A reporter from La Taco’s website filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday, accusing officials of repeated interference in his constitutional rights, documenting the sweep of homeless camps throughout the city.
Lexis-Olivier Ray said officials and city health workers had been arrested for errors and actually placed him in handcuffs – he tried to report camp sweeps in Skid Row and West La between August and November last year.
“I tried to resolve issues outside the court. However, instead of trying to understand, LAPD officials responded to arresting me and holding me behind the patrol car for nearly an hour, and then released me without any charges,” Ray said in a statement. “When the First Amendment was threatened by those in power and journalists were attacked, we reiterated that our rights to film police and government officials in public places are more important than ever before.”
In some cases, lightning crossed yellow crime scene tape. But his attorney Peter Bibring argued that the videotape was brought by health workers rather than police, and that no incident was an active crime scene.
City workers claim Ray is interfering in his business and “workspace,” but the lawsuit believes other publics are able to travel through the area and he does not cause any damage.
“LAPD has never been able to get the basic view that the First Amendment prohibits them from closing areas to the press unless it requires specific and overwhelming concerns,” Bibring said.
Jennifer Forkish, LAPD’s communications director, said that while she was unable to comment on the pending lawsuit, the department “fully recognizes the press’s right to cover public places and police activities.”
“Our officials are trained to respect these rights while maintaining public safety,” she said.
The city attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit comes at a time when LAPD’s treatment of the press is under increasing court scrutiny.
Last week, Judge bans police Federal law enforcement has used fewer deadly weapons against journalists in a series of incidents, hurting in immigration attacks against the Trump administration during summer protests. The city also recently settled two lawsuits filed by journalists who claimed they were injured or wrongly arrested during the protests.
Lei’s lawsuit claims that city workers picked him out.
The complaint said that in a September incident, an officer approached Ray and told him “I know exactly who you are” before asking him to leave the area. The lawsuit alleged that when a sanitation worker deliberately hindered his view and ordered him to move back on the public sidewalk, he observed a cleanup behind the yellow tape behind another person.
Last October, a LAPD official suspected of interfering with Lei. Live video X’s reporter posted on X showed that even if the officer told Ray they would “put him on the cuffs”, it showed that the cleaning was still uninterrupted. Ray has never been formally arrested or charged with a crime.
This is not the first time the department faces allegations of retaliation against Thunder. In 2020, he was arrested for failing to disperse during a chaotic celebration after the Dodger World Series victory. A 2021 survey shows That thunder was the only one among hundreds of people on the streets that night, and later tried to commit a crime.
Ultimately, Ray was not charged in that incident.
