated report on the unfolding events in the city. 'It has been a really volatile day on the streets of Los Angeles, and I do want to show you the scene here tonight,' she told Nine News. Tomasi revealed she was in downtown Los Angeles, an area that had been cleared out by police. A warning has been issued that 'if anyone moves through here, they will be arrested on the spot'. 'There has been a lot of tempers flaring here today and certainly tonight there is a lot of anger in the city of angels,' she added. Tomasi had been telling viewers that 'the LAPD are moving in on horseback and firing rubber bullets at protesters' when the incident was caught live on air. The US correspondent for Nine said police were 'moving them (protesters) on through the heart of LA' while several loud bangs could be heard in the distance. Moments later a policeman was seen turning his gun towards Tomasi. A cloud of smoke appeared and she doubled over in pain. 'You just f***ing shot a reporter,' a protester yelled at nearby police as several other protesters stopped to ask the journalist if she was okay. Tomasi could be heard yelling back: 'I'm good, I'm good', and Nine confirmed the reporter was 'left sore but otherwise unharmed' by the close-range shot. Greens media and communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said the deliberate shooting of a journalist was shocking and 'must be called out in the strongest terms'. She said the incident must be investigated and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should call Donald Trump and ask for an urgent explanation or speak to him about when the pair meet in coming days. 'Trump is a threat to journalistic freedom and to democratic values and we cannot afford, as Australians, to sit by and see an attack on those values by US authorities shooting at one of our journalists,' senator Hanson-Young said. 'The Prime Minister needs to be very clear here, Australia is not going to stand by and see our journalists attacked for simply doing their job.' Mr Albanese has yet to speak publicly on the incident. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles declined to comment on US immigration policy under Mr Trump, but said he was glad to hear Ms Tomasi was OK. 'At the end of the day, how America operates its own immigration system is really a matter for the United States, and how it manages its own internal law enforcement is a matter for the United States,' he told Sky News. Protesters in the city are marching against President Donald Trump 's crackdown on illegal migrants and raids by ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Horrifying scenes showed cars erupting into flames and emitting toxic gases as rioters chained themselves to furniture and created blockades to grind Downtown Los Angeles to a complete halt as violence stretched into a third day. Trump sent in 2,000 National Guard troops and placed 500 Marines on standby, while the LAPD has authorized the 'use of less lethal munitions' to regain control of the city. The conflict has sparked a war of words between Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who accused him of intentionally inflaming tensions. Trump hit back with a Truth Social post on Sunday demanding both Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass apologise for the LA riots. The president insisted those involved are not 'peaceful protesters' as the duo had claimed, but instead 'troublemakers and insurrectionists.' Earlier in the evening, authorities faced an uphill battle to contain violence on the 101 Freeway, where more than 2,000 protesters commandeered northbound and southbound traffic. Motorists were trapped in standstill traffic as the group marched with flags and signs high above their heads. Officers in nearby Alameda and Temple reported 'people in the crowd are throwing concrete, bottles and other objects.' At least two officers were injured after motorcyclists ploughed through rioters and ran straight over the top of authorities. Both of the riders were detained by police as the officers received treatment from medical personnel on the scene. Elsewhere, officers were reportedly struck by fireworks as they worked to break up a violent crowd. As the riots continue, protesters were also filmed brandishing 3D creations of Trump's severed head on a pole. At the Los Angeles City Hall, authorities on horseback were locked in a tense standoff with even more demonstrators, sparking fears from local law enforcement officers that they were in for a 'rough night.' Further arrests were made throughout the Civic Center area of Downtown LA.
