Latest news with #LaurenTomasi
Fox News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Federal judge restricts LAPD from targeting journalists with force at immigration protests
A Los Angeles-based federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden recently issued a temporary restraining order, restricting the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from using less-lethal munitions (LLMs) on journalists covering immigration protests. The order, signed by Judge Hernan Vera on Thursday, also prevents the LAPD from detaining or restricting the movements of journalists. Vera cited at least 35 "troubling" incidents between June 6 and 19, where police allegedly exposed journalists to LLM, tear gas and other physical force to block them from covering conflict zones. When journalists persisted in documenting the protests, Vera said it appeared they faced an onslaught of projectiles and other shows of physical force. "On some occasions, LAPD officers purportedly targeted individuals who were clearly identifiable as members of the press," he wrote in the order. Vera pointed to an incident on June 8 when Lauren Tomasi of 9News Australia was speaking into a professional TV camera, dozens of feet from the line of officers behind her. The judge noted that no protesters were visible behind her when an LAPD officer aimed at Tomasi, hitting her leg with a rubber bullet. Other incidents cited in the order detail journalists allegedly being shot with LLMs and being pushed by officers. "Indeed, given the fundamental nature of the speech interests involved and the almost daily protests throughout Southern California drawing media coverage, the identified harm is undoubtedly imminent and concrete," Vera wrote. The court will hold another hearing soon to decide if a longer preliminary injunction on the LAPD should be imposed.
Axios
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
LAPD can't detain, fire less lethal ammunition at journalists covering protests
The Los Angeles Police Department can't detain, remove or fire less lethal weapons or chemical agents at journalists covering protests in the city, a federal judge ordered. Why it matters: The temporary restraining order is a victory for the Los Angeles Press Club, which had accused city police of using excessive force against journalists, including Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi who was shot with a rubber bullet during live broadcast in what appeared to be a deliberate attack. "On some occasions, LAPD officers purportedly targeted individuals who were clearly identifiable as members of the press," U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera wrote in the Thursday order. The order is in effect for two weeks with the next hearing scheduled for July 24. The LAPD didn't immediately respond to Axios' request for comment. Flashback: Los Angeles became the flashpoint in President Trump's campaign to deport undocumented immigrants, sparking similar demonstrations nationwide.
USA Today
17-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
LAPD sued over journalists' treatment at Los Angeles immigration protests
LAPD sued over journalists' treatment at Los Angeles immigration protests The lawsuit accused police of using 'excessive force' against members of the media and making journalism a 'dangerous profession' in the city. Show Caption Hide Caption Australian journalist shot with a rubber bullet in Los Angeles Australian journalist from 9News, Lauren Tomasi, was shot with a rubber bullet while reporting from the protests in Los Angeles. The June 16 lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles accuses the LAPD of using "excessive force" against the media. The lawsuit said police violated press rights under both California and federal law. The First Amendment Coalition is leading the lawsuit on behalf of the Los Angeles Press Club and the independent media outlet Status Coup. A First Amendment group representing journalists covering protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles sued the city and Los Angeles Police Department on June 16, alleging that officers violated press rights under both state and federal law. The First Amendment Coalition filed the federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of the Los Angeles Press Club and the independent media outlet Status Coup. The complaint against the city and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell accused police officers of using 'excessive force' against members of the media and making journalism a 'dangerous profession' in the city. "The widespread use of force against journalists by LAPD officers indicates an intent to prevent public scrutiny of police conduct toward demonstrators, a refusal to abide by constitutional and statutory safeguards for journalists in these circumstances, and an institutional failure by the LAPD," the lawsuit said. It came a week after the groups sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that said federal officers in Los Angeles 'may have violated the First Amendment rights' of journalists. The letter said federal officers are required to uphold the freedom of the press under the First Amendment and referenced court cases that affirmed individuals' right to record law enforcement officers executing their duties in public places and journalists' exemption from general dispersal orders so long as they are not interfering with law enforcement actions. The Los Angeles Press Club had at that point documented at least 30 cases of journalists being injured while covering the protests. Several of those incidents were caught on camera. New York Post photographer Toby Canham was shot in the head with a rubber bullet, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was hit in the leg and Los Angeles Police Department officers detained CNN correspondent Jason Carroll. The letter said officers could be held liable for such incidents but said officials could 'take measures to not make the problem worse.' 