A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order that prevents Los Angeles police from using rubber projectiles and less-lethal munitions against journalists covering protests. The ruling came after press rights organizations argued for the protection of journalists' First Amendment rights. Judge Hernán D. Vera cited incidents where LAPD officers targeted identifiable press members. The order prohibits the LAPD from banning journalists from closed protest areas while they gather information and forbids assaulting or obstructing them in their reporting efforts.
Vera's order bars the department from using less-lethal munitions and other crowd-control tools such chemical irritants and flash-bang grenades against journalists who are not posing a threat of imminent harm to an officer or another person.
The judge ruled that the LAPD cannot prohibit a journalist from entering or remaining in protest areas that have been closed off to the public while gathering, receiving, or processing information.
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