In a rare contempt-of-court decision, a federal judge has stripped the Los Angeles Police Department of its 40 mm and 37 mm “less-lethal” launchers after repeated violations of a 2021 injunction designed to protect protesters from indiscriminate force.
Federal Judge Consuelo B. Marshall ruled late Thursday that the Los Angeles Police Department violated a standing court order by firing foam, rubber and plastic projectiles at demonstrators who posed “no immediate threat of physical harm,” issuing an immediate ban on the 40 mm and 37 mm launchers the department has relied on for crowd control since 2020.
What the Injunction Actually Blocks
The order—issued in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California—prohibits LAPD from using any kinetic-impact projectile launchers for crowd management until the city proves it can deploy them within the strict limits of a 2021 consent injunction negotiated after the George Floyd protests. That injunction bars shots to the head, neck or groin, requires audible warnings, and restricts use to situations where officers face “imminent” violence.
Injuries That Triggered the Contempt Finding
Marshall’s 23-page decision catalogues six separate incidents from June 2025 anti-ICE demonstrations where officers fired on:
- A man filming police, causing facial fractures that required surgery
- A woman crouched behind a chair who was shot three times, including once in the back
- An attorney asking for an officer’s badge number, struck twice in the groin
- A nurse wearing a visible medical insignia while treating the wounded
Each episode was captured on video obtained by NY Post reporters and entered as evidence. The judge emphasized that “warnings were either absent or inaudible” and that no targeted protester exhibited aggressive behavior justifying force.
Why the City Lost the Argument
City attorneys contended the 2021 order applied only to Black Lives Matter protests and that violations were “technical.” Marshall rejected both claims, writing that the injunction’s language is “unambiguous” and binds the department in every crowd-control context. She also refused to accept the city’s assertion that fast-moving riots make precision targeting impossible, noting LAPD’s own training manuals advise aiming for lower extremities and never at fleeing individuals.
Immediate Consequences for LAPD
Within hours of the ruling, Chief Jim McDonnell issued a department-wide directive recalling all 40 mm and 37 mm launchers to centralized armories. Officers may still carry pepper-ball rifles and bean-bag shotguns, but those weapons fall under separate—and still active—2021 restrictions. The city must submit a compliance plan within 30 days and faces potential monetary sanctions if future violations occur.
The Larger National Picture
The decision lands amid a nationwide spike in anti-ICE demonstrations following sweeping 2025 immigration raids. At least eight major cities are operating under similar federal consent decrees governing less-lethal weapons, and Marshall’s reasoning is already being cited in pending cases against NYPD and Seattle PD. Civil-rights attorneys view the ruling as a template for forcing departments to trade projectile launchers for de-escalation tactics.
What Happens Next
- City appeal: Los Angeles has 30 days to ask the Ninth Circuit to stay the ban, but legal analysts give the city slim odds after Marshall’s detailed fact-finding.
- Legislative push: State Senator Maria Durazo plans to introduce a bill codifying the injunction’s requirements statewide, including mandatory body-camera verification of every less-lethal discharge.
- Training overhaul: LAPD must re-write crowd-control curricula; the department’s inspector-general estimates 2,400 officers will need re-certification on alternate tools such as pepper spray and long-range acoustic devices.
By stripping LAPD of its most relied-upon crowd-distance weapons, Judge Marshall has effectively raised the threshold for force in American protest policing. Departments nationwide now must prove—on camera and in court—that every projectile fired meets strict necessity standards or risk federal contempt.
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