'It appears LAPD did not heed this warning,' First Amendment Coalition Executive Director David Snyder said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. Protests over immigration raids in the city started on June 6 and grew over the following days, prompting President Donald Trump to order both National Guard troops and Marines to the city. California Gov. Gavin Newsom referred to such moves as a 'blatant abuse of power,' and the state sued the administration over Trump's orders. USA TODAY reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' office for comment. BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@ USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Axios
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Axios
LAPD deliberately targeted journalists at protests, press group says in lawsuit
Los Angeles journalists sued the city and head of the police department Monday alleging officers deliberately targeted reporters at recent protests following federal immigration raids. The big picture: The complaint, filed in federal court, accuses law enforcement officers of responding to the demonstrations with excessive force against both the press and the public. The largely peaceful protests in Los Angeles put the city at the center of nationwide unrest around the Trump administration's aggressive deportation agenda. Driving the news: The Los Angeles Press Club and investigative reporting site Status Coup in their complaint accuse LAPD officers of violating journalists' rights under the Constitution and state law. "Being a journalist in Los Angeles is now a dangerous profession," the complaint filed in the Central District of California said. "LAPD unlawfully used force and the threat of force against Plaintiffs, their members and other journalists to intimidate them and interfere with their constitutional right to document public events as the press." Journalists covering the protests have been shot with "less-lethal munitions," charged by horses and forcibly prevented from filming, the suit said. Zoom in: The suit lists Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi, who was shot by a rubber bullet during a live broadcast, as one of its examples of LAPD misconduct. "The video of the shooting shows the LAPD officer looking directly at her and aiming specifically at her without the slightest justification," the complaint said. "She held a microphone; she was accompanied by a camera crew. None of that mattered to the LAPD officers." Tomasi told CNN she had been reporting at the protests in downtown LA for hours when she felt the presence of the LAPD and law enforcement "really ramped up." While she has a bruise from the rubber bullet, she said she thinks "it's so important that journalists are out there doing our job." What they're saying: "With today's lawsuit, the L.A. Press Club is fighting for the rights of all of its nearly 1,000 members to report the news without risking their health and safety," Adam Rose, spokesperson for the nonprofit, said.
7NEWS
12-06-2025
- 7NEWS
INSIDE MEDIA: AI ads set to make Netflix unwatchable
It seems the big streaming services want more revenue and they're finding new ways to fleece us, the consumer. Netflix has revealed plans to start showing AI-generated content to its ad-tier subscribers. These AI ads are slated to begin rolling out in 2026. While full details are yet to be released, it means viewers might see an ad that blends in with the show you're watching. The Verge reports Netflix says advertisers can insert this new ad format in the middle of a show or put them on the screen when you hit pause. They could contain an overlay or call to action when they roll out by the end of this year. Ads when you hit pause is not a new thing, it happens on other streaming services and doesn't detract from the program, but the big issue will be how Netflix integrates the AI generated commercials into the content. The streamers have discovered they can get two bites of the cherry by making the ad-free tier of their services expensive and forcing consumers into watching ads. The advertising model is reaping big profits and it's just a matter of time before we're all forced to watch ads. It'll be just like watching free to air tv all over again (except we never had to pay for that). REPORTERS UNDER FIRE It can be a tough gig being a news reporter. While most people are leaving the scene of riots, natural disasters or any number of events, news reporters are heading towards them. But, it would be difficult for any reporter to imagine they'd be fired upon in Los Angeles by authorities. Yes, that is exactly what happened to Lauren Tomasi this past week when an LA police officer shot her in the leg with a rubber bullet. While some critics have claimed she should have been wearing a helmet and a press jacket, that makes no sense to me. First, she was not in some third world war-torn country and second, she was obviously a reporter posing no threat. No, this was the result of a trigger-happy police officer who, for some reason, decided to fire upon a reporter doing their job in a democratic country. 