targeting journalists<\/a> and nonviolent protesters \u2014 are overly broad and impractical. Vera rejected Soto\u2019s request, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is taking up the matter, with a hearing tentatively set for mid-November.<\/p>\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1761967633_159_\")
<\/p>\n
A counterprotestor is arrested after approaching Trump supporters holding a rally in Tujunga in 2020. <\/p>\n
(Kyle Grillot \/ AFP \/ via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Smith said in his lawsuit that he wouldn\u2019t put his name on the Tujunga declaration because he had reviewed evidence that showed officers flouting LAPD rules on beanbag shotguns, as well as launchers that fire 37mm and 40mm projectiles \u2014 roughly the size of mini soda cans \u2014 at over 200 mph.<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s lawsuit said the launchers are intended to be \u201ctarget specific,\u201d or fired at individuals who pose a threat \u2014 not to disperse a crowd. <\/p>\n
Smith said he raised alarms for months after the Tujunga protest, which occurred amid outrage over the police killings nationwide of Black and Latino people at the end of President Trump\u2019s first term. <\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t until the city got sued, Smith\u2019s complaint said, that incidents he flagged started to receive attention.<\/p>\n
The city has denied the allegations in Smith\u2019s lawsuit, saying in court filings that each LAPD use of force case was thoroughly investigated.<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s lawsuit cites emails to senior LAPD officials that he says show efforts to sanitize the department\u2019s handling of excessive force complaints from the protests. <\/p>\n
An internal task force deemed most of the citizen complaints \u201cunfounded.\u201d Yet nearly two dozen of those cases were later reopened after Smith and a small team of officers found that the department\u2019s review missed a litany of policy violations, his lawsuit says.<\/p>\n
Smith also called out what he saw as \u201cproblematic bias\u201d in the way what occurred at the Tujunga protest was reported up the chain of command. <\/p>\n
His complaint describes a presentation given to then-Chief Michel Moore that downplayed the severity of the damage caused by less-lethal projectiles. According to Smith, the report omitted photos of \u201cextensive injuries\u201d suffered by one woman, who said in a lawsuit that she had to undergo plastic surgery after getting shot in the chest at close range with a beanbag round.<\/p>\n
The LAPD stopped using bean-bag shotguns at protests after a state law banned the practice, but the department still allows officers to use the weapons in other situations, such as when subduing an uncooperative suspect.<\/p>\n
![\"LAPD](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1761967634_448_\")
<\/p>\n
Los Angeles police officers attempt to stop a confrontation between Trump supporters and counterprotestors during a pro-Trump rally in Tujunga in 2020.<\/p>\n
(Kyle Grillot \/ AFP \/ via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Alan Skobin, a former police commissioner and a friend of Smith\u2019s, told The Times he was in the room when Smith received a call in April 2021 from the city attorney\u2019s office about the declaration he refused to sign.<\/p>\n
The exchange appeared to turn tense, Skobin recalled, as Smith repeated that details contained in the document were a \u201clie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skobin said he wondered whether the assistant city attorney went \u201cback and examined the videotaped and all the other evidence.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I would hope would happen,\u201d Skobin said.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles city attorney, Karen Richardson, provided The Times with a California State Bar report that said there was insufficient evidence to discipline the lawyer involved; the case was closed in June 2024.<\/p>\n
Richardson declined further comment, citing Smith\u2019s pending lawsuit.<\/p>\n
According to Smith, other high-ranking LAPD officials went along with the misleading story that the officers in Tujunga acted in response to being overwhelmed by a hostile crowd.<\/p>\n
Smith claims he faced retaliation for reporting a fellow captain who said police were justified in using force against a protester who held a placard turned sideways \u201cso that the pole can be used as a weapon against officers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Body camera footage showed a different version of events, Smith said, with officers launching an unjustified assault on the man and others around him.<\/p>\n
The colleague that Smith reported, German Hurtado, has since been promoted to deputy chief. <\/p>\n
The city has denied the allegations in court filings. When reached for comment on Friday, Hurtado said he was limited in what he could say because the litigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what I understand all that\u2019s been investigated and it was unfounded,\u201d he said, referencing Smith\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lawsuit, I don\u2019t know where it\u2019s and I don\u2019t know anything about it. No one\u2019s talked to me. No one\u2019s deposed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Critics argue that the LAPD continues to violate rules that prohibit targeting journalists during demonstrations.<\/p>\n
After a peaceful daytime \u201cNo Kings Day\u201d protest downtown Oct. 18, about 100 to 200 people lingered outside downtown\u2019s Metropolitan Detention Center after nightfall. Police declared an unlawful assembly and officers began firing 40mm projectiles. <\/p>\n
Lexis-Olivier Ray, a reporter for the news site L.A. Taco who regularly covers demonstrations, was among those hit by the rounds.<\/p>\n
![\"Hundreds](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1761967635_97_\")
<\/p>\n
Hundreds participate in the No Kings Day of Peaceful Action in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 18. <\/p>\n
(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
In a video shared widely online, an LAPD officer can be heard justifying the incident by saying they were firing at \u201cfake\u201d journalists.<\/p>\n
An LAPD spokesperson said the incident with Ray is under internal investigation and could offer no further comment.<\/p>\n
Ray said it wasn\u2019t the first time he\u2019d been struck by less-lethal rounds at protests despite years of legislation and court orders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty discouraging that stuff like this keeps happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1761967636_169_\")
<\/p>\n
Jim McDonnell was introduced by Mayor Karen Bass to serve as LAPD chief during a news conference at City Hall on Oct. 4, 2024.<\/p>\n
(Ringo Chiu \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell defended the department at the Police Commission\u2019s weekly meeting Tuesday, saying the \u201cNo Kings\u201d protesters who remained downtown after dark were shining lasers at officers, and throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks.<\/p>\n
Asked about the incident involving Ray, the chief said he didn\u2019t want to comment about it publicly, but would do so \u201coffline\u201d \u2014 drawing jeers from some in the audience who demanded an explanation.<\/p>\n
McDonnell told the commission that he supported the city\u2019s efforts to lift the court\u2019s injunction. Easing the restrictions, he said, would \u201callow our officers to have access to less-lethal force options so that we don\u2019t have to escalate beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Times staff writer Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was April 2021 and the LAPD was facing sharp criticism over its handling of mass protests against…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":347062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[161581,1582,276,2451,3040,2530,8141,2961,170332,128294,224,5337,9105,170334,4531,170331,170333,1809,4157,61480],"class_list":{"0":"post-347061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-alan-skobin","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-city","12":"tag-department","13":"tag-force","14":"tag-incident","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-lapd-captain","17":"tag-lexis-olivi-ray","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-losangeles","20":"tag-month","21":"tag-nonviolent-protester","22":"tag-officer","23":"tag-own-lawsuit","24":"tag-police-tactic","25":"tag-protest","26":"tag-smith","27":"tag-tujunga"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115472318209134009","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}