Judge keeps limits on the use of less-lethal weapons at protests

Arguing that the 1st Amendment "demands better," a federal judge barred federal agents from targeting reporters with crowd control weapons during protests.

- BY LIBOR JANY

JASON ARMOND Los Angeles Times HOMELAND SECURITY officers guard the Metropolitan Detention Center from protesters in June.

Lawyers for the city of Los Angeles and Homeland Security have argued that it isn't always possible for police to distinguish journalists from protesters during chaotic demonstrations.

But U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera was unmoved, extending on Tuesday restrictions he first ordered in July on the use of less-lethal weapons at street protests. Vera wrote that federal officers "unleashed crowd control weapons indiscriminately and with surprising savagery." "Indeed, under the guise of protecting the public, federal agents have endangered large numbers of peaceful protestors, legal observers, and journalists - as well as the public that relies on them to hold their government accountable," Vera wrote in the 45-page opinion.