USA Today

06/11/2025

A host of press freedom and civil rights organizations are warning the Department of Homeland Security that federal officers “may have violated the First Amendment rights” of journalists covering protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles.

In a June 9 letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, more than two dozen organizations expressed alarm over how the events have unfolded.

“The press plays an essential role in our democracy as the public’s eyes and ears,” wrote the groups, led by the First Amendment Coalition, Freedom of the Press Foundation and Los Angeles Press Club. “The timely reporting of breaking news is necessary to provide the public with complete information, especially about controversial events.”

Others signing the letter include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Reporters Without Borders, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and several unions representing journalists.

“A number of reports suggest that federal officers have indiscriminately used force or deployed munitions such as tear gas or pepper balls that caused significant injuries to journalists,” the letter said. “In some cases, federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news.”

The Los Angeles Press Club has documented at least 30 cases of journalists being injured while covering the protests. Several of those incidents were caught on camera. New York Post photographer Toby Canham was shot in the head with a rubber bullet, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was hit in the leg and Los Angeles Police Department officers detained CNN correspondent Jason Carroll. The LAPD and the California Highway Patrol have not responded to USA TODAY’s request for comment on the injuries.