Australian Journalist Shot by Police During LA Protests Sparks Diplomatic Calls

Greens demand urgent explanation from Trump as Nine News reporter hit by rubber bullet while covering immigration demonstrations

An Australian journalist was deliberately shot with a rubber bullet by Los Angeles police while reporting on protests against immigration raids, sparking calls from federal politicians for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to demand an urgent explanation from US President Donald Trump.

Nine News reporter Lauren Tomasi was targeted and struck by police during coverage of demonstrations that have gripped Los Angeles for three days, with dramatic footage showing an officer aiming directly at the journalist before firing.

Greens communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young called the incident "simply shocking" and "completely unacceptable," demanding immediate government action.

"The prime minister must seek an urgent explanation from the US administration," Hanson-Young said in a statement. "As Albanese is preparing for his first meeting with president Trump, the first thing he must tell the president is to stop shooting at our journalists."

The shooting occurred as Los Angeles endures its third consecutive day of protests sparked by federal immigration raids, with the National Guard deployed by Trump to respond to demonstrations that have seen vehicles torched and multiple arrests made.

Acting Federal Greens leader Nick McKim told ABC's Afternoon Briefing the incident represented "the deliberate targeted shooting of an Australian journalist and an Australian citizen."

"The Prime Minister should be picking up the phone to President Trump, or at the very least, Senator Penny Wong should be picking up the phone to her counterpart in the US and demanding a full investigation and demanding assurances that Australians are safe in the US," McKim said.

The footage shows Tomasi clearly identified as media when struck by the rubber bullet fired by what appears to be a Los Angeles Police Department officer. McKim said he was "very comfortable to call that a deliberate shooting of an Australian."

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