An Australian journalist was injured while covering a violent protest in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend, as tensions over immigration enforcement policies under President Donald Trump escalated.
Lauren Tomasi, the U.S. correspondent for Australia’s Nine News, was reporting live near the Metropolitan Detention Center on Sunday, June 8, when the situation took a dangerous turn. What began as a peaceful demonstration quickly unraveled into chaos, with fires breaking out and clashes between protesters and police growing more intense throughout the day.
Tomasi was reporting from 257 E Temple Street when police officers on horseback began dispersing the crowd, firing rubber bullets into the crowd. In the middle of her live coverage, Tomasi was struck by one of those projectiles. The incident was caught on air, and someone near the scene was heard shouting, “You just f**king shot the reporter!”
The incident has raised renewed concerns about press safety during protests in the U.S., particularly as journalists increasingly find themselves in harm’s way while covering civil unrest.