A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring Los Angeles police from using nonlethal weapons against journalists or otherwise detaining or removing them from protest areas in the course of doing their job covering the events.
U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera issued the 14-day order on Thursday, handing a win to the Los Angeles Press Club, which filed a lawsuit against the city and the Los Angeles Police Department over its actions toward journalists covering last month's anti-ICE riots.
Vera scheduled the next hearing for July 24.
The press club said it documented more than 50 incidents of journalists being forced away from protests areas by rubber bullets, tear gas, or other forms of physical force.
"When journalists persisted in documenting the protests, it appears from the evidence presented that 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," Vera wrote.
In its lawsuit filed June 16, the press club accused the LAPD of violating journalists' First Amendment rights through "excessive force."
"LAPD actions during the June 2025 protests in downtown Los Angeles reveal a brazen refusal to abide by the Constitution and state law and repeats the same conduct by the Defendant City repeatedly held to be unconstitutional by the federal courts for the past 25 years."
President Donald Trump deployed 300 members of the California National Guard to maintain order after three days of riots in response to illegal immigration enforcement operations in the city.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.