Press groups are accusing Los Angeles and its police department of violating a court order by striking journalists with batons and arresting them as they reported on an Aug. 8 protest.
The Aug. 13 complaint, filed by the First Amendment Coalition and attorneys representing the Los Angeles Press Club and the independent media outlet Status Coup, said the department’s actions on Aug. 8 showed a “blatant disregard for the First Amendment” and a restraining order the court issued in July.
USA TODAY reached out to the city and the police department for comment and had not yet received a response by publication.
The groups are suing the city and the LAPD over the treatment of journalists covering protests surrounding federal immigration enforcement.
The restraining order, which was initially set for two weeks but later extended, said the department couldn’t use less-lethal munitions against journalists who aren’t posing a threat, bar a journalist from entering or remaining in closed areas, assault or obstruct journalists, or arrest journalists in a closed area for violating curfew orders, obstructing law enforcement officers or not dispersing while “gathering, receiving or processing information.”
