British photographer shot by police during Los Angeles riots

09 Jun 2025 10:24

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British photographer shot by police during Los Angeles riots

Photo: The Times

A British photographer, Nick Stern, 60, from Hertford, was rushed into emergency surgery after being shot by police while covering the ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.

Stern was photographing a tense standoff between demonstrators and armed officers when a 14mm 'sponge bullet' struck him in the thigh, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Stern was photographing a tense standoff between demonstrators and armed officers when a 14mm 'sponge bullet' struck him in the thigh.

Mr Stern said he had been 'making a point as making myself visible as media' before the bullet struck him and plunged him into a state of unconsciousness.

'I felt this horrific shooting pain impacting my leg. I felt down immediately and felt this large lump … protesters came to help and I was just saying, "Sit me down, sit me down"… then I blacked out', he told The Times.

When he first arrived at the scene, the 60-year-old said he was surprised to see how quickly things had 'escalated'.

He recalled witnessing 'a car on fire' and a Black Hawk military helicopter which he says was 'dropping off ammo for ICE, boxes and boxes of it'.

Mr Stern told how officers on the ground were armed with 'less-lethal' weapons such as stun-grenades, which are typically used when deadly force is actively being avoided.

At one point, the photographer even picked up a round labelled an 'exact impact' 40mm sponge bullet, which although is shot from a rifle, consists of a plastic body and sponge nose.

But the 60-year-old, who was previously injured while covering Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, said yesterday's sponge bullet impact felt 'different'.

He said protestors helped him to a nearby kerb after he was hit. He was then assisted by medics who cut a hole in his trousers to reveal a 'giant hole' in his leg.

'The next thing I remember I was waking up and someone was pouring juice into my mouth,' Mr Stern continued.

He was rushed to Long Beach Memorial Hospital where he received X-ray examinations and scans which revealed the gashes on his leg to be '40mm wide and 60mm long'.

And after the National Guard arrived in Los Angeles today, Mr Stern said he fears what could happen over the coming days.

News.Az