Journalist’s lawsuit alleges LAPD officer targeted, attacked her at anti-ICE protest

Attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are representing Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi in a new federal lawsuit that alleges a Los Angeles Police Department officer targeted and deliberately retaliated against Tomasi by shooting her with a rubber bullet while she was reporting live from last year’s protests against federal immigration raids in Los Angeles.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, seeks damages for the attack, which it says was a result of the LAPD’s “pervasive and longstanding” practice of targeting and using excessive force against journalists. It alleges the shooting violated Tomasi’s rights under the U.S. Constitution, California Constitution, and state law.

“Journalists must be able to do their job,” said Tomasi, a U.S.-based reporter for Australian news network Channel Nine. “A free and independent press is a cornerstone of democracy. I deeply believe in the role and responsibility of journalists to report the truth, even in difficult environments, but no one should face harm or intimidation for doing their job.”

Tomasi is represented by Reporters Committee attorneys Renee Griffin, Grayson Clary, and Adam Marshall, as well as attorneys Jean-Paul Jassy and Amanda Harris of the law firm Jassy Vick Carolan LLP.

The June 8, 2025, attack on Tomasi sparked outrage among journalists and press freedom advocates across the world. A viral video of the incident released by Channel Nine shows Tomasi, microphone in hand, filming a live news report when a police officer behind her points his weapon at her and fires a projectile that strikes her in the leg. Tomasi cries out in pain and limps away.

According to the lawsuit, the shooting caused serious harm to Tomasi’s physical and emotional well-being. 

“The assault on Ms. Tomasi was, unfortunately, not an anomaly,” the lawsuit argues, citing examples going back decades of LAPD officers targeting and using excessive force against reporters who were doing their jobs at protests. The lawsuit states this practice reached its zenith during the June 2025 protests against U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in downtown Los Angeles, during which at least five journalists in addition to Tomasi were injured by LAPD officers. 

The Reporters Committee has urged federal, state, and local officials to ensure that authorities responding to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles and elsewhere are properly trained on journalists’ right to report on law enforcement activity. 

Last year, shortly after Tomasi was shot by police, the Reporters Committee led a coalition of 60 news and press freedom organizations in sending a letter to authorities that expressed concern about “multiple reports of journalists being injured and detained while covering the protests in Los Angeles, including reports of possible targeting” and that highlighted best practices for interactions between press and law enforcement at mass demonstrations. 

Attacks on journalists reporting on protests deprives the public of valuable information on newsworthy events, the Reporters Committee has argued. Reporters Committee attorneys have previously helped journalists successfully sue after law enforcement officers used violence against them in retaliation for their lawful newsgathering. 

In 2023, Josie Huang, a reporter for NPR member station LAist 89.3, reached a historic $700,000 settlement agreement with Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department related to her violent and unlawful arrest while covering a protest in 2020. Attorneys from the Reporters Committee and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP represented Huang.

After Huang’s detention, California state lawmakers passed legislation that protects journalists’ rights to cover demonstrations. But Tomasi’s lawsuit argues that law enforcement officers have continued to interfere with members of the press in Los Angeles despite the 2021 law. The lawsuit asks the court to award Tomasi damages and attorneys’ fees.