A Judge Told The LAPD They Couldn't Attack Journalists At No Kings Parade, They Still Did
A federal judge told them not to. They did it anyway.
By André Costa | October 21 2025
In the days before the No Kings protests in Los Angeles, the LAPD, the Los Angeles Police Department, filed a motion asking a federal court to lift restrictions that prohibited officers from using force against members of the press. Those restrictions had been put in place after the 2020 protests, when multiple journalists were struck, detained, or shot with “less-lethal” rounds while clearly identified as press. The court’s injunction made it clear that journalists had the right to cover protests without fear of assault from law enforcement.
Judge Hernán D. Vera reviewed LAPD’s request and denied it, reminding the department that its officers were bound by federal order to protect, not target, the press. Within forty-eight hours, the department’s conduct proved exactly why that injunction existed.
As demonstrators gathered downtown for the No Kings protest, journalists once again found themselves in the crossfire. A reporter for L.A. TACO, wearing visible press credentials, was shot with a less-lethal round by an LAPD officer. Another reporter described being shoved and pinned despite identifying as press, and several others reported being ordered to leave areas where officers were making arrests, in violation of the standing court order.
The LAPD’s motion had claimed that the injunction was “operationally impracticable.” The events of that night showed what the department actually found impracticable, and that’s accountability.
Even after the court said no, the city’s police force acted as if no law applied to them, what does that say for journalists in the USA?