Police detained a CNN correspondent and crew reporting on protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, calling into question whether law enforcement has been targeting journalists trying to cover the demonstrations after two other journalists were hit by rubber bullets.
Video of the CNN crew's encounter broadcast by the network on Monday shows correspondent Jason Carroll and a colleague speaking to a Los Angeles police officer who explains that they must leave. The officer said they were not being arrested, given that they are members of the press, but that officers must remove them from the scene. He warned they would be arrested if they returned.
The reporters are seen putting their hands behind their backs before officers escort them away.
Carroll explained later that he was asked to put his hands behind his back. He said officers didn’t put zip ties on him, but did grab both his hands as they escorted him from the area. Police asked for his name and other basic information. When he asked if he was being arrested, they said he was not, but he was being detained.
Members of the press take some risks and this was low on that scale of risks, Carroll said.
“But it is something that I wasn’t expecting, simply because we’ve been out here all day,” he said.
The National Press Club called on Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna to stop targeting, detaining, or obstructing journalists, and to guarantee that journalists can safely report on the demonstrations. It also called on them to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.
“Police cannot pick and choose when the First Amendment applies. Journalists in Los Angeles were not caught in the crossfire — they were targeted,” National Press Club President Mike Balsamo said in a statement. Balsamo is law enforcement news editor for The Associated Press.
On Sunday, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while reporting live, with a microphone in her hand, from protests in downtown Los Angeles. The shooting occurred after a tense afternoon in which the 9News correspondent and her crew were caught between riot police and protesters.
Video of the event shows an officer behind Tomasi suddenly raising a firearm and firing a nonlethal round at close range. Tomasi cries out in pain and clutches her lower leg as she and her cameraman quickly move away from the police line.
Speaking later to 9News, Tomasi confirmed she was safe and unharmed.
“I’m OK, my cameraman Jimmy and I are both safe. This is just one of the unfortunate realities of reporting on these kinds of incidents,” she said.
Meanwhile, a British photographer remained hospitalized Monday after undergoing surgery for a similar strike to the thigh Saturday in Paramount, a city south of Los Angeles.
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