CNN correspondent Veronica Miracle was struck by tear gas while reporting live from a volatile Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, as clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement intensified outside a federal building.
Miracle was broadcasting from the scene when police and Department of Homeland Security officers fired chemical agents and pepper balls into a crowd that had gathered during protests against recent federal immigration actions.
“There’s so much of the pepper spray still in the air and so many people around us coughing and gagging,” Miracle said on air as the situation rapidly deteriorated.
The confrontation followed a day of coordinated demonstrations across the United States under the banner of the “National Shutdown,” with thousands turning out to protest immigration enforcement policies.
View this post on Instagram
Crowds and chemical agents
The Los Angeles protest escalated after demonstrators reportedly cornered officers and began throwing bottles and rubbish.
Law enforcement responded with pepper balls and tear gas to disperse the crowd, turning the area outside the federal building into a haze of chemical irritants and confusion.
Miracle’s live cross captured the moment the atmosphere shifted, as journalists, protesters and police were all engulfed in the same cloud of spray.
The incident comes just hours after the arrest of former CNN presenter Don Lemon on charges related to an anti-ICE protest. He’s since been released.
Mediaweek will carry a detailed report on both the incident and Lemon’s arrest on Monday.
A familiar danger for journalists
While Miracle’s ordeal unfolded in real time for CNN viewers, it also echoed a recent high-profile case involving Australian media in the same city.
In June last year, 9News US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was struck by a rubber bullet while covering immigration-related protests in downtown Los Angeles, an incident that prompted the Los Angeles Police Department to launch a formal investigation.
At the time, Nine CEO Matt Stanton described the footage of Tomasi being hit as “shocking” and said the network’s immediate focus had been on the safety and well-being of its journalists on the ground.