US shooting of Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi ‘not acceptable’, Anthony Albanese says
Condemning the incident, Anthony Albanese says he has spoken to the journalist, who he describes as ‘pretty resilient’.
Anthony Albanese says it is “not acceptable” that an Australian journalist was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet by US law enforcement while reporting on the Los Angeles riots, declaring the footage of the incident was “horrific”.
The Prime Minister said the government had raised the issue with US counterparts and confirmed he had spoken to Channel 9 reporter Lauren Tomasi on Tuesday morning, whom he said was “pretty resilient”.
“That footage was horrific,” Mr Albanese said.
“That was the footage of an Australian journalist doing what journalists do at their very best, which is to go into an environment that is not comfortable.
“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.”
Tomasi was reporting on the clash between US law enforcement and thousands of protesters in LA over the Trump administration’s mass deportations. A video published on Monday showed an officer firing at Tomasi’s leg from behind.
Mr Albanese was asked by another Channel 9 journalist on Tuesday at National Press Club over whether he would raise the issue with Mr Trump.
“Discussions I have with the President are discussions between myself and the President,” he said.
“That’s the way that I deal with people: diplomatically, appropriately and with respect.”
Sussan Ley has also been in contact with Tomasi and told her that such violence should not be tolerated, with the Coalition also making its position clear more broadly that the incident was “unacceptable”.
Tomasi has since said on social media that she was “a bit sore, but I’m OK”.
The Greens have called on the Labor government to “hold Trump accountable” for the incident”.
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