There’s a new court fight brewing over the street fighting in Los Angeles.
Besides California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attempts to use federal courts to stop the president of the United States from exercising authority over the state’s National Guard, an organization representing news media outlets is suing the Los Angeles Police Department for its treatment of journalists attempting to cover the violence.
“Being a journalist in Los Angeles is now a dangerous profession,” the suit claimed — and it blames the police for that.
Press groups sue LAPD over use of force against journalists during protests https://t.co/6VV517lrfj pic.twitter.com/qRd4Z3WdQT
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 17, 2025
According to The Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit was filed by the Los Angeles Press Club and the “progressive, independent” news site Status Coup.
In the suit, the groups claim they want to for “the LAPD to respect the constitutional and statutory rights of journalists engaged in reporting on these protests and inevitable protests to come.”
The violence began over resistance to the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The lawsuit cited a long string of injuries suffered by journalists, reportedly at the hands of the LAPD, including a reporter from Queensland, Australia, who was struck in the leg by a “less lethal” projectile fired by an LAPD officer; a New York Times reporter who claimed she was hit by “crowd-control munitions” fired by police; and a reporter for the liberal website Capital & Main who says he was hit by a “projectile” fired by an LAPD officer.
Does the press have a case here?
Caren Sobel, an attorney representing the news outlets, said the problem is clear, according to the L.A. Times.
“You have people holding up their press credentials saying, ‘I’m press,’ and they still got shot,” she said.
According to the Times, Sobel is a veteran of court fights with the LAPD stemming from George Floyd riots of 2020, which hit Los Angeles just as they hit other major American cities.
She “filed a similar action in the wake of the LAPD’s response to the 2020 protests on behalf of Black Lives Matter-L.A. and others who contended that LAPD caused scores of injuries by firing hard-foam projectiles,” the newspaper reported.
News about the lawsuit did not exactly get a sympathetic response from many social media users.
Lame. Leave the police alone. Ugh. This irritates me beyond belief!
— Cali Sports Mom (@casuburbanmam) June 17, 2025
Nobody invited you over. You assumed all the risk.
— MP (@marvinprd) June 17, 2025
Then stand back when arrest are being conducted. The journalist are soft. Such babies.
— CityGal (@citygal) June 17, 2025
The police department told the Times it does not comment on pending litigation.
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