A British photographer was forced to undergo emergency surgery after being shot by police in Los Angeles while taking pictures of the anti-ICE protests currently gripping the US.
Nick Stern, 60, from Hertford, had been snapping images of a stand-off between protestors and armed police in the Californian city when a 14mm ‘sponge bullet’ pierced his thigh.
The photographer, who emigrated to the US in 2007, had rushed to the area following reports that protests had broken out in response to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement mobilising large raid operations in the city’s Paramount area.
Mr Stern said he had been ‘making a point as making myself visible as media’ before the bullet struck him and plunged him into a state of unconsciousness.
‘I felt this horrific shooting pain impacting my leg. I felt down immediately and felt this large lump … protesters came to help and I was just saying, “Sit me down, sit me down”… then I blacked out’, he told The Times.
When he first arrived at the scene, the 60-year-old said he was surprised to see how quickly things had ‘escalated’.
He recalled witnessing ‘a car on fire’ and a Black Hawk military helicopter which he says was ‘dropping off ammo for ICE, boxes and boxes of it’.
Mr Stern told how officers on the ground were armed with ‘less-lethal’ weapons such as stun-grenades, which are typically used when deadly force is actively being avoided.
Nick Stern (above) had been snapping images of a stand-off between protestors and armed police in the Californian city when a 14mm ‘sponge bullet’ pierced his thigh
Mr Stern said: ‘I felt this horrific shooting pain impacting my leg. I felt down immediately and felt this large lump … protesters came to help and I was just saying, “Sit me down, sit me down”… then I blacked out’
The photographer had rushed to the area following reports that protests had broken out in response to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement mobilising large raid operations in the city’s Paramount area
At one point, the photographer even picked up a round labelled an ‘exact impact’ 40mm sponge bullet, which although is shot from a rifle, consists of a plastic body and sponge nose.
But the 60-year-old, who was previously injured while covering Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, said yesterday’s sponge bullet impact felt ‘different’.
He said protestors helped him to a nearby kerb after he was hit. He was then assisted by medics who cut a hole in his trousers to reveal a ‘giant hole’ in his leg.
‘The next thing I remember I was waking up and someone was pouring juice into my mouth,’ Mr Stern continued.
He was rushed to Long Beach Memorial Hospital where he received X-ray examinations and scans which revealed the gashes on his leg to be ’40mm wide and 60mm long’.
And after the National Guard arrived in Los Angeles today, Mr Stern said he fears what could happen over the coming days.
Mr Stern said protestors helped him to a nearby kerb after the impact, where he was assisted by medics who cut a hole in his trousers to reveal a ‘giant hole’ in his leg
After the National Guard arrived in Los Angeles today, Mr Stern said he fears what could happen over the coming days
A law enforcement officer works to put out a fire during a protest in Compton, California, Saturday, June 7
A car burns in flames following multiple detentions by ICE in the Los Angeles County city of Compton on June 7
He added: ‘I feel it’s going to get worse before it gets better … I wouldn’t be surprised if they start firing live rounds over people’s heads next.’
Throughout the day, images have emerged of troops on the ground in the downtown area of the city ahead of an expected demonstration near City Hall.
President Donald Trump said he was deploying 2,000 troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests which he labelled ‘a form of rebellion.’
But the protestors believe that Trump’s raids, which last month sought to arrest 3,000 immigrants per day, have gone too far.
The National Guard’s arrival follows days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount and neighboring Compton.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had warned on Saturday that ‘active duty Marines’ were on ‘high alert’ as the riots created havoc on the streets.
On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would ‘keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order.’
