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The video animal sex with girlLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $700,000 settlement with a local reporter who was tackled, handcuffed and arrested while covering an anti-law enforcement protest in Lynwood in 2020.
The board approved the settlement with Josie Huang unanimously, without comment. Huang is a reporter for KPCC, now known as LAist.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Huang said, “I hope it helps deter future assaults on journalists and can be used as a benchmark in other First Amendment cases. You’re free to film law enforcement without fear of injury or your device getting broken. It is our right.”
Huang was arrested Sept. 12, 2020, as she was covering a confrontation involving a handful of protesters at the emergency room entrance of St. Francis Medical Center, where two deputies who had been shot in an ambush near a Compton transit station were being treated.
Video from the scene showed deputies pinning Huang to the ground and arresting her.
The Sheriff’s Department claimed she didn’t have proper media credentials, failed to properly identify herself as a reporter and was “interfering with a lawful arrest” of one of the protesters.
Then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva later accused Huang of getting “right up on the shoulder” of a deputy trying to make an arrest, and said her actions were more “activism” than journalism.
But video from Huang’s cell phone subsequently surfaced, showing her repeatedly identifying herself as a reporter, shouting “KPCC,” and saying, “You’re hurting me” and crying out in apparent pain.
Huang was ultimately cited and released, and prosecutors declined to pursue any charges against her.
According to LAist, the $700,000 settlement is believed to be the largest of its type in the nation involving a journalist whose rights were violated while covering protests that erupted across the country following the death of George Floyd while being arrested by police in Minneapolis.
In a statement to LAist, Huang’s attorney, Katie Townsend, said, “It was our client’s goal to hold officials accountable for her unlawful arrest and to help prevent incidents like it from happening in the future. We are pleased that the settlement we reached with L.A. County … does both.”
The reporter noted that the settlement comes with new training requirements for deputies, who must be briefed on the rights of journalists before going out to events where they may come in contact with members of the media.
Huang thanked “colleagues, friends and strangers who stood up for me and press rights. Most of all thanks to the journalists, many of them independent reporters, who put themselves on the line because the truth is important to them. Top of mind now are the journalists on the ground covering Israel-Palestine, who are making inconceivable sacrifices.”