'It is a target-specific munition. That's not to say that it always hits the intended target, particularly in a dynamic situation,' LAPD Chief McDonnell responded to a question about the incident during a press conference. 'We saw that, we're very concerned about it, and we're looking into that.' It's not the first time Australian journalists have been treated badly by law enforcement in the USA, including here at 7NEWS when a journalist and camera operator were attacked in Washington DC. There have been more examples over the past few days of journalists being treated like the enemy during the. A reporter from The New York Post was hit in the forehead after being fired upon and a journalist from CNN was handcuffed and detained. You can see vision of these instances in the video player above. Reporters risk their lives every day to tell stories of events happening around the world. They often work on very little sleep and trying conditions so that we can be informed of what is happening in our world. It's worth remembering that when you're sitting at home watching the nightly news. WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE PROJECT AND Q&A I've been asked over the past few days where it all went wrong for The Project and Q&A, two shows that have been cancelled this week. So, here's my take; QandA was never the same when Tony Jones left at the same time as creator and founding executive producer Peter McEvoy. The two had developed a strong identity of the show which made it compelling viewing. Jones was replaced as host by Hamish MacDonald and McEvoy by Insiders and News Breakfast EP, Erin Vincent. It was a disaster despite this claim from ABC Head of Investigative and In-Depth Journalism John Lyons: 'Hamish's energy and ability to draw from people their real concerns will further strengthen Q&A as a forum for reflecting the views of Australians and seeking ideas for the future.' The new team thought they knew better and ratings quickly started to drop. Things got so bad MacDonald made a quick exit after just 18 months. It also didn't help that Q&A stopped using audience feedback from Twitter/X, an element that had made live viewing a necessity. The final straw for me though was when Stan Grant ejected a pro-Putin audience member for changing the question on their card. I always thought the idea of Q&A was to have a discussion about differing views. Apparently not. As for The Project, things started to go downhill when the makers started to believe they needed to teach Australians the 'right' was to think. The show went from comedy take on the day's events to woke and preachy. Despite claims the show had balance because they included Steve Price once a week, the show favoured left-leaning issues and admonished any guest who disagreed with the wok values of the show. In fact, the show became so obsessed with its need to 'educate' the audience we weren't allowed to have an opinion until we heard the latest editorial from Waleed in his 'Something we should talk about' segments. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for opinion pieces and panel shows (I host my own opinion show on Saturday night's), but there was something about how seriously the show took Aly's opinions that was very off-putting. It was like he was the judge and jury of how we should all be thinking. And I don't necessarily mean this was coming from the man himself, but more from the way the show treated his opinions like they were more important than anyone else's. Both shows will now join the long list of Australian TV shows that have come and gone over the past 69 years but there's no doubt both had a cultural impact. WILL 10'S NEW 6PM NEWS WORK? No. I guess you want more than that. We now have official details on what 10 is planning to replace The Project with and I have to say the signs are not looking good. While there have been some genuinely good signings in Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace, among others, the show looks set to be a retelling of the news of the day, albeit in a longer form show. 10NEWS+ (terrible name) will air from Sunday – Friday at 6pm, followed by Deal Or No Deal at 7pm. '10 NEWS+ aims to redefine evening news by providing comprehensive analysis, trusted reporting, and long-form investigative journalism. The program will offer a fresh perspective on critical local and global stories, tailored for an engaged audience seeking in-depth news coverage', according to the press release. All that is fine, but the network hasn't asked itself the most fundamental questions: why are we making this show? I get they want a cheaper option to The Project, I've covered that previously HERE and HERE, but what is the driving force of this additional news service? 10 must believe they can hold onto the 5pm news audience by delivering more news-based programming. It's an idea with merit except for the fact every bit of research I have seen over my 30+ years in media says viewers who watch 10 NEWS at 5pm will flick over to 7 or 9 at 6pm to see what else is happening. There are viewers of 10 NEWS who want more news, they just don't want it from 10. Putting this new show on at 6pm is a massive mistake. They would have been better putting it on at 6.30pm and offering viewers who only watch the first 20 mins of the nightly news on 7 and 9 somewhere to go. So, here's my prediction: This show will do nothing to erode the audiences watching 7NEWS and 9NEWS at 6pm. In sx months time 10 might find themselves making the smarter decision and moving it to 6.30, or they might just end up dropping the show altogether.
