Independent photographer Anna Moltke was pushed to the ground by a police officer at a demonstration against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.
The protest was part of nationwide protests held that day and followed similar protests in Minnesota, where federal officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens earlier in January. In LA, sweeping federal immigration enforcement actions have continued since June 2025.
Moltke told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was wearing a helmet with press identifiers as well as a media badge when she went to cover the protest near the federal detention facility downtown, where immigrants were being held.
A protester threw a water bottle at Los Angeles Police Department officers. The officers, armed with batons and crowd-control weapons, began pushing the crowd down the street. As Moltke moved in the direction police were directing the crowd, an officer pushed her to the ground.
“In that moment, being pushed to the ground, I just froze and became very frazzled,” Moltke said. “There was no mistake that I am press.”
The impact forced her camera into her chest and left her with scuffs and bruises on her knee, hip and elbow. Moltke said the experience brought back memories of the tension and violence she encountered while covering similar protests in June.
“I definitely felt hindered. Like, I just got hurt. Am I going to get more hurt if I continue to try to do this properly and not from a large distance away?” Moltke said.
She continued photographing the protest for another hour. While she was there, law enforcement deployed chemical irritants, which seeped into her clothes and caused her to cough even after she left.
The LAPD officers’ actions appeared to violate California law prohibiting law enforcement from using violent protest policing tactics with members of the press, which courts reinforced with a preliminary injunction last year.
The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment. In a post on the social platform X the evening of the protest, the department said it used crowd-control munitions in response to violence against officers, but did not address their use of force against members of the press.
This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.