Police during the recent protests in Los Angeles shot this woman with what looks like “less lethal” ammunition. They shot her at point blank range. The assault occurred when the woman was walking alone on a residential street not far from her home. So when another woman witnessed it all play out and recorded it on video, it went viral. The footage has since circulated on social media, drawing widespread attention to the aggressive tactics employed by police during ongoing demonstrations.
One local resident recounted how she was simply walking down her own street when officers shot her with a rubber bullet. These munitions are frequently described as non-lethal ammunition. Even though these munitions are termed “less lethal,” they can still inflict life-altering harms. At worst, they have resulted in death. Their use has been well documented in causing lingering trauma, including vision loss.
They killed her and shot her at point-blank range,” screamed the woman videotaping the encounter. She emphasized how shocking the police response was. This incident brings new scrutiny to the Los Angeles Police Department’s management of protests. Their actions—firing flashbangs, teargas, and rubber bullets—have rightly come under huge scrutiny.
Lauren Tomasi, an Australian reporter for Al Jazeera, was hit in the leg by a rubber bullet. She just so happened to be reporting live from those protests at the time. These incidents should raise deep alarm. It’s just one example of how they’ve drawn attention to the negative impacts of police use of crowd control tactics on civilians and journalists.
This video documentation brings to the forefront an increasingly combative attitude of police toward protestors in Los Angeles. As protests have spread across the country, local and national media have published multiple stories depicting the police’s use of pepper balls in addition to other munitions. As of publication, the Los Angeles Police Department had not responded to requests for comment on this story. Specifically, they remained quiet on their use of force as a whole throughout the protests.
“I live here,” highlighting her right to be in the neighborhood and the questions that should be asked about police actions taken against people living in their own homes.