LAPD Arrest of Journalist at ICE Raid Fuels Press Freedom Fears

Los Angeles police officers arrested journalist Anthony Orendorff while he was documenting a federal immigration raid in Pacoima on June 19. He spent four days behind bars without bail on charges of battery of an officer before the case was dropped and he was released. 

“It’s bittersweet because I’m out, but there’s a lot of people still in,” Orendorff said. “There’s a lot of people we still got to fight for. But this is a win for us … this is what power really looks like.”

Adam Rose, chair of the Los Angeles Press Club’s press rights committee, says the implications of Orendorff’s arrest are “chilling,” and the arrest continues a pattern of violence and intimidation by the Los Angeles Police Department that discourages journalists from reporting. 

“Democracy cannot function without an informed public, but an informed public cannot exist without a free press,” Rose said.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and the LAPD did not respond to requests for comment on Orendorff’s arrest. 

Rose and legal experts have called on LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and civic officials for more intensive police training on crowd control and press rights, and to release body camera footage of Orendorff’s arrest. David Loy, legal director at the First Amendment Coalition, says that transparency is necessary for accountability.

“Because at the end of the day, the government works for the people. The people don’t work for the government,” Loy said.

However, years of demands for police reform from press freedom groups have resulted in little gained ground. Indeed, there was a large uptick in police arresting journalists across the nation in 2024, and a sharp spike in incidents involving violation of press freedoms in June of this year, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has promised ICE raids in Los Angeles will continue, prompting advocates and members of the press to worry that more journalists will end up in Orendorff’s position, or worse.

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