mA journalist was injured on air during a chaotic moment in California as police and protesters clashed over a series of controversial detentions.
Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was struck by a rubber bullet during a live broadcast while covering immigration protests in Downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Her on-air injury highlights the rising tension following federal immigration raids.
Lauren Tomasi reporting from Downtown Los Angeles during confrontations between the U.S. National Guard and protestors on June 8, 2025 | Source: Youtube/9 News Australia
As a U.S. correspondent, Tomasi was reporting live for 9 News Australia when the situation took a sharp turn.
“The LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of L.A.,” she explained at the beginning of the video posted by the broadcast channel on X.
While she stood in front of the camera, continuing to describe the rising hostility, a guard’s weapon appeared to discharge in the background, with visible smoke emerging.
Lauren Tomasi reporting from Downtown Los Angeles during confrontations between the U.S. National Guard and protestors on June 8, 2025 | Source: Youtube/9 News Australia
Less than a second later, Tomasi shouted “WOAH,” then reached down toward her foot and stumbled out of the shot. Someone off-camera could be heard shouting at the guard, “You just [expletive] shot the reporter!”
Despite the chaos, a few seconds later, she told her cameraman, “I’m good,” as the scene continued to unravel around her.
Lauren Tomasi after being shot in the leg in Downtown Los Angeles during confrontations between the U.S. National Guard and protestors on June 8, 2025 | Source: Youtube/9 News Australia
Tomasi also took to Instagram, posting a series of updates that documented the unfolding chaos. One photo showed armed military personnel stationed beside large army trucks. Her caption read: “Today, DTLA.”
Lauren Tomasi’s Instagram story from her coverage of the Los Angeles protests on June 8, 2025 | Source: Instagram/laurentomasi
Another depicted armed guards standing between protesters and police, with her caption reading, “What began as pretty calm, has turned into chaos. Cars have been set on fire in Downtown LA.”
Lauren Tomasi’s Instagram story from her coverage of the Los Angeles protests on June 8, 2025 | Source: Instagram/laurentomasi
She also shared a snapshot of her smartwatch, which warned of an “abnormal high heart rate detected.”
In her final update from Sunday, she showed guards still on the street, with the caption: “7:30pm DTLA. Flash bang grenades still going off. The 101 shutdown. [sic]”
Lauren Tomasi’s Instagram story from her coverage of the Los Angeles protests on June 8, 2025 | Source: Instagram/laurentomasi
These protests erupted on June 6, after dozens of people were detained during immigration enforcement operations across Los Angeles. Unfortunately, what started as peaceful demonstrations intensified throughout the weekend.
On June 7, President Donald Trump’s administration announced the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to the city.
That same day, federal agents encountered protesters in the Paramount area of southeast Los Angeles. Demonstrators waved Mexican flags and chanted slogans such as “ICE out of L.A.!”
Another demonstration in Downtown Los Angeles attracted around 60 protesters by nightfall. As tensions mounted, security forces in gas masks lined the streets, and small explosions from flash bangs filled the air.
Protester Ron Gochez, 44, voiced his anger during a rally: “Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people—they cannot do that without an organized and fierce resistance.”
In video footage of the Paramount protest, green-uniformed officers were shown navigating a street littered with overturned shopping carts and smoke-filled air.
After midnight on Saturday night, the LAPD posted on X: “Multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued.” But no further information was provided.
On Sunday, the demonstrations continued. Cars burned, streets were shut down, and protesters continued to demand answers about the arrests and raids.
Meanwhile, the federal response to the protests drew criticism from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the deployment of National Guard troops “purposefully inflammatory.”
In a post on X, he stated, “Not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle. Don’t give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully.”
Newsom also referred to Hegseth’s comments about deploying active-duty Marines as “deranged behavior.”
Additionally, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had already condemned the raids in a formal statement.
However, the government kept its stance. Trump posted on Truth Social that if Newsom and Bass couldn’t do their jobs, the federal government would step in to stop the riots and looting.
Furthermore, White House aide Stephen Miller referred to the protests as a “violent insurrection,” while Vice President JD Vance accused demonstrators of “attacking immigration enforcement officers” and criticized Democratic leaders for opposing border enforcement.
Despite the charged rhetoric, the federal government has not yet invoked the Insurrection Act, though officials confirmed that the National Guard was positioned to respond within 24 hours if needed. The last use of the 1807 law came during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
This tense situation comes after Trump’s promise to deport a record number of people living in the U.S. illegally and to close the country’s border with Mexico. Several raids have been conducted in the past weeks.
In Los Angeles, ICE agents passed through Home Depot stores, a garment factory, and a warehouse. Their operations targeted areas where day laborers and street vendors often work.
At least 44 people were arrested on immigration violations, though concerns have emerged that even legal residents may have been affected by the broad sweep.
Angelica Salas, executive director of the immigrants’ rights group Chirla, said that attorneys have not had access to those detained on Friday and that the lack of transparency is “very worrying.”
As tensions continue to build in Los Angeles, Tomasi’s injury adds another layer to the growing debate over how immigration enforcement and protest responses are handled in the United States.
