World reacts after LA police shoot Aussie journalist with rubber bullet
The moment a Channel 9 reporter was shot with a rubber bullet in LA has drawn global condemnation. Now the LAPD has given a major update.
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The LAPD has made a significant statement after one of its police officers shot an Australian reporter with a rubber bullet – an incident that has drawn global condemnation and become a flashpoint for groups concerned about press freedom in the US.
Nine’s US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet during a live cross amid the tense scenes in downtown Los Angeles.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed his government raised the incident with the Trump administration, calling the footage “horrific” (see the video above).
Tomasi has already returned to work, saying she was “a bit sore, but I’m okay” and vowing to “keep on telling the stories that need to be told”.
Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell said on Tuesday that officers were “looking into” the incident, saying the department was “very concerned” about it.
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Nine’s political editor Charles Croucher asked the Prime Minister his thoughts on the incident during a National Press Club appearance in Canberra on Tuesday.
Mr Albanese confirmed he had spoken with a “pretty resilient” Tomasi on Tuesday morning.
“But that footage was horrific,” he said. “That was the footage of an Australian journalist doing what journalists do at their very best, at their very best, which is to go into an environment that’s not comfortable, but where in LA, it is not unreasonable to think that she would not have been targeted with a rubber bullet.
“It is not unreasonable to think that she could go about the coverage, clearly as people can see in the footage, clearly identified as media.
“So we have already raised these issues with the US administration.
“We don’t find it acceptable that it occurred. And we think that the role of the media is particularly important.”
Croucher went on to ask Mr Albanese if the shooting of Tomasi would be “something that you’ll raise personally” with US President Donald Trump.
“Well, discussions I have with the President are discussions between myself and the President. That’s the way that I deal with people, diplomatically, appropriately and with respect.
“So I’ll leave the discussions with the President until they occur, rather than foreshadow them.”
Mr Albanese said Tomasi there was “no ambiguity: about Tomasi’s status as a reporter.
“She was clearly identified … she wasn’t wearing a trackie!” he said.
“She was wearing a helmet and something identified her as media. You know, it is not acceptable that a journalist – and I say this here at the National Press Club – from time to time, I will have disagreements with journalists … but you know, I respect the role that the media play.
“And people should respect the role that the media play in our modern society.”
LAPD Chief McDonnell said during a press conference he was aware of the incident involving a “member of the media” after being asked to explain why it appeared officers were shooting at people indiscriminately.
“It is a target-specific munition. That’s not to say that it always hits the intended target, particularly in a dynamic situation,” he said.
“I know that situation you’re referring to, with the member of the media.
“We saw that, we’re very concerned about it, and we’re looking into that.”
News of the shooting on Monday morning Sydney time, was carried on major international outlets including the BBC, The Independent, CBS, NBC and USA Today.
Channel Nine’s footage of the incident, which appears to show an officer taking aim at Tomasi before firing, has also gone viral around the world on social media.
“The police fired rubber bullets at Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi while she was reporting live from Los Angeles today,” Republicans Against Trump wrote on an X post which drew almost nine million views.
“Appalling and unjustified.”
It was also shared by entertainment publication Pop Crave gaining 13.4 million views on X by Tuesday morning, AEST.
More than six million people viewed the footage OSINTdefender’s X page, which monitors open-source intelligence from conflicts in Europe.
Notorious hacker group Anonymous also shared vision of the incident to its five million X followers, drawing 460,000 views.
Anti-Trump X page The Tennessee Holler was among the first international X accounts to publish the footage, racking up more than 223,000 views on its post.
The boss of US-based media research organisation Digital Content Next, Jason Kint, praised Tomasi’s quick return to work and commitment to “bringing facts on the ground to her audience”.
“Remarkable,” he said.
“Grateful for a free and plural press. And yes, it at least appeared an intentional shot. Chilling.”
Freedom of the Press, a New York-based advocacy group, wrote on X that “this sure doesn’t look like an accident”.
“@LAPDHQ needs to investigate and take action immediately.”
British photographer Nick Stern also required emergency surgery after being hit by a nonlethal round while covering the protest in the city of Paramount, Los Angeles County.
Freedom of the Press has joined with other organisations in writing to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “express alarm that federal officers may have violated First Amendment rights of journalists covering recent protests”.
“In some cases, federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news,” the open letter states.
Leona O’Neill, an author and head of journalism at Ulster University, spoke out about the incident, citing parallels to police clashes in her homeland.
“This is utterly disgraceful. Here in Northern Ireland we know exactly the damage rubber bullets can do,” she wrote.
“Attacking the media is abhorrent. Sending solidarity to @LaurenTomasi.”
Australia’s media union the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance condemned the incident and called for employers to invest more in staff safety when covering similar events.
“Journalists reporting from the frontline of protests and wars fulfil the essential role of bearing witness, and should be accorded the same protections as other frontline workers,” chief executive Erin Madeley said.
“Practically that includes training and personal protective equipment. From a psychological perspective we expect employers to provide more than EAP but trauma debriefing in situations like that Lauren Tomasi has just experienced.”
Tomasi’s colleague at Channel 9, Today host Karl Stefanovic on Tuesday demanded an investigation into why she was targeted.
“We don’t know what threat was so imminent it required a cop to discharge his weapon on a reporter or whether he meant to shoot her, but it sure looks like that to me,” he said in a monologue.
“The incident was maybe one of three things: a moment where an LA officer so thought his life was in danger, he needed to discharge his weapon, an incompetent warning shot, or the act of a coward.
“Either way, it needs to be properly investigated.”
Stefanovic urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to speak with Mr Trump about the incident at their upcoming meeting, which is expected to take place this month.
“I get that it’s dangerous to cops, to what’s happened to them in the line of duty, and the position they are in is horrendous,” he said.
“But how is it OK for your police force to be firing at unarmed Australian journalists?
“If Albo is looking for a place to start with Donald Trump, this is it.”
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