Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has raised concerns with the Trump administration over the police response to protests in Los Angeles after an Australian reporter was shot with a rubber bullet. Footage shows an officer aiming in the direction of Nine News correspondent Lauren Tomasi and her camera operator, then firing just after Tomasi finished speaking on Sunday. It's "horrific" to watch, Albanese said Monday, adding he's spoken with the "resilient" Tomasi. "We don't find it acceptable that it occurred," he said, per the Guardian. "And we think that the role of the media is particularly important."
Nine News said the incident was "shocking" and raised "valid questions around what could in any way have justified the actions taken by the police officer." Albanese noted there was "no ambiguity" that Tomasi, holding a bright blue microphone and speaking into a camera, was a reporter. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, meanwhile, said he has seen the footage, is "very concerned," and is investigating what happened.
Tomasi, who suffered what she described as "a bloody big old bruise," wasn't the only journalist to be struck. British news photographer says he required emergency surgery after a three-inch "plastic bullet" embedded into his thigh on Saturday as he was observing the protests with a camera and press card around his neck, per the BBC. ABC Australia reports one of its camera operators was shot in the chest with a non-lethal round but was uninjured. He was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, per the Guardian. (More Los Angeles protests stories.)
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