Arguing that the 1st Amendment “deserves better,” a federal judge barred federal agents from targeting reporters with crowd control weapons during protests.
Lawyers for the city of Los Angeles and Homeland Security have argued that it isn’t always possible for police to distinguish journalists from protesters during chaotic demonstrations.
But U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera was unmoved, extending Tuesday restrictions he first ordered in July on the use of less-lethal weapons at street protests.
Vera wrote that federal officers “unleashed crowd control weapons indiscriminately and with surprising savagery.”
“Indeed, under the guise of protecting the public, federal agents have endangered large numbers of peaceful protestors, legal observers, and journalists — as well as the public that relies on them to hold their government accountable,” Vera wrote in the 45-page opinion. “The First Amendment demands better.”
Vera wrote that he expected federal authorities to disseminate the order to their officers and agents in the field.
The judge has yet to make a ruling in a separate lawsuit filed against the LAPD over allegations of excessive force by its officers.
Less than a month after Vera issued his temporary restraining order limiting the use of force, at least three reporters covering a protest were left bruised and bloody after being struck by LAPD officers’ batons.
Tuesday’s decision in the case against the Department of Homeland Security adds a provision to Vera’s previous ruling, also restricting the use of less-lethal weapons against “protesters who are not themselves posing a threat of imminent harm to a law enforcement officer or another person.”
The ruling marked a significant victory for a coalition of press rights organizations who have argued in court that judicial intervention was necessary to curb “continuing abuse” of members of the media covering the demonstrations.
“Since the federal government began its violent, chaotic invasion of Southern California, our communities have risen together to bear witness and to speak out for their neighbors and loved ones,” Adrienna Wong, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said in a statement.
Under the order, the use of crowd control measures including hard-foam projectile launchers, tear gas, stun grenades and batons are prohibited from being used on or in the vicinity of members of the press, legal observers, and protesters “unless such force is necessary to stop an immediate and serious threat of physical harm to a person.”
Attorneys for both government entities had argued against such a broad ban at the recent court hearing, saying it was impractical and would ultimately put law enforcement at risk.
Vera disagreed, writing in his order that “launching scorching-hot tear gas canisters directly at people… will undoubtedly chill the media’s efforts to cover these public events.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
