Two reporters arrested during protests in Echo Park in Los Angeles in March of 2021 are suing the city of Los Angeles on First Amendment grounds. The reporters were covering a protest over the removal of a homeless camp from the park. The reporters had strayed from the designated area for the press since it was too far away to report on the police action. (Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2022, by Kevin Rector)
A lawyer for the reporters who work for the non-profit news website Knock LA said that illegal arrests and abuse of journalists is a national problem. “Since 2020,” said attorney Shaleen Shanbhag, “police have assaulted journalists across the country more than 600 times and made more than 200 arrests of journalists — most of the arrests in 2021 and 2022 coming during coverage of police evicting unhoused people from their encampments.” (Fox11, May 9, 2022, by Kelli Johnson)