• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

The Los Angeles Press Club has sued the city of Los Angeles and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell for using excessive force against journalists during the recent anti-ICE protests, claiming, “Being a journalist in Los Angeles is now a dangerous profession.” 

Also suing is Status Coup, an independent investigative reporting network.

The complaint, filed on Monday with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Western Division), states that, “Repeatedly, police subjected reporters to physical force and arrest and prevented reasonable access to observe police activity in public places.”

This alleged force violates California Penal Code Section 13652, which was enacted in the wake of the George Floyd protests, the plaintiffs argue. This law, passed in 2021, prohibits the use of non-lethal kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs) and chemical agents against reporters.

However, “as proven by recent events, the LAPD did not follow the new law,” the complaint states. 

The plaintiffs are calling for injunctive relief that would restrain the LAPD from engaging in such “unlawful and unconstitutional actions,” and an award of attorneys’ fees and the costs of the suit

The complaint charges that the following journalists were assaulted by police: 

• Lauren Tomasi, an Australian journalists, was shot in the back of her leg with a less lethal round by a “riot-clad LAPD officer.”
• Livia Albeck-Ripka was shot in the torso with a KIP by an officer while reporting for the New York Times. 
• Gabriel Ovalle a Channel 5 editor and camera operator, was struck in the abdomen by a KIP. 
• Tina Berg, on assignment for Status Coup, was forcibly removed from multiple locations by the LAPD.