Photojournalist Chris Torres was pushed against a car by police with batons while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.
Thousands rallied in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since June 2025.
Torres, LA bureau chief for photo agency EPA Images, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the protest outside City Hall when the LA Police Department formed a barricade line at an intersection. They said the line was to let buses into the nearby buildings and tow away cars blocking the street.
As the officers pushed protesters and members of the press back, Torres said he became “trapped between the officers and one of the cars, and they continued to back me into the car and push me with their batons until I was able to find an opening and escape.”
The photographer said that while he was clearly identified as a journalist — wearing badges from the LA County Sheriff’s Department and the Press Photographers Association of Greater LA — he did not believe he was targeted as a member of the media.
“I think it was more just wrong place, wrong time,” he said.
The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a statement posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”
In an earlier statement following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in nearly two dozen press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.
“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.
This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.