Josie Huang, a reporter for NPR member station LAist 89.3 (formerly known as KPCC), reached a $700,000 settlement agreement on Tuesday with Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department related to the journalist’s violent and unlawful arrest while covering a protest in 2020.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formally approved the agreement following pre-litigation negotiations between government lawyers and attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, who represented Huang. Huang’s attorneys also successfully represented her in obtaining a ruling from a California court that she was factually innocent of the offense for which she was arrested.
The settlement — to the Reporters Committee’s knowledge, the largest award to an individual journalist whose rights were violated in connection with protest coverage in 2020 — sets a new benchmark for journalists arrested or assaulted by law enforcement. The agreement is also significant for its training requirements, intended to help prevent local law enforcement officials from unlawfully arresting and assaulting journalists in the future.
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