A British journalist was hit by a rubber bullet moments before he was due to go on air as protesters and police clashed in Los Angeles.
Good Morning Britain’s North America Correspondent Noel Phillips found himself in the line of fire while trying to speak to demonstrators opposing immigration raids.
The journalist described how “it felt as though an enormous tonne of bricks had fallen on my arm” as a rubber bullet struck him.
“I realised within 20-30 seconds a rubber bullet had grazed the top layer of my skin and caused a bit of injury,” he later told Good Morning Britain.
“Police don’t appear to care if you’re a journalist, a resident or a protester on the street. Their objective is to get people off.”
The correspondent described how the situation on the ground in Los Angeles was “volatile” with fireworks and flashbangs regularly being heard.
Whilst reporting on the LA riots yesterday morning, our Correspondent @noel_phillips was hit by a rubber bullet.
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 10, 2025
He talks to @susannareid100 and Richard about the unrest that has been unfolding in LA. pic.twitter.com/WeNylgxrFo
Mr Phillips had been due to speak on air 10 minutes after he was shot by the rubber bullet. Similar bullets have been found littered across the streets of LA, he explained.
Protesters and police have been embroiled in violent clashes against the Trump administration’s immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Thousands of California residents blocked off a major road and set self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs in a bid to try and control the crowd.
Donald Trump ordered around 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 marines be deployed following days of unrest, but critics have claimed the US President has been behaving “like a dictator”.
Mr Phillips was not the first journalist to be shot at during the protests. Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg while reporting live on air.
British news photographer Nick Stern had to have emergency surgery after being hit by non-lethal rounds during protests in Los Angeles.
Mr Stern was documenting a stand-off between anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) protesters and police outside a Home Depot in Paramount, a city in LA county and a location known as a hiring spot for day labourers, when a 14mm “sponge bullet” tore into his thigh.
It is the second incident of its kind for Mr Stern, who said he sustained “substantial” bruising after being hit by another live round during the George Floyd protests in 2020.
