Forbidden, but really wanted

Videographer Vishal Singh said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officers hit him in the leg with a pepper ball while he was covering a protest against the department on June 12, 2021.

The sheriff’s department had denied a permit to a group planning a protest to demand that Sheriff Alex Villanueva step down. Despite the ban, demonstrators went ahead with a march.

At 6:14 p.m., Singh tweeted that he was hit in the leg by a pepper ball.

In a video accompanying the tweet, the sound of a gun firing can be heard, followed by Singh cursing. Singh told that he wore a press badge while reporting. He noticed the officers were "shooting at everybody". Even those who were around were hurt.

Two weeks earlier, on May 28, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction limiting the sheriff’s department's use of projectiles and chemical agents on protests.

LASD Deputy Eva Jimenez did not comment the specifics of Singh’s case.