Journalist shoved, phone briefly stolen during clashes at LA protest

Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved multiple times and her phone briefly stolen while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least nine journalists were assaulted while covering the violence that day.

The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement called for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.

Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN reported that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.

Berg was targeted with aggressions multiple times throughout the day, according to reports from other journalists covering the protests. Berg did not respond to requests for comment.

Investigative journalist Kate Burns, who was covering the protest for Left Coast Right Watch, captured footage shortly after 2 p.m. of multiple men watching Berg film the protests. At 0:11 in the clip, one man appears to lightly push a second toward Berg. The second man then crashes into her with his shoulder and raised arms, toppling her several feet over and sending her phone flying.

When Burns confronts the man about what happened, he responds simply with, “I got pushed.” Later in the clip, the same man appears to attempt to block multiple journalists from filming.

After police cleared the area surrounding the synagogue, the pro-Palestinian demonstrators began to move back and the pro-Israeli protesters followed and chased them through the neighborhood, according to reports to the Tracker.

Independent photojournalist Nick Stern said that he and Berg were standing on a grassy embankment when a pro-Israeli protester carrying a large yellow flag came up to them and tried to block his shot.

Another pro-Israeli protester shoved Berg off the embankment before then grabbing Stern’s video camera as he was recording. Stern shared the video of the incidents with the Tracker.

The protests eventually looped back to Adas Torah, which is when independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel said a switch flipped and violence escalated, particularly with the targeting of journalists.

Beginning at 1:20 in footage captured by KCAL-TV, Berg can be seen running toward the right side of the street; when the camera zooms in, she can be seen grabbing what looks to be a cellphone from the hands of an individual who appears to be wearing a skullcap. As she walks back toward the protest, another man stands in her way and prevents her from continuing forward. The clip ended without showing how the interaction ended.

Around that same time, another demonstrator grabbed the phone from Burns’ hands and ran off, dropping it on the sidewalk when he noticed police nearby, the reporter told the Tracker.

The LAPD said in a news release that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.