Media
The journalist who celebrated jailing an anti-lockdown organiser has been shot by a rubber bullet covering LA protests.
Lauren Tomasi, a US correspondent for 9News, was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while reporting live from protests in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. The protests erupted following President Donald Trump's mass immigration enforcement raids across California.
Footage of the incident shows Tomasi finishing a live segment near the Metropolitan Detention Center when an LAPD officer behind her raised his weapon and fired. She cried out in pain, grabbed her lower leg, and was quickly moved away from the police line by her cameraman. Off camera, a voice could be heard shouting: "You just shot the reporter."
Tomasi later confirmed she was unharmed, telling 9News: "I'm OK. My cameraman Jimmy and I are both safe. This is just one of the unfortunate realities of reporting on these kinds of incidents."
Here's what most outlets covering this story left out entirely.
This is the same journalist who previously celebrated the jailing of an Australian who organised anti-lockdown protests during COVID. That organiser was Anthony Khallouf — the founder of Australians vs. The Agenda — who was sentenced to eight months in jail for helping coordinate protests against some of the most authoritarian lockdown measures in the world.
When Australians took to the streets to protest government overreach, the media cheered as they were arrested. Now that a journalist is on the receiving end of a rubber bullet, suddenly press freedom matters.
The mainstream media spent years celebrating the suppression of dissent during COVID — backing vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and the criminalisation of protest. Journalists like Tomasi had no problem with state violence when it was being used against everyday Australians who simply wanted their freedoms back.
Australia's political class was quick to respond. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called the rubber bullet incident "shocking" and "completely unacceptable", urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise the matter with President Trump directly. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said he was glad the reporter was okay.
These are the same politicians and media figures who said nothing — or actively supported — the arrest and imprisonment of Australians who peacefully protested COVID restrictions. The silence then was deafening. The outrage now is telling.
At least 31 attacks on journalists were recorded during the LA protests according to Reporters Without Borders, with 27 coming from law enforcement. British photographer Nick Stern required emergency surgery after also being struck. A CNN crew was briefly detained before being released.
We do not celebrate anyone being shot — including Lauren Tomasi. Violence against journalists is wrong, full stop. But we will not pretend the hypocrisy here doesn't exist. The Australian media spent years cheering on the persecution of people who protested for freedom. Now they want sympathy when the boot is on the other foot.
Press freedom matters. It mattered when Anthony was jailed. It mattered when Australians were fined for attending protests. It matters now. The difference is — we've always believed that. The question is whether they do.
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