Judge rules Los Angeles police can't use nonlethal weapons against journalists

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Politico

07/11/2025 01:46 PM EDT
Updated: 07/11/2025 04:25 PM EDT


A federal judge ruled Los Angeles police cannot force journalists out of protest areas or use nonlethal weapons against them after reporters alleged officers targeted them during anti-ICE demonstrations last month.

U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera granted the Los Angeles Press Club’s request for a 14-day restraining order against the city’s police department after the group said it documented dozens of incidents in which officers forced reporters away from public spaces where protests were taking place, hit them with rubber bullets and nonlethal weapons and exposed them to tear gas.

Vera’s ruling is an emergency order giving the court more time to consider whether to grant a longer-term block. It prohibits Los Angeles police from keeping journalists out of closed areas, assaulting or obstructing those in the process of news gathering, arresting those in closed areas and using nonlethal weapons against reporters.

“When journalists persisted in documenting the protests, it appears from the evidence presented that they faced an onslaught of projectiles and other shows of physical force,” Vera’s ruling said. “On some occasions, LAPD officers purportedly targeted individuals who were clearly identifiable as members of the press.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/11/lapd-weapons-journalists-00448476

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Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511/gov.uscourts.cacd.974511.44.0.pdf

REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143483223

[hurple]

1. Great...

So lethal weapons only, then?

[Klondike Kat]

17. That was my first thought, too

N/T

[Faux pas]

20. That was my first thought

and you know all the magat "law" enforcement assholes well take it that way.

[Irish_Dem]

2. So how does the judge enforce this?

[TomSlick]

10. If an officer or agency can be identified, they can be jailed for contempt.

The problem is that LLMs don't come with names of the shooter.

[Irish_Dem]

11. That's why they are all wearing masks with no ID.

Judge cannot go after them.

[TomSlick]

13. The order is against the LAPD - not the ICEstappo.

I find it odd that the LAPD chief didn't put a stop to this without a court order.

[Irish_Dem]

14. Duh thanks Tom. I wrongly assumed we were talking about ICE.

We can well ask ourselves why the local police in more that one jurisdiction have not
challenged ICE. And in some cases, helped them carry out illegal activities.

[TomSlick]

15. No worries. You made a reasonable assumption.

It is unbelievable that the LOS ANGLES police are doing this.

[Irish_Dem]

16. Yes they know it is against the law, rules, constitution?

It is assault. Attempted murder.

Perhaps they get caught up in ICE brutality and ruthlessness.

Like in the Stanford Prison Experiments.
People descend into brutality and violence quickly when those around them are doing it
and condoning it.

Yes but where the hell is the supervision? What are the higher ranking police officers
and captain?

[tonkatoy8888]

3. Do we really

live in a country where it takes a court order to stop a major metropolitan police department from shooting reporters with rubber bullets and gassing them?

I guess we do.

Silly me, I assumed every police officer in the US was given a heads up about protected speech.

Guess not.

Almost proves my contention that there is hardly any situation that the insertion of police doesn't make said situation worse.

[wolfie001]

4. Those nazi pigs should be in jail for doing that

And I do mean nazi pigs!

[AntiFascist]

5. Keep suing their asses when they do...LAPD has big pockets. n/t

Last edited Fri Jul 11, 2025, 07:42 PM - Edit history (1)

[BumRushDaShow]

6. This was a suit against them

for doing it!

[Buddyzbuddy]

7. It shouldn't take a court order. Where in the hell is the Chief?

He's either complicit in allowing the force to use such tactics against the press and legal protests or he's too weak for them to listen to him. Either way he needs to issue new orders or start looking for another job.

[Marthe48]

8. The biggest shock is that this is a report from the U.S.A.

My own country, where I thought I wouldn't live to see the day.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. This kind of thing happened during the BLM protests

along with the use of tear gas, flash bangs, pepper spray, and yes, even rubber bullets.

But because that happened during the pandemic, there was that "pandemic overlay".

[Marthe48]

12. I don't support the cops or thugs in these situations

They get savage faster than the crowds do.

[Passages]

18. Score 1 for the pathetic USA. You can see how they're enjoying being fascists thugs.

“On some occasions, LAPD officers purportedly targeted individuals who were clearly identifiable as members of the press.”

[Martin68]

19. Good news.