British photographer undergoes surgery after being shot with 'sponge' bullets during LA protests
9 June 2025, 07:44 | Updated: 9 June 2025, 10:14
A British news photographer has undergone emergency surgery after being hit by non-lethal rounds during protests in Los Angeles.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Nick Stern was documenting a stand-off between anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) protesters and police outside a Home Depot in Paramount, a city in LA county and a location known as a hiring spot for day labourers, when a 14mm "sponge bullet" tore into his thigh.
He told the PA news agency: "My initial concern was, were they firing live rounds?
"Some of the protesters came and helped me, and they ended up carrying me, and I noticed that there was blood pouring down my leg."
He was treated by a medic who urged him to go to hospital. At one point, Mr Stern says he passed out from the pain.
The photographer is now recovering at Long Beach Memorial Medical Centre following emergency surgery.
Mr Stern, who emigrated to the US in 2007, said he typically makes himself "as visible as possible" while working in hostile situations.
"That way you're less likely to get hit because they know you're media," he said.
It is the second incident of its kind for Mr Stern, who said he sustained "substantial" bruising after being hit by another live round during the George Floyd protests in 2020.
Mr Stern wasn't the only member of the press to be injured as they reported on protests, after Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot with rubber bullet during a live broadcast.
A bystander was heard to yell, “You just f****** shot the reporter!”
"The communities in LA are very tight and very close-knit," Mr Stern said.
"So an outside organisation like Ice coming in and removing - whatever you want to call it, removing, kidnapping, abducting people from the community - is not going to go down well at all."
It comes after US President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to California to quell the protests, which began on Friday in downtown LA before spreading.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was "essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States".
The decision drew sharp criticism from Democratic politicians, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move "purposefully inflammatory".
Demonstrators have been protesting the Trump administration's immigration raids, which last month aimed to detain as many as 3,000 people per day.
Despite his injury, Mr Stern says he is eager to return to work.
"I intend, as soon as I am well enough, to get back out there," he said.
"This is too important and it needs documenting."
Donald Trump deployed 2,000 troops to the city in a bid to quash largely peaceful protests over the weekend, deploying tear gas as officers dressed in riot gear lined the streets.
Trump vowed on Sunday to "set Los Angeles free" from what he described as "Illegal Aliens and Criminals" backed by "violent, insurrectionist mobs".
The US President drafted in the National Guard on Sunday against the wishes of state officials, with Trump's decision to overrule California governor Gavin Newsome met with condemnation by local leaders.
Protesters were seen filling the streets in response to mass deportations across the state, with tear gas deployed on Sunday afternoon as officers in riot gear lined the streets.
So far 56 arrests have been made during the protests in Los Angeles, police chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference.
Three LADP officers were injured but did not require transport.
Among those arrested was a person accused of ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers, injuring one, and a person who allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at an officer.
