Judge blocks LAPD request to lift restrictions on use of force against the press

A judge has denied the Los Angeles Police Department’s emergency motion asking to lift an injunction that restricts the use of force against the press. That denial comes after the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to request the city attorney’s office withdraw the emergency motion.

LAPD filed the emergency motion in an attempt to lessen the use-of-force restrictions against journalists ahead of Saturday’s No Kings protests, where large crowds are expected.

The City Council motion, brought forward by councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Monica Rodgriguez, cited that it was in response to LAist’s reporting.

Adam Rose, press rights chair at the Los Angeles Press Club, in a written statement said, “My read is the motion was mainly denied on procedural grounds. The false emergency was of LAPD’s own making.”

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Rose added that even if the city attorney didn’t have time to withdraw the motion that “the public and city leadership may hopefully be getting on the same page now about the larger issues at stake.”

How we got here

On Wednesday, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto filed the emergency motion on behalf of LAPD, stating the injunction creates “undefined and operationally impracticable standards that expose the city and its officers to contempt for good-faith actions taken to protect the public.”

In her City Council motion, Hernandez wrote the emergency motion “was done without consultation of the City Council as the legislative body for the city.”

Judge Hernán Vera of the Central District Court of California issued the injunction in September after the Los Angeles Press Club and investigative reporting outlet Status Coup sued the police department for its treatment of journalists during anti-ICE protests in June.

Vera wrote, “It is déjà vu all over again,” adding that the latest protests presented “the latest chapter in a long and unfortunate saga of the LAPD’s use of unlawful force against members of the media.”

Why it matters

The city of Los Angeles, according to the City Council motion, has paid over $68 million in liability costs due to police department actions, and lifting the injunction restricting police use of force can create “additional liability and claims against the city.”

“The answer cannot be for Los Angeles to join that assault by undermining court-ordered protections for journalists,” Hernandez said in a statement. “The press must remain free, and our city must never spend public dollars to suppress accountability.”

In a written statement to LAist, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote, “My office fully supports the right of Angelenos to make their voices heard through peaceful protest. We expect demonstrations this weekend to be safe, respectful and consistent with the rights guaranteed to every resident under the Constitution.”

The police department also is expected to uphold those rights, “ensuring public safety while protecting the freedoms of expression and assembly and the rights of the press.”