LOS ANGELES – A journalist for the website L.A. Taco filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday, alleging officers have repeatedly interfered with his constitutional right to document sweeps of homeless encampments throughout the city.
Lexis-Olivier Ray said officers and city sanitation employees have wrongfully threatened him with arrest – and in one instance actually placed him in handcuffs – as he tried to report on encampment sweeps in Skid Row and West L.A. between August and November of last year, according to the complaint.
“I tried to resolve the issue outside of a courtroom. But instead of trying to come to an understanding, LAPD officers responded by arresting me and holding me in the back of a patrol car in handcuffs for nearly an hour, before releasing me without any charges,” Ray said in a statement. “At a time when the First Amendment is being threatened by people in power, and journalists are under attack, it’s more important than ever to reaffirm our rights to film police and government officials in public spaces without threats of arrest.”…