Documented LAPD Violence Against Reporters Triggers Investigation

LOS ANGELES, CA — Tina-Desiree Berg was looking for a better camera angle to film a nearby arrest at Friday's abortion rights demonstration when she was hit in the head by an officer, video from the scene shows. She grabbed a railing to break her fall when another officer came in and threw her to the ground.

“You’ve got to learn,” the Los Angeles police officer tells Berg after she stands back up to show him the big, bright yellow press badge that was already hanging around her neck.

She had made an effort to stay a safe distance from the arrest, staying mostly by a railing on the sidewalk.

“We’re trying to protect you,” he tells her as onlookers continue to scream, "she’s a journalist!"

The moment is captured by six different camera angles by other reporters and onlookers.

Friday night was a turning point for Berg — no more protests without full protective gear.

The incident was one of at least seven police assaults of journalists at Friday's protest following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker alleges. Three journalists were detained. All seven incidents are documented on the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker's website and on Twitter.

The organization expects to log as many as 15 reports of press assaults and detentions across the country from this past weekend alone, according to Kirstin McCudden, Freedom of the Press Foundation's Vice President of Editorial.

The Los Angeles Police Department will investigate 10 incidents of denied access and force used against members of the media, according to Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore.

It's a troubling trend for First Amendment advocates.

"At the end of the day, if they're willing to treat press like that with everything being recorded, what does that say about what could be happening in instances where they're not being recorded. That's why the press needs to be there," said Adam Rose, chair of the press rights committee for the Los Angeles Press Club.

Reporters also documented police pushing protesters to the ground and hitting them with batons on Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles. Two protesters were injured during their arrests, according to Moore.

The Los Angeles Police Department consolidated complaints into seven instances and opened investigations into baton strikes, use of less than lethal munitions and open hand pushes, Moore said.

Friday’s events in Los Angeles were a result of more than a 20-year history between Los Angeles police and press at demonstrations, said the press club's Rose.

“The press are out there not just to record themselves, this is about the larger issues in play,” Rose said.

“We’ve seen video after video where they’re acting professional and just trying to do not only a job but a job that is fundamental to the public’s ability to be informed about the protests, about the police’s clearing of the protests, about any number of things,” Rose said. “All of this, contextually, is about the right to be informed of these other, even larger issues."

A Shift In Tone

L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray said he knew the evening was going to be brutal the moment he was first pushed by an officer. Protests in Downtown Los Angeles had begun at 12 p.m. Friday, and by 7 p.m. the crowd had grown to more than 1,000 people.

As the protest died down, a group of protesters splintered off from the larger group and started moving toward the Hollywood (101) Freeway. This is when things started to escalate, Ray said. Shortly after, he and documentary photographer Joey Scott were shoved after repeatedly identifying themselves as press, he said.

Scott was jabbed hard enough with a baton to go flying into a car behind him, breaking his helmet.

“There was that tone shift and immediately I just felt extremely frustrated and kind of demoralized. Myself and many other members of the press were trying to be respectful towards cops and do our job in a way that doesn’t interfere with them,” Ray said.

Multiple reporters said they were met with mixed messages, blank stares and even sarcasm when they tried to talk to police.

“It really kind of messes with your head and the whole rest of the night I was on edge and kind of in a state of shock,” Ray said.

Ray was one of multiple journalists who said they were wrongfully denied access to spaces guaranteed by new protections for journalists covering protests.

The Los Angeles Press Club documented each instance in detail and shared its findings with LAPD.

Reporters documented similar scenes of police pushing protesters, including a video of "Full House" actress Jodie Sweetin being shoved to the ground by police on Saturday, which went viral on social media.

Two protesters reported injuries after being hit with less than lethal rounds, Moore said. Both were being arrested.

The department will consider reporters' allegations by reviewing officers' body camera footage and conducting interviews, Moore said. Ultimately they will determine whether officers complied with existing state law and media training.

Moore said a couple of the instances he saw Friday gave him concern. He affirmed the department's commitment to reporters' rights to cover protests.

