The United States has recorded a sharp rise in violence against journalists since Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new report by the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
The non-profit organisation says most of the incidents involved reporters and photographers covering protests against the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Many of the alleged attacks were carried out by law enforcement officers.
The foundation reports that journalists have suffered almost as many assaults this year as in the previous three years combined. By 16 December, it had documented 170 verified assaults. Between 2022 and 2024, there were 175.
Press freedom advocates say protests have become increasingly dangerous places for journalists. When civil unrest erupts, reporters are drawn to the scene, leaving them exposed to crowd-control measures and police force.
Researchers and journalists also point to growing hostility towards the media, fuelled in part by political rhetoric. Trump has repeatedly attacked mainstream media outlets, accused them of spreading falsehoods and publicly insulted journalists.
“When the president models ridicule and delegitimisation, it signals to supporters that journalists are fair targets,” said Lars Willnat, a professor at Syracuse University who studies political polarisation and media trust. He added that such rhetoric makes violence easier to justify when journalists are no longer seen as neutral observers.
In 2025, millions of Americans protested against what they described as authoritarian actions by the administration, including allegations of deportations carried out without due process. Journalists covering these demonstrations say police have sometimes used force indiscriminately, even when it was clear they were present to document events.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation says it only records incidents that can be verified through first-hand accounts or corroborated by multiple news sources.
During an immigration operation known as “Operation Midway Blitz” in the Chicago area, journalists were assaulted 34 times over six weeks outside a detention centre in Broadview, Illinois, the report says.
Stephanie Sugars, a senior reporter at the foundation and author of the report, said protests have consistently been the most dangerous environments for journalists since the organisation launched its incident tracker in 2017.
She noted that journalists were also arrested and assaulted during protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, when Barack Obama was president. While Trump has labelled journalists the “enemy of the people”, Sugars said it was difficult to draw a direct causal link between his rhetoric and specific police actions.
“Trump does not have personal control over every police department,” she said. However, she added that the administration’s policies and language reflect hostility towards the press and could be seen as encouraging aggressive behaviour.
Nick Stern, a Los Angeles-based photographer, said he was seriously injured twice this year while covering protests.
In June, Stern was documenting an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest in Compton when an officer allegedly fired an explosive device that landed near him. He said he was wearing a press badge and standing well away from a barricade. A casing lodged in his thigh, requiring emergency surgery and a four-day hospital stay.
“It was completely unjustified,” Stern said.
After taking several months off to recover, he returned to work and was later struck in the face with a baton by an officer during another protest outside a detention centre in Los Angeles, despite showing his press identification.
Stern has filed lawsuits against the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over the first incident and plans further legal action over the second.
An LAPD spokesperson said the department was investigating allegations of excessive force. A sheriff’s department spokesperson said video footage was still under review and declined to comment on the later incident.
In Chicago, journalist Raven Geary was struck in the face by a pepper ball while covering a protest outside the Broadview detention facility in September. She said she was wearing a press pass and believed officers knew they were targeting journalists.
Geary, along with other reporters, media organisations and protesters, has joined a class-action lawsuit against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. The case alleges violations of the first amendment right to gather news and the fourth amendment protection against excessive force.
In October, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the defendants from using physical force against individuals they should reasonably know are journalists, unless there is probable cause that a crime has been committed.
The defendants argued that violence in the Chicago area justified the use of force. The judge rejected that claim, stating the narrative was “simply untrue”. The ruling is under appeal.
Despite his injuries, Stern says he will continue covering protests.
“We’ll look back at this as a time of enormous turmoil in the US,” he said. “It needs to be documented.”
