Photojournalist shot with pepper balls at Los Angeles ‘No Kings’ protest

Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions by sheriff’s deputies while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.

The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed days of protests in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.

Swart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was covering the protest alongside other members of the press when Los Angeles Police Department officers deployed tear gas and she became separated from her “press safety buddies.”

“I ended up on a terrace and I thought I was safe because on the street below was where the action was happening,” she said. “Then, all of a sudden, I feel, like, shooting at me.”

She said that it was only then that she noticed Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies coming across a bridge nearby and shooting at her. Initially the rounds hit the ground at her feet. Then they hit her chest.

“I start to move, but then realize that there’s absolutely nowhere for me to go except forward to where the sheriffs are shooting,” Swart said. “So, I start to go do that. And I’m holding up my press card. I have ‘Press’ labels everywhere, all over me, and I’m holding up my camera in a kind of surrender while moving forward and saying, ‘I’m press! I’m press! I’m press!’”

The photojournalist said none of it made a difference.

“They shoot again, and I kind of just step backward and I’m not sure where to go. And then I try to go again, and then they shoot me again,” Swart told the Tracker. “They eventually let me go forward, and that was where I got the bruise.”

Swart says she believes the initial rounds were pepper balls, but she can’t be sure what other crowd-control munitions hit her.

“They were shooting so many things that I can’t tell you which was which,” she said.

She told the Tracker she was struck with another crowd-control munition later that day, which she believes was likely a tear gas canister.

In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”

“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”

Swart told the Tracker that her efforts to clearly identify herself as a journalist had proven futile. “Me saying press and being visible press and holding up my press pass in a surrender didn’t do shit. I was hoping that it would, but that was wishful thinking,” she said.