Nick Stern had moved in position to take a photo of a group of people who wave Mexican flags near a row of police officers in the Los Angeles area on Saturday when he felt a sharp pain in his right thigh.
It was not long before Mr. Stern, a seasoned photojournalist who mainly works with British news shops, fainted. Then he was operated on.
A deputy at the Sheriff’s Department of Los Angeles County had shot Mr. Stern with a kind of projectile, said Mr. Stern, the ammunition in his thigh and for a week long to recover.
In recent days, various journalists have been injured by law enforcers during the protests that took place in parts of the center of Los Angeles and have led to an escalating battle between California and the Trump government.
Mr. Stern, 60, has covered protests for decades and said that he always keeps his press badge or camera visible to indicate that he is a journalist. He said he wasn’t sure if the police had focused on him or whether the delegate who shot him was just ‘a bad shot’.
Nevertheless, freedom groups have convicted the police For the injuries of journalists in recent daysThe notice of various cases of law enforcement officers who fire projectiles among journalists.
In one case a police officer on Sunday turned in the direction From an Australian reporter during a broadcast and shot her with a projectile. That reporter, Lauren Tomasi, said The officers were with the police of Los Angeles. A LAPD spokesperson, Drake Madison, said that during the protests, the department investigated the use of “less deadly” projectiles, but he did not respond to questions about the incident with Mrs. Tomasi.
The National Press Club, a professional organization for journalists, said that reporters had been selected and also called on the police chief of the LAPD to ensure that journalists could safely observe and report the protests.
“The police cannot choose and choose when the first amendment applies,” said the president of the group, Mike Balsamo, in a statement. “Journalists in Los Angeles were not caught in the cross fire – they were the target.”
The Sheriff’s Department of Los Angeles County said it “revised video images” to Mr. Stern’s injury and could not confirm whether it was a sheriff who had fired the shot. “We are committed to maintaining an open and transparent relationship with the media and to ensure that journalists can perform their duties safely, especially during protests, acts of civil disobedience and public meetings,” the department said.
Journalists have also reported that it is injured by California Highway Patrol officers and by agents from the US Department of Interior Security.
In various cases compiled by reporters and freedom groups, a reporter said A domestic security guard had shot her with a projectile, and another said He may have been struck with a tear gas bus that is fired by a line of domestic security agents. The department did not respond to an investigation.
A collection of freedom of the press wrote One letter On Monday to Kristi, the Minister of Interior Security, who said that in some cases it seemed that federal officers “deliberately focused on journalists.” The groups insisted on the department to remember illegal strength against reporters, “those who only cover events of public concern in the Los Angeles area.”
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