A series of protests took place in Los Angeles on Sunday as residents shared their displeasure with ICE raids in the area. The events were covered by news/talk stations like KFI-AM 640 and KNX News, with their reporters being subjected to tear gas from military personnel in the process.
The National Guard and the California National Guard were called in to quell some of the protests as crowds began to gather.
Ultimately, tear gas and pepper spray were used to disperse protesters in the area. At the time, news reporters were on the scene and were also subjected to the chemical compounds.
At KFI-AM 640, reporter Micahel Monks was on the air when the gas was deployed. He later lost signal with his equipment and was forced to continue his reporting by utilizing his cell phone as a conduit between the studio and the scene in the streets.
KFI weekend host Chris Merrill later recapped Monks’ reporting and how afraid he was as the scene unfolded.
“I have to be perfectly honest with you, I was scared,” said Merrill. “I didn’t think he got murdered or anything, but I was scared for the guy. You lose a signal, I’m not there, I can’t see it, I have no idea what’s happening. So I’m left trying to tap dance a little bit. It’s what we do on the radio. Fortunately, I get a text message from Michael that said — this is a consummate news man — ‘Get me back on the air. Get me back.’ We’re trying to get his technical stuff figured out.”
Elsewhere, at KNX News, reporter Pete Demetriou was on location when the pepper spray was deployed. He noted that the size of the crowd had grown rapidly and things “went south, real fast.”
“Clouds of choking pepper gas spray were moving north … We got caught with it,” said Demetriou. “Got a heck of a dose. That sort of cut off my broadcast. I apologize to the audience for that. When your throat gets marinated with that stuff, it sort of chokes out your ability to talk, let alone breathe.
“People were grabbing bottles of water that they either had or were in cases on the street and were pouring on their face to get the pepper gas out of there,” he continued. “You can still smell it in the air. It saturated everything, the trees, the sidewalks. My clothes are probably going to need a very good dry cleaning. I don’t think I’m going to go home and wash them in the washer.”
Things between protestors and military personnel eventually calmed, but not before cars had been destroyed and what was reported as at least $750,000 in damage had been done.
Reporters for both KFI-AM 640 and KNX News showcased photographs from the streets.
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