L.A. TACO has been made aware of an incident caught on video, involving an LAPD officer aiming and shooting a less-lethal round towards our staff investigate reporter, Lexis-Olivier Ray while he was covering Downtown L.A.'s No Kings rally on Alameda Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue on Saturday night at 8:45 PM.
He was clearly identified as a member of the press, wearing a press pass in a lanyard over L.A. TACO's custom shirt, made for our journalists while covering rallies, and bearing the words "PRESS" on the front and back.
The video appears to show the officer violating the federal court order recently issued that bars Los Angeles police officers from shooting less-lethal rounds at journalists covering protests.
This event comes a month after Ray sued the department for violating his First Amendment rights while he was covering the sweep of a homeless encampment.
We are looking into the matter and support Lexis in his coverage, holding police accountable for nearly five years now.
L.A. TACO remains committed to our street-level journalism. Rubber bullets or police accusing us of being "fake journalists" are not going to stop our award-winning coverage.
