Federal agents likely used excessive and retaliatory force against journalists and protesters at Los Angeles anti-deportation protests in June, violating their First Amendment rights, a federal judge said.
US District Judge Hernan D. Vera on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction to block further “savagery,” in a case brought by press groups, legal observers, and protesters against federal agents who launched tear gas canisters at people, shot them with rubber bullets, and targeted journalists who stood far from protesters.
He barred federal agents from threatening, assaulting, or dispersing journalists and legal observers; using crowd control weapons on or firing projectiles at …