Los Angeles police officers fired more than 1,000 projectiles at protesters on a single day in June, according to a state-mandated LAPD report released Monday that tallied bean bags, rubber and foam rounds and tear gas used during several days of demonstrations.
The report said officers fired 34 rounds on June 6 at an estimated 100 people and discharged 1,040 projectiles on June 8 at about 6,000 people. That June 8 figure included 20 rounds of CS gas, a type of tear gas, and the department reported six injuries resulting from projectiles. The department said 584 police officers responded that day.
Tensions escalated in downtown Los Angeles as National Guard troops arrived to patrol federal buildings and crowds responded to the Trump administration’s immigration policies and the decision to deploy the Guard. The report described property damage and attacks on officers, saying some protesters vandalized buildings, set fire to vehicles including self-driving cars, and hurled rocks, chunks of concrete, Molotov cocktails and other objects at law enforcement. Demonstrators also blocked a major freeway.
The LAPD report said officers issued multiple unlawful assembly orders and used munitions to disperse crowds that did not leave. A box on the report form labeled “Other de-escalation techniques or other alternatives to force attempted” was left blank.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported deploying more than 2,500 projectiles on June 8 with just over 80 deputies on scene, and the California Highway Patrol, whose 153 officers responded to protesters on the 101 Freeway, estimated using 271 rounds against roughly 2,000 people. The tallies, especially the sheriff’s figure given the number of deputies, drew scrutiny from retired LAPD Lieutenant Jeff Wenninger, who said commanders appeared to be defaulting to older crowd-control practices rather than relying on the 2021 state restrictions.
California law enacted in 2021 restricts the use of less-lethal munitions, requiring alternatives to force be tried before deploying such weapons, prohibiting indiscriminate aiming into crowds or at heads and other vital organs, and barring use solely for curfew violations or failure to comply with dispersal orders. Civil and legal fallout from the protests has already begun: a protester who lost a finger after being struck by a projectile has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and the sheriff’s department, and after several journalists were struck by munitions a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing police from using rubber projectiles and other specified munitions against reporters.
Josh Parker, deputy director of policy at NYU’s Policing Project, said the volume of projectiles used in a short window was troubling and suggested the law and best-practice crowd management may have been violated. “If that’s how you police a protest, then you’re policing it wrong,” he said.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore (formerly reported as Jim McDonnell in earlier statements) said the department planned a comprehensive evaluation of each use-of-force incident. In a June statement to the Los Angeles Times, the department characterized the days of protest as "dangerous, fluid and ultimately violent" and said 52 officers required medical treatment. The department said officers were justified in their actions to prevent further harm.
The release of the report comes as lawmakers, civil liberties groups and local officials continue to examine the use of less-lethal munitions in crowd-control operations and whether agencies complied with state law and department policies during the protests. Independent reviews and litigation stemming from the incidents are expected to shape policy and accountability discussions in Los Angeles and beyond.