Key Points
- Nine journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot by a rubber bullet by a police officer during LA protests on Monday.
- In an update on social media, Tomasi said she was “a bit sore but okay”.
- The protests are set to continue for a fourth day.
An Australian journalist who was shot by a rubber bullet while covering protests in Los Angeles has thanked people for messages of support and given an update on her condition.
United States authorities, including the Los Angeles Police Department, have clashed with demonstrators during the protests, a response to a wave of arrests by immigration agents in Los Angeles, which has led to the US national guard being deployed.
On Monday, Channel Nine’s US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was reporting on the protests when a police officer appeared to point his weapon at Tomasi and fire a projectile in her direction.
In a post on social media platform X on Tuesday morning, Tomasi said: “I’m a bit sore but I’m okay.”
Tomasi described the incident while appearing on Nine’s Today program on Tuesday morning.
“Police started pushing their way up the street. They’d begun firing teargas canisters and those rubber bullets, and we moved on to the sidewalk, really tried to stay out of the way,” she said.
“I was really focused on the camera and finishing that report, telling what was happening. And I got hit. [Cameraman] Jimmy scooped me up and we made our way out of there as quickly as possible.”
Tomasi had earlier told Melbourne’s 3AW radio she had been left with a “nasty bruise” by the projectile, which she said was about the size of a golf ball.
Nine later released a statement saying: “Lauren and her camera operator are safe and will continue their essential work covering these events.”
“This incident serves as a stark reminder of the inherent dangers journalists can face while reporting from the frontlines of protests, underscoring the importance of their role in providing vital information,” the company said.
Greens senator says issue should be ‘raised at the highest levels’
There has been increasing pressure for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to bring up the incident with US President Donald Trump, who Albanese is expected to meet with when he travels to the G7 summit in Canada next week.
Appearing on Nine’s Today program on Tuesday morning, Greens senator Nick McKim said he believed concern over the incident should be “raised at the highest levels”.
“The fact that you’ve got someone in uniform who appears to take a deliberate pot shot at a journalist, that is completely unacceptable and it needs to be raised at the highest levels, whether that’s PM, to the president, or the foreign affairs minister level,” he said.
“The United States needs to understand that that is just not okay.”
Greens senator Nick McKim said the incident must be raised at the “highest levels”. Source: AAP / Ethan James
McKim’s fellow Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young made similar calls on Monday, saying the “first thing” Albanese should tell Trump is to “stop shooting at our journalists”.
Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth told Nine earlier she wasn’t aware if Albanese would raise the incident with Trump.
“Firstly, I would say my thoughts are, of course, with Lauren. I understand she’s okay and she wasn’t seriously injured, but Australia absolutely believes in the freedom of journalists to do their job and to do their job safely, and that journalists should be protected,” she said.
“And so this is obviously a very difficult circumstance. I understand the Australian consul-general has been in touch with Lauren, but it’s a principle of press freedom that we hold dear as Australians.”
Protests continue in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is facing its fourth day of protests over the immigration raids. The US military has said it would temporarily deploy around 700 marines to Los Angeles until more national guard troops can arrive.
California governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to sue the Trump administration over the deployment of the national guard in response to the protests. Newson said Trump’s actions were an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism”.
— With additional reporting by Reuters
