A woman is suing the city and county of Los Angeles, as well as the state, alleging law enforcement from at least one of those jurisdictions shot her with 11 less-lethal munitions during 2025 immigration operation protests downtown.
Joyti Chand’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges negligence-based claims as well as civil rights violations, assault and battery. She also names multiple individual defendants whose names she expects to identify later and for now are named as “Doe” defendants.
Chand seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit filed July 10. She is represented by attorney Thomas B. Harvey, who also filed several other lawsuits earlier this month by plaintiffs with similar claims.
Officers for the LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol conducted crowd control during the June 2025 protests downtown and all three agencies used less-lethal munitions against people participating in the protests, including thousands fired by the LAPD and LASD, according to the suit. The complaint states that the identity or identities of which of the three agencies is allegedly responsible for harming her is still unknown.
Chand says she was protesting near the intersection of First and San Pedro Streets on June 8, 2025, when she was shot the first time. She alleges the multiple projectiles struck her legs, groin and back as she was moving away from law enforcement and posing no threat.
Chand suffered severe, prolonged pain that disrupted her daily activities, and her injuries negatively impacted her earnings, according to the suit, which also states that she has suffered from anxiety, fear and nightmares.
State law prohibits the indiscriminate firing of the projectiles into crowds and the munitions must be “targeted toward those individuals engaged in violent acts,” according to the suit.