Reporter shoved, struck by police while documenting LA protest

Los Angeles Daily News reporter Ryanne Mena was pushed by police and struck with a baton by an officer on horseback while documenting the “No Kings” protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 18, 2025.

Mena told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was not on assignment that evening but had gone to document the event, informing her editors.

She said the protest, one of thousands nationwide that day voicing opposition to the Trump administration, was peaceful up until 7:30 p.m., when the Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly.

By that point, Mena was near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where officers had already blocked off part of the area with police tape.

“They wouldn’t let members of the press through,” she said.

When the police line began advancing down the street, Mena said mounted officers pushed through both protesters and members of the press. When one officer on foot pushed her, Mena reminded her she was a journalist.

“She looked down and saw my credentials and kind of backed off,” Mena said.

As the crowd was pushed farther down the street, Mena remained on the sidewalk filming when she said she and other journalists were violently shoved. She said she felt a pole-like object, which she believes was a police baton, swing against her left arm, leaving a bruise.

“It all happened so fast,” said Mena, who added that police officers also deployed crowd-control munitions into the gathering.

Mena, who was wearing a tactical vest marked “press” and two visible press credentials around her neck, said she couldn’t definitively say if she was targeted as a member of the media in either incident.

“It was pretty clear that we were there just documenting events, and that didn’t protect us,” she added.

The police actions at the rally appeared to violate a state law prohibiting officers from using force against members of the press.

They also seemed to flout a preliminary injunction issued earlier this fall that bars the LAPD during protests from restricting press access to areas that are not crime scenes.

The LAPD said in a statement that it is investigating all use-of-force incidents from Oct. 18 and could not comment on active investigations.