A British photojournalist covering protests against federal immigration raids in Los Angeles was rushed into emergency surgery after being struck by a plastic bullet fired by police, despite clearly identifying himself as press.
Nick Stern, a veteran journalist with decades of experience, was wearing a visible press credential around his neck and carrying a large camera when he was hit in the thigh with a three-inch non-lethal round, often referred to as a sponge bullet. The shot tore into his leg, causing what he described as “terrific pain.”
“I couldn’t put any weight on my leg — it was getting wetter and wetter with blood,” Stern recalled. He tried to hobble away but quickly felt faint. That’s when eight protesters ran to his aid, pulling him out of the line of fire.
Medics at the scene cut off his pants, applied pressure to the wound, and tied a tourniquet before rushing him to emergency surgery at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. The bullet was successfully removed, and Stern is now recovering. Despite the harrowing ordeal, he says he hopes to return to the field as soon as possible.
Stern was not the only member of the press caught in the crossfire. On Sunday, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was also shot in the leg with a rubber bullet during a live broadcast. In footage captured by her crew, Tomasi is seen flinching and crying out in pain as an officer appears to fire directly at her.
Both incidents are now fueling renewed scrutiny over how law enforcement is handling crowd control — particularly when journalists are visibly present and reporting from the scene.
The BBC was first to report on the attack against Stern.
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Police hit him by accident as they were trying to disperse the Mob = risks of being in his profession, trying to film various high-profile events.
Couple of FAKE NEWS Reporters who will now realize this was SERIOUS VIOLENCE !
Can’t wait for NewScum and StupidBass to end up in PRISON!
cop flat out took aim at the female reporter. HE MUST BE FIRED!!!! PROB. WHY no comments. he knew exactly who he was shooting.
Why would any journalist be in the way of our security enforcement? This helps explain why we are unable to trust their reporting. Were they creating interference???
Thru hot
Most all MSM is fake news anyway. The BBC is the UK version of CNN. Knowing how these “journalists” operate, they probably incited the law enforcers to fire on them just to get the kind of narrative that suited tyrir reporting.
I’d guess there was a Bad Guy behind the pressperson and the cop was nervous so shot didn’t go where it was intended. Does it make any sense that a cop would shoot a press person with a camera and think there would be no push-back???