At one level, Lauren Tomasi, the U.S. correspondent for Australia’s 9News, was apparently shot by a rubber bullet — at shut vary — whereas reporting dwell at one of many demonstrations in Downtown LA on Sunday.

“After hours of standing off, this case has now quickly deteriorated,” Tomasi stated to the digicam outdoors the Metropolitan Detention Heart in Los Angeles.

“The LAPD transferring in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, transferring them on by way of the guts of LA,” she continued.

It is then, seconds after wrapping up a dwell shot with Australia, that she was seemingly hit by a type of identical rubber bullets by an officer behind her.

In footage from the scene, Tomasi yelps and clutches her leg, whereas a bystander could be heard yelling, “You simply f–king shot the reporter!”

Later, she insisted she was “okay” and each she and her cameraman had been “protected.”

“That is simply one of many unlucky realities of reporting on these sorts of incidents,” she added.

In an announcement, 9, stated: “Lauren Tomasi was struck by a rubber bullet. Lauren and her digicam operator are protected and can proceed their important work protecting these occasions.”

“This incident serves as a stark reminder of the inherent risks journalists can face whereas reporting from the frontlines of protests, underscoring the significance of their position in offering very important info,” the community added.

Australia’s Division of Overseas Affairs and Commerce, in the meantime, issued an announcement claiming that “all journalists ought to be capable to do their work safely.”

“Australia helps media freedom and the safety of journalists,” the company stated.

In the meantime, Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Younger has known as for the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, to demand “an pressing rationalization” from the Trump administration.

“US authorities capturing an Australian journalist is just surprising,” Hanson-Younger stated.

“It’s utterly unacceptable and should be known as out. The prime minister should search an pressing rationalization from the US administration,” she continued. “As Albanese is getting ready for his first assembly with President Trump, the very first thing he should inform the president is to cease capturing at our journalists.”

“Freedom of the press is a basic pillar of a robust, functioning democracy,” Hanson-Younger concluded.

On Saturday, Trump ordered 2,000 Nationwide Guard troops to answer the rising protests, which centered round federal buildings in downtown LA, the place ICE officers had been detaining immigrants.

“BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!” Trump posted on Reality Social late Sunday — whereas each California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have stood firmly in opposition to the choice, accusing Trump of escalating the difficulty along with his response.