LOS ANGELES (KNX) – A journalist being sued by the city of Los Angeles over the published photos of officers obtained them from the City’s Attorney’s Office in 2022, his legal team said.
Ben Camacho of Knock L.A. and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition were named defendants in the lawsuit that was filed by city attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto on Thursday.
According to a statement by Camacho’s legal team, Camacho was given the photos of the officers by the City Attorney’s Office “to settle his Public Records Act lawsuit.”
“City Attorney’s Office hand-delivered the photos to Ben on or about September 16, 2022, along with a letter stating that ‘images of officers working in an undercover capacity as of the time the pictures were downloaded (end of July 2022) are not included.’”
The legal team added that asking Camacho for the photos or banning him from publishing them “would be a prior restraint that would violate the First Amendment.”
“You know, once a public record is a public record, it’s allowed to be shared with anybody and everybody is allowed to use it in a written statement,” Matthew Stugar, the attorney who represents Stop LAPD Spying, said.
The City Attorney’s Office told KNX News that while there is a strong public interest in transparency, there is an equally strong interest in the safety of LAPD officers.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass expressed her concerns regarding the photos at a press conference.
“I'm very worried that with the officers who have been revealed that it might increase people leaving the department,” she said.
The lawsuit comes a couple of days after more than 300 undercover officers for the LAPD filed a damages claim against the city and LAPD leadership.
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