LAPD to Reporters and Photojournalists: Shut Up and Bleed, Over 30 targeted and attacked by police thugs

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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/18/2328771/-LAPD-to-Reporters-and-Photojournalists-Shut-Up-and-Bleed?

LAPD to Reporters and Photojournalists: Shut Up and Bleed

Bill Berkowitz, author
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 9:50:35a CDT

In LA, Police Are Shooting the Messenger

During the current Los Angeles protests against ICE immigration raids and the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles, journalists and photographers are reporting that they are being deliberately targeted by law enforcement. The Associated Press reported that by June 10, over two-dozen journalists had been arrested or "roughed up" by law enforcement. The Los Angeles Press Club documented more than 30 incidents affecting reporters, including shootings with rubber bullets and tear gas attacks .

The Closer to the Edge Substack is keeping a close eye on reporters being targeted by the LA Police. On June 13, Closer to the Edge noted that, “in the middle of [the protests are] journalists. Walking. Filming. Getting hit. Again. Because it turns out nothing makes you a bigger threat to authoritarian theater than a working microphone and a record button.”

In its report headlined Don’t Shoot the Messenger: It’s Time for a Law That Protects Journalists From Rubber Bullets, Closer to the Edge pointed out that “In America, you can shoot a journalist in the face with a rubber bullet and be home by dinner. No charges. No suspension. No real consequences. Just another "use of force" report buried under jargon about “non-lethal dispersal tactics.” And this week, in Los Angeles, it happened again. Rubber bullets flew through downtown like warnings, thudding into bodies, breaking skin, scattering peaceful crowds, and once again threatening the people holding cameras just for being too close to the truth. This isn’t crowd control. It’s message control. And the message is this: Shut up or bleed.”

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David Weir, longtime journalist and co-founder of the Center for Investigative Reporting (https://davidweir.substack.com) told me that “The reports from L.A. of police attacking reporters and photographers are a reminder that authoritarian regimes have always targeted journalists in an attempt to suppress the truth and silence those who seek to inform the public.

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