Lauren Tomasi, 9News, Australian reporter shot by LAPD officer in the leg with rubber bullet during Los Angeles demonstrations over Trump administration illegal immigration crackdown. Has Trump gone too far and the calamities of ideological fervour.
When an international reporter is struck by overt force while covering that city’s ‘rebellious’ response to the nation’s ‘crackdown’ on illegal immigrants…
It could’ve been tragic, but it wasn’t. Not this time.
An Australian television journalist reporting live from downtown Los Angeles amid large-scale protests over President Trump‘s immigration crackdown was hit in the leg by a rubber bullet, her network, Nine News stated.
Australian TV reporter Lauren Tomasi was shot by LAPD with rubber bullets while covering the protests in L.A. pic.twitter.com/WtLnzfrEHu
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 9, 2025
Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi shot at by rubber bullet not the only casualty
Lauren Tomasi, a 9News correspondent, was reporting live on Sunday when a Los Angeles Police officer behind her raised their firearm and fired a nonlethal round at close range, video of the incident showed. Tomasi, who wasn’t wearing personal protective equipment, is heard crying out in pain and seen clutching her lower leg as the cameraman quickly pans away as the pair move away from the police line seconds after Tomasi was shot at.
‘You just (expletive) shot the report’ a voice off-camera can be heard shouting.
Tomasi is heard reassuring her crew she was OK: ‘Yeah, I’m good, I’m good.’
‘LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of LA,’ she said before she was shot seconds later.
The demonstrations in Los Angeles began with a few hundred people on Friday and swelled by Sunday to thousands who blocked a major freeway and set several self-driving cars on fire in response to what many decry as the Trump administration’s ICE agency (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) over zealous and illegal raids in attempts to root out ‘migrants who shouldn’t be in our country.’
On Saturday, Donald Trump, who on his Truth Social (the irony) platform called the demonstrators “troublemakers and insurrectionists,” sent about 2,000 National Guard troops to the city despite Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s and LA Mayor Karen Bass objections. It is the National Guard’s first deployment without state consent since 1967.
The deployment led to accusations that Trump sought to deflect recent skirmishes with his former DOGE czar, Elon Musk along with intentionally seeking to ‘irresponsibly’ rile up demonstrators who have argued the Trump administration has gone overboard in its ‘overzealous’ attempts to round up illegals in the United States.
The FBI should hunt down every every single person at the LA riots.
📌 Use their phones to find them
📌 Raid their homes with SWAT
📌 Put them in federal prisons for years without trialsTrespassing, property destruction and impeding federal processes is an insurrection,… pic.twitter.com/XgNCYrVyHX
— Jere_Memez (@Jere_Memez) June 7, 2025
Risks of live news journalism
Sunday’s shooting came after a tense afternoon in which Tomasi and her crew were caught between riot police and protesters. At one point, the Nine News reporter struggled to speak over the sound of clashes, while a protester grabbed the camera mid-broadcast.
‘They’ve told people to get out of this area, and protesters have been refusing,’ Tomasi reported. ‘We are safe here. It’s just noisy. But you can see the volatility.’
Speaking later Monday to 9News, Tomasi confirmed she was safe.
‘I’m OK, my cameraman Jimmy and I are both safe. This is just one of the unfortunate realities of reporting on these kinds of incidents,’ she told the Australian outlet.
Nine News said in a statement that Tomasi and her camera operator ‘are safe and will continue their essential work covering these events.’
I cannot believe this is real.
ABC reporter says not to bring in law enforcement to the LA riots because “it’s just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn.”pic.twitter.com/OlgBo4Pj1I
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 9, 2025
Trump administration adamant about 3000 migrant arrests a day target
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, meanwhile, issued a statement claiming that ‘all journalists should be able to do their work safely.’
‘Australia supports media freedom and the protection of journalists,’ the agency said.
Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to demand ‘an urgent explanation’ from the Trump administration.
Albanese ‘must tell the president to stop shooting at our journalists,’ the senator said. ‘Freedom of the press is a fundamental pillar of a strong, functioning democracy.’
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Sunday night that 39 people have been arrested in total — 29 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday — in connection with the unrest.
Illegal migrants arrested in Los Angeles in a series of ICE raids last week included convicted sex abusers, drug dealers and gang members, according to federal immigration authorities.
ICE has since claimed arresting 45 people on Friday as ICE agents swept through two Home Depot stores, a business in the fashion district and a doughnut shop, triggering riots over the weekend.
The Trump administration has since reiterated its goal of arresting 3000 illegal migrants a day in the U.S. A goal that many in the public believe is overreach and steeped in ideological fervor and without due process to the law.
