Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the California Attorney General Rob Bonta Thursday to put an end to and investigate police violence against journalists covering the recent Los Angeles protests against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation raids. RSF requested Bonta halt the police violence by filing “a civil lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order against state and local police departments from firing projectiles at members of the press.”
RSF has reported 40 incidents of violence against journalists, including thirty-five by police officers. Police have been recorded using tear gas, pepper balls, and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, including occasionally appearing to target members of the media.
The Los Angeles protests started on June 6 in reaction to ICE mass deportation raids in the city. Protesters surrounded the Los Angeles Police Department building and started vandalizing it and heckling police. Protests in surrounding cities ignited and clogged streets, escalating to burning cars, throwing projectiles such as rocks and fireworks at police, and looting stores. The Trump administration deployed 2,000 California National Guard personnel in response to the protests the next day.
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a letter on June 8 demanding the withdrawal of the National Guard because the Trump administration illegally deployed them by violating the 10 US Code §12406(3) requirement to coordinate deployment orders through the state governor. On June 9, California filed suit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The same day, the US Northern Command announced its activation of 700 Marines to Los Angeles.
The district court issued a temporary stay ordering the removal of the National Guard. However, they were overruled by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit without explanation.
Newsom criticized Trump for the crisis at the Los Angeles protests in a press release, stating:
Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic. Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach. This is beyond incompetence — this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy.
The Trump administration placed the blame on Newsom, posting on X:
While Los Angeles burns—officers ambushed, city in chaos—Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, and Maxine Waters call the riots and insurrection ‘peaceful.’ These leftists don’t care about your safety. They side with mobs. PRESIDENT TRUMP STANDS FOR LAW & ORDER—AND WILL CRUSH THE CHAOS.
