Los Angeles erupted in outrage when live video captured the moment veteran reporter Carlos Mendoza was struck by a police projectile while covering an anti-ICE protest in Echo Park. The chilling clip, broadcast by local station KLAX-TV and shared across social media under #PressUnderFire, shows Mendoza stepping forward to record officers in riot gear when a rubber bullet—later confirmed by LAPD as “less-lethal”—slammed into his chest, sending him sprawling backward.
Mendoza had been on air for minutes, narrating the tense standoff between hundreds of demonstrators and a phalanx of officers deployed to enforce an injunction against encampments near the ICE detention center. “We’re witnessing peaceful marchers chanting ‘No more deportations,’” he told viewers, microphone in hand. Seconds later, a loud crack echoed across the square, and the onlookers gasped as Mendoza dropped to the ground.
Live: KLAX reporter Carlos Mendoza just got hit by an LAPD rubber bullet while covering the protest. Unacceptable. #PressUnderFire— Emily Chen (@emilychennews) July 15, 2025
By the time paramedics reached him, Mendoza was conscious but struggling to breathe. Witnesses say an officer shouted, “Ceasefire!” and order was restored, but not before more projectiles flew into the fleeing crowd. Protest organizer Marisol Torres uploaded a harrowing cell-phone video showing her colleague bleeding on the asphalt as fellow reporters and medics rushed to help.
The footage sparked a torrent of condemnation. The Committee to Protect Journalists demanded an immediate investigation, noting that attacking the press violates both U.S. law and international standards for freedom of expression. “Journalists have a right to cover protests without fear of being shot,” CPJ said in a statement linked by its website.
Under California law, officers can use “less-lethal” force only when faced with imminent threat. Yet body-cam footage released by the LAPD shows Mendoza standing well back from the line, his camera pointed at officers who themselves were not under attack. Deputy Chief Ramon Salazar defended the action in a press briefing broadcast on KCBS: “Our personnel were responding to projectiles thrown by protesters. The rounds were aimed downrange; any reporter struck was collateral damage in a dynamic situation.”
LAPD says they were returning fire. But video shows no projectiles coming from Carlos or his team. #CollateralDamage— Local Watchdog (@LAWatchdog) July 15, 2025
Journalism ethicist Dr. Fiona McAllister of USC’s Annenberg School blasted the explanation as “a gross distortion of the facts.” In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, she wrote, “When police weaponize crowd-control against the press, they erode the pillars of democracy.”
Meanwhile, Mendoza was hospitalized with a fractured sternum and collapsed lung. His family says he will need weeks of recovery before returning to the field. Fellow journalists rallied outside California Hospital, holding placards reading “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” and chanting “Protect the Press!” under a blazing July sun.
Dozens of reporters gather to protest attack on their colleague. “We’re not targets.” #Solidarity— Karen Lee (@karenleela) July 15, 2025
Legal experts note that Mendoza’s case could form the basis for a civil rights lawsuit. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, individuals injured by wrongful police action may seek damages. Attorney Leah Patel, who specializes in First Amendment and civil-liberties cases, told Reuters that “the evidence appears strong: he was clearly identifiable as press, shot without warning, and posed no threat.”
In response, the ACLU’s Los Angeles chapter announced a probe into LAPD tactics at the protest. Their statement, shared on the group’s website, called for video release of all interactions and for oversight by the state’s attorney general.
Public outcry reached City Hall, where councilmember Sofia Martinez introduced a motion demanding independent review of the department’s crowd-control policies and mandatory media-safety training for officers. “The press is not the enemy,” Martinez declared at a City Council session livestreamed by KCET. “They hold power to account.”
Despite the furor, Mayor Eric Garcetti defended the LAPD, urging patience until the internal affairs unit completes its review. “We stand by our brave officers,” he said in a brief tweet—but added that “any misconduct must be addressed swiftly.”
National outlets have since picked up the story. The New York Times ran an in-depth feature on the perils journalists face in modern protests, while NPR’s “All Things Considered” aired interviews with press-freedom advocates and Mendoza’s producer, Alicia Chen, who described the terrifying scramble to shield cameras even as Mendoza lay wounded.
“We’re out there so you can see the truth. Don’t make us risk our lives for your information.” #PressFreedom— NPR (@NPR) July 16, 2025
As echoes of “JOURNALISTS NOT TARGETS” reverberate across Los Angeles, Mendoza’s colleagues vow to continue coverage of the ICE protests—and of their fallen comrade’s landmark case. The horrifying footage that first drew national attention now symbolizes more than one man’s injury; it stands as a dire warning that when police fire on reporters, the very foundation of free society trembles.
