Lawsuits being filed against LAPD, LASD over rubber bullet injuries during anti-ICE protests

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Heinous, uncontrolled and violent. That's how one lawyer is describing the behavior of some Los Angeles police officers and deputies during the recent anti-ICE protests in SoCal.

Several people, including journalists, were struck by less-lethal rounds, and now, several lawsuits are being filed. They claim they were unlawfully targeted by law enforcement with less-lethal rounds that left them seriously injured.

When the protests broke out earlier this month, so did the rubber bullets. An Australian reporter wasn't the only journalist hit by less-lethal rounds. Several others were struck, including journalist Ben Camacho.

"You don't shoot reporters here," Camacho said.

Camacho works for The Southlander, an investigative news cooperative, and said he was wearing his press credentials at a protest when sheriff's deputies targeted him.

"It felt like a sledgehammer just hit me, right on my knee... I had somebody help me. We probably went about 15-20 feet when I just feel my elbow just swing forward," said Camacho.

It was another rubber bullet.

"These are 'quote' rubber bullets that have been known to kill and permanently maim and disable people," said Rebecca Brown, Camacho's attorney.

Brown is also representing two other people who were hit with rubber bullets fired by the LAPD, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and the CHP.

Demonstrator Jack Kearns says he was trying to disperse and was running away when he was hit.

"My ears were ringing and I stumbled to the ground... someone had clearly shot me directly in the back of head with a rubber bullet," said Jack Kearns.

Kearns spent three days in the ICU suffering from brain bleeding.

"It's forbidden to aim at the head, neck, chest and groin, and what have we seen? ... People are being shot in the head, people are being shot in the face, people are being shot in their groin," Brown said.

In the case of the Australian reporter, the camera clearly catches a police officer take aim at her and fire, even though it was clear that she was a member of the press.

LAPD and CHP declined to comment on pending litigation, but the sheriff's department released a statement that read in part:

"(LASD) does not deploy less-lethal tools indiscriminately. Such tools are used only when all de-escalation efforts have been exhausted and when deputies, other law enforcement personnel, or members of the public are subjected to violent assaults."

But the filing attorney sees it differently.

"I have never seen such heinous, uncontrolled, violent and punitive behavior on behalf of the police," attorney Dan Stormer said.

Attorneys say they are seeking at least $5 million for each of their three clients and plan on filing even more claims in the upcoming weeks.