"Lawsuits after ICE raids and No Kings march say officers targeted reporters, raising alarms about press freedom even in states with strong protections"
"A tear gas canister to the knee sent one journalist to the hospital for minor surgery. A ricocheted rubber bullet struck another in the thigh. A third was hit by a pepper ball in the leg, and later struck in the head with a separate projectile, leaving her with a diagnosed concussion. A fourth journalist took shrapnel from a “less lethal” munition to the leg, requiring hospitalization and expected to face months of recovery.
All wore clearly marked press credentials while covering June protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across Los Angeles. Their injuries are just a few among more than 50 incidents detailed in two sweeping federal lawsuits that accuse the LAPD and LA County Sheriff’s Department of systematically targeting journalists.
The legal fight crystallizes mounting alarm over the safety of journalists during civil unrest nationwide. Filed by the Los Angeles Press Club along with independent news outlets Status Coup and The Southlander, the lawsuits claim violations of both the U.S. Constitution and California’s press freedom laws — including Penal Code §409.7 and §13652(b)(6). These statutes, widely seen as among the more progressive journalist protections in the country, were enacted as corrective measures after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, when police were documented harassing, injuring, and arresting journalists covering demonstrations."
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