Australian reporter shot with rubber bullet while covering LA protests
Nationals senator Matt Canavan commented that “it looks like there was a targeting there”
An Australian reporter was shot with a rubber bullet while covering protests today in Los Angeles against immigration raids.
The incident was captured live on camera.
On Sunday, US authorities, including the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and national guard troops, clashed with demonstrators protesting Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
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Following the incident, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a statement emphasising that "all journalists should be able to do their work safely."
The statement came after Lauren Tomasi, a US correspondent for Nine News, was shot.
"Australia supports media freedom and the protection of journalists," the department added.
Just moments before being shot, Tomasi reported live on the deteriorating situation, "After hours of standing off, this situation has now rapidly deteriorated, the LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of LA."
Seconds later, Tomasi was struck by a rubber bullet. The footage shows an officer aiming toward Tomasi and her camera operator before firing.
In the video, Tomasi can be seen crying out and clutching her calf. A bystander shouted at the officer: "You just f*cking shot the reporter!"
When others asked if she was okay, Tomasi replied, "I'm good."
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to demand "an urgent explanation" from the US administration.
She called the shooting of an Australian journalist "simply shocking" and "completely unacceptable."
"The first thing he \Albanese] must tell the president is to stop shooting at our journalists," Hanson-Young said.
"Freedom of the press is a fundamental pillar of a strong, functioning democracy."
When asked about the incident on ABC, Nationals senator Matt Canavan commented that "it looks like there was a targeting there" but cautioned, "I'm loth to jump to conclusions though when you just see part of the footage."
Canavan added that "a detailed investigation of all these matters" should follow.
Greens senator Nick McKim agreed, stating that the Australian government needed to "make its displeasure at what happened abundantly clear … And it needs to happen now. We don't need to wait."
"It should be done at the highest possible level," McKim told the ABC.
"If the prime minister is not going to pick up the phone, the minister for foreign affairs absolutely should."
