A journalist for the web site L.A. Taco filed a federal civil rights lawsuit towards the Los Angeles Police Division on Thursday, alleging officers have repeatedly interfered together with his constitutional proper to doc sweeps of homeless encampments all through town.
Lexis-Olivier Ray mentioned officers and metropolis sanitation staff have wrongfully threatened him with arrest — and in a single occasion really positioned him in handcuffs — as he tried to report on encampment sweeps in Skid Row and West L.A. between August and November of final yr, in keeping with the criticism.
“I attempted to resolve the difficulty outdoors of a courtroom. However as an alternative of making an attempt to come back to an understanding, LAPD officers responded by arresting me and holding me at the back of a patrol automotive in handcuffs for almost an hour, earlier than releasing me with none fees,” Ray mentioned in an announcement. “At a time when the First Modification is being threatened by folks in energy, and journalists are underneath assault, it’s extra essential than ever to reaffirm our rights to movie police and authorities officers in public areas with out threats of arrest.”
In a number of the incidents, Ray had crossed yellow crime scene tape. However his lawyer, Peter Bibring, argued the tape was put up by sanitation staff reasonably than police and that not one of the incidents had been lively crime scenes.
Metropolis staff claimed Ray was interfering with their operations and in a “work zone,” however the go well with contends different members of the general public had been in a position to stroll via the realm and that he created no disruption.
“LAPD constantly fails to get the essential level that the First Modification forbids them from closing areas to the press until its required for a selected and overriding concern,” Bibring mentioned.
Jennifer Forkish, the LAPD’s communications director, mentioned that whereas she couldn’t touch upon pending litigation, the division “totally acknowledges the rights of the press to cowl public areas and police exercise.”
“Our officers are skilled to respect these rights whereas sustaining public security,” she mentioned.
The town lawyer’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The lawsuit comes at a time when LAPD’s therapy of the press has come underneath growing scrutiny in courtrooms.
Final week, a choose barred police and federal legislation enforcement from utilizing less-lethal weapons on journalists after a spate of incidents during which reporters had been harm throughout summer time protests towards the Trump administration’s immigration raids. The town additionally lately settled two lawsuits filed by journalists who claimed they had been injured or wrongfully arrested throughout protests.
Ray’s lawsuit claims metropolis staff singled him out.
Throughout one September incident, an officer approached Ray and instructed him, “I do know precisely who you’re,” earlier than demanding he depart the realm, in keeping with the criticism. In one other, he was observing a cleanup behind the yellow tape when a sanitation employee purposefully obstructed his view and ordered him to maneuver again whereas on a public sidewalk, the go well with alleges.
Final October, an LAPD officer handcuffed Ray on suspicion of interfering with a cleanup. Video from the scene that the reporter posted to X reveals the cleanup work persevering with uninterrupted whilst an officer tells Ray they’ll “put him in cuffs.” Ray was by no means formally arrested or charged with a criminal offense.
This isn’t the primary time the division has confronted accusations of retaliation towards Ray. In 2020, he was arrested for failure to disperse whereas masking chaotic celebrations that adopted the Dodgers’ World Sequence victory. A 2021 Occasions investigation confirmed that Ray was the one individual, among the many lots of within the streets that evening, that the LAPD later sought to have charged with a criminal offense.
Finally, Ray was not charged in that incident.
