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LAPD to Reporters and Photojournalists: Shut Up and Bleed [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-06-18
In LA, Police Are Shooting the Messenger
During the current Los Angeles protests against ICE immigration raids and the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles, journalists and photographers are reporting that they are being deliberately targeted by law enforcement. The Associated Press reported that by June 10, over two-dozen journalists had been arrested or "roughed up" by law enforcement. The Los Angeles Press Club documented more than 30 incidents affecting reporters, including shootings with rubber bullets and tear gas attacks .
The Closer to the Edge Substack is keeping a close eye on reporters being targeted by the LA Police. On June 13, Closer to the Edge noted that, “in the middle of [the protests are] journalists. Walking. Filming. Getting hit. Again. Because it turns out nothing makes you a bigger threat to authoritarian theater than a working microphone and a record button.”
In its report headlined Don’t Shoot the Messenger: It’s Time for a Law That Protects Journalists From Rubber Bullets, Closer to the Edge pointed out that “In America, you can shoot a journalist in the face with a rubber bullet and be home by dinner. No charges. No suspension. No real consequences. Just another "use of force" report buried under jargon about “non-lethal dispersal tactics.” And this week, in Los Angeles, it happened again. Rubber bullets flew through downtown like warnings, thudding into bodies, breaking skin, scattering peaceful crowds, and once again threatening the people holding cameras just for being too close to the truth. This isn’t crowd control. It’s message control. And the message is this: Shut up or bleed.”
Attacking reporters and photographers is not a new phenomenon. Over the years, police departments in the U.S. have increasingly been targeting journalists and photographers during protests, with incidents escalating notably during the 2020 George Floyd protests and continuing into 2025. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented over 100 arrests and 114 physical attacks on journalists during this period.
David Weir, longtime journalist and co-founder of the Center for Investigative Reporting (
https://davidweir.substack.com) told me that “The reports from L.A. of police attacking reporters and photographers are a reminder that authoritarian regimes have always targeted journalists in an attempt to suppress the truth and silence those who seek to inform the public.
“Trump has long labeled journalists the ‘enemy of the people.’ He is using the protests against his cruel deportation policies as an excuse to go after the press. There have always been a few bad actors among the local police departments like in L.A., and now they may well feel emboldened to attack journalists because they know Trump encourages such behavior and will pardon offenders when he can. We must all stand up to this corrupt abuse of power.”
Closer to the Edge went on to note that “Let’s stop pretending this is accidental. There is no law in this country that makes it a crime to shoot a clearly marked journalist with a rubber bullet. There is no enhanced penalty, no felony charge, no independent oversight. You can wear a vest that says PRESS in letters big enough to be seen from orbit, hold your credentials high, shout ‘Media!’ — and if the wrong officer decides you look too curious, you can still be shot, and nothing will happen. To them.”
In an email, David Bacon, co-chair, Guild Freelancers, Pacific Media Workers Guild, CWA Local 39521, AFL-CIO-CLC, said that, “Journalists in Los Angeles are courageously covering the de-facto imposition of martial law in the streets, both people working on media staff and freelancers often with little institutional support. The LAPD has treated them as the enemy, shooting them while they bring to public attention the beating of people participating in the legitimate protests of inhuman immigration raids.”
Bacon, who has spent decades covering labor issues, immigration, and the impact of the global economy on workers (
https://dbacon.igc.org/) pointed out that “Journalists have the right to cover these vents. They are serving the people's interests in doing this. Yet despite the city's sanctuary status and the policy prohibiting police from cooperating with ICE and federal immigration enforcement, the LAPD is doing the Trump administration's dirty work for them. This has to stop. The federal government must stop its efforts to detain and deport immigrants and their families, withdraw the National Guard and Marines, and abandon its military tactics. The LAPD must protect the people of LA from these illegitimate actions, and end its brutality against demonstrators and journalists. And we the people, including journalists and our unions, have to speak out and act to force an end to this violence.”
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