Police used physical force in response to protesters trying to overtake the freeway and later when police “came under attack with rocks and bottles and other projectiles,” Moore told the police commission Tuesday.

Escalation

Reporters and Moore agreed the majority of protests over the weekend were peaceful and lawful. Journalists Berg and Ray felt that reporters and some protesters, however, were punished for the violence of others, and that police further escalated the situation.

Ray said he sensed that police were overwhelmed. Water bottles and fireworks were being thrown by the crowd. Five police officers were injured Friday night by the projectiles. One person was arrested for creating a makeshift flamethrower and attacking police, Moore said.

To Berg, the issue is one of escalation.

Initial interactions she saw between police and protesters were nothing out of the ordinary, but the police only served to further escalate the situation, Berg said.

As trust in public institutions such as law enforcement worsens in Los Angeles, protesters become more emboldened, she added.

Berg worried that police would use outlier violent behavior as justification for violence.

"These situations can become very emotionally charged very quickly," Berg said.

"It’s a scenario that gets played over and over again that’s not changed," she said. "I just don’t understand at this point why de-escalation shouldn't be the mantra of the LAPD when dealing with protests."

Authorities sent out a message reminding police to respect the rights of the media, LAPD’s chief spokeswoman Capt. Kelly Muniz told the Los Angeles Times. Muniz said the message likely did not make it to officers on the ground.

Training will be a key part of moving forward from Friday. According to Rose, of the Los Angeles Press Club, the department will work with press organizations to form training and practices around the treatment of journalists.

“There’s only so much someone in charge of PIO can do when someone out in the field is throwing people to the ground or pointing less-lethal munitions at someone’s head. Talk is one thing, action will be another,” Rose said.

The tension of a heated protest affects everyone involved.

"We're all overwhelmed," said Ray, the LA Taco reporter. "And from a press perspective, we're not trying to participate in this, we're just trying to document things."

Ray said he understands the officers often endure a lot of stress, but he worries that police on the riot lines do not recognize the toll protest violence has on reporters.

Toll, Repercussions

Ray said he has since struggled to process Friday's protest.

“It’s been extremely challenging, especially Saturday and Sunday — the days after those protests," Ray said. "It’s been incredibly difficult to wind down and settle down and just kind of get back into your regular life. I’ve had trouble eating and sleeping. It’s really difficult to recover from those moments.”

Reporters and advocates of a free press worry the violence will deter reporters from covering upcoming protests, even if just out of sheer exhaustion.

“At the end of the day, if journalists cannot tell the public what's happening out there, it is a loss for everyone,” Rose said.

In recent years, Los Angeles has seen fewer members of the press covering protests in the field, which Rose partially attributed to violence. Protests are considered dangerous situations for reporters for a number of reasons, most notably law enforcement, McCudden, of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Independent journalists and reporters from small newsrooms have largely filled this void, making them the victims of violence most often, Rose said. Reporters of color are also disproportionately affected by such police violence, added Rose.

Repairing The Press-Police Relationship

Senate Bill 98 was passed in California in 2021, allowing reporters to remain after an unlawful assembly is declared so long as they do not interfere with police operations. The bill was largely informed by the LAPD’s handling of a protest at Echo Park in March, 2021 when reporters and legal observers were arrested and detained for hours alongside protesters, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The bill was also informed by the treatment of reporters during 2020 protests following the police murder of George Floyd. Around this time, the LAPD made policy changes to protect a reporters' right to enter blocked-off police areas, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The relationship between riot police and reporters seemed to be getting better this year, reporters said. Both Ray and Rose pointed to the proper treatment of press after the Super Bowl LVI.

However, Rose said the weekend's events showed a failure in the department's accountability system. Several reporters agreed Friday felt like a step back in an ongoing effort to repair the relationship between police and press.

"I'm worried where this is headed," Ray said. "If this continues, I hate to say it but something really bad is going to happen to someone. Someone is going to get seriously injured — or multiple people — and that definitely scares me. I hope people realize how serious this is."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the freeway where Lexis-Olivier Ray and Joey Scott encountered LAPD officers.