Latest news with #SeanBeckner-Carmitchel
USA Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Press groups accuse LAPD of violating judge's ban on targeting journalists covering protests
Press groups are accusing Los Angeles and its police department of violating a court order by striking journalists with batons and arresting them as they reported on an Aug. 8 protest. The Aug. 13 complaint, filed by the First Amendment Coalition and attorneys representing the Los Angeles Press Club and the independent media outlet Status Coup, said the department's actions on Aug. 8 showed a 'blatant disregard for the First Amendment' and a restraining order the court issued in July. USA TODAY reached out to the city and the police department for comment and had not yet received a response by publication. The groups are suing the city and the LAPD over the treatment of journalists covering protests surrounding federal immigration enforcement. The restraining order, which was initially set for two weeks but later extended, said the department couldn't use less-lethal munitions against journalists who aren't posing a threat, bar a journalist from entering or remaining in closed areas, assault or obstruct journalists, or arrest journalists in a closed area for violating curfew orders, obstructing law enforcement officers or not dispersing while 'gathering, receiving or processing information.' The contempt motion alleges LAPD officers violated that order during what they described as a 'peaceful' immigration protest on Aug. 8. The officers formed a line and started moving toward the protesters around 9 p.m., the complaint said. 'Then, with no warning and no dispersal order, the officers started shouting 'move back' as they quickly advanced, shoving the assembled group and striking them with batons,' it said. There was subsequently no place for journalists to work 'without being assaulted by the LAPD,' the groups argued in their new court filing. Those who insisted they had a right to be there were 'ignored' or 'told ... to wait,' the complaint said. Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a freelance journalist who was also injured while covering an immigration protest in June, asked to talk to a department supervisor or spokesperson and was told to move back. Upon repeating his request, 'an LAPD officer shoved him and hit him in the ribs with a baton, causing bruising and pain,' according to the complaint. Beckner-Carmitchel continued to ask, in line with directions in the court's order, to speak to a supervisor. 'The response was blank stares except for one officer who responded: 'That's not important right now,'' the complaint said. After a dispersal order was issued, the department arrested the approximately 20 remaining protesters and journalists. Officers put the group in zip-ties and 'held them against the wall for more than an hour,' the complaint said. Photojournalist Nicholas Stern was also 'struck in the face' and independent journalist Tina Berg was hit with a baton in an incident that 'ripped open the distal phalanx" of her little finger, according to the complaint. Most journalists were released at the scene, but two – Nate Gowdy and Carrie Shreck – were taken to a jail near downtown Los Angeles, the complaint said. Among other requests, the complaint asks the judge to find the defendants to be in contempt of court and modify its previous orders to 'expressly encompass use of batons and any other type of force.' A group of press and civil liberties groups also sued the Department of Homeland Security and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in June over what they described as federal officers' unconstitutional actions against journalists in Los Angeles. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Aug. 25. BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@ USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
A judge restricted LAPD's use of force. Then journalists were beaten with batons
Less than a month after a temporary restraining order restricted the use of force by L.A. police on journalists covering protests, three reporters left an immigration demonstration bruised and bloody after being struck by officers' batons. Among them was Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, an L.A. Press Club member, who experienced heavy bruising on his left ribs that doctors said indicated a probable fracture after he was repeatedly jabbed by a baton while documenting an Aug. 8 protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. 'I think that this is another in a long line of LAPD refusing to obey even the most basic elements of the 1st Amendment,' he said. 'The TRO [temporary restraining order] was designed specifically to prevent this exact situation, and I think it is extremely likely they are in contempt of a federal judge's order.' Earlier this summer, the L.A. Press Club and investigative reporting network Status Coup filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department to protect journalists' 1st Amendment rights in light of numerous injuries suffered by members of the press during immigration protests. On July 10, a federal judge granted a TRO that blocks Los Angeles police officers from using rubber projectiles and other so-called less-lethal munitions against reporters covering protests. It also forbids officers from intentionally assaulting a journalist who is gathering information at a protest or preventing a journalist from being in protest areas that have been closed off to the public. Now the plaintiffs allege that the LAPD violated the TRO during the Aug. 8 protest when at least three journalists were injured by police batons and two reporters were detained. On Wednesday, they filed a contempt motion asking a federal judge to further restrict L.A. police use of force against journalists. 'We've asked the judge to set a hearing on the contempt motion and hopefully tell them, 'When I said you couldn't shoot them, I didn't think I also had to tell you you couldn't beat them,'' said the plaintiffs' attorney, Carol Sobel. The LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the contempt motion. In response to the initial TRO, L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement 'The LAPD trains our officers to identify and respect working journalists during protests and we remain committed to protecting the rights of the press.' The contempt motion includes photos and videos of injuries suffered by Beckner-Carmitchel, photojournalist Nick Stern and Status Coup reporter Tina Berg. Stern can be seen in a video being hit by an officer's baton while displaying his press credentials, suffering a cut to his chin that then bled onto his pass. Berg was shoved by officers and suffered a deep cut to her hand — also while wearing press credentials. 'When people held up their press credentials and they slam them with batons, that violated the court's injunction, that violated the court's decision, that violated state law,' said Sobel. The motion further alleges that police violated the TRO on Aug. 8 by detaining and zip-tying reporters for one to two hours and ultimately transporting two photojournalists to LAPD detention facilities at Temple and Los Angeles streets. Journalists' request to speak to a supervisor or public information officer about their treatment was denied, the motion alleges. 'Defendants' actions evince a blatant disregard for the First Amendment and an unwillingness or an inability or both on the part of the City to take steps necessary to ensure compliance with this Court's Injunction,' states the motion. The plaintiffs are asking the judge to update the TRO to 'expressly encompass' the use of batons and any other type of force. They are also asking that the LAPD have a designated liaison from the office of operations at every protest. The Los Angeles Police Department has a long history of violating reporters' rights while they are covering protests. The initial lawsuit complaint detailed extensive lacerations, bruises and severe injuries reporters suffered from less-lethal munitions while covering immigration protests in June. Earlier this month, the city of L.A. tentatively agreed to pay $500,000 to two Knock LA journalists who claim their constitutional rights were violated when police arrested them at a 2021 protest in Echo Park. The city has previously paid out millions of dollars in settlements and jury awards related to lawsuits brought by reporters and demonstrators who were injured by law enforcement during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Times staff writer Libor Jany contributed to this report.
