Overview
- U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall held Los Angeles in civil contempt for breaching her 2021 limits on less-lethal launchers.
- The order immediately bans LAPD use of 40mm and 37mm launchers for crowd control, and the department notified officers to stop using the 40mm at protests.
- Court-cited evidence included shots at protesters who did not pose immediate threats, a lack of warnings, and strikes to restricted areas such as the head, back, and groin.
- Specific 2025 incidents included a filmer who required facial surgery, a seated woman hit in the head, a lawyer and another man shot in the groin, and a nurse treating demonstrators struck by a round.
- Plaintiffs may seek attorneys’ fees, an earlier December restriction on use against journalists and nonviolent protesters is on appeal, and no independent monitor was appointed.