A cameraman filming in a Los Angeles parking lot near a Sprouts Farmers Market said a woman in a black Buick threatened him with a canister before spraying him. Freedom of the Press, who posts on TikTok as @freedomofthepress_audits, shared the 4:09 first-person video under the caption “Woman Arrested for Pepper Spraying.” The clip has gained 1.9 million views, 121,100 likes, and 4,770 comments.
In the video, a woman in a black-and-white polka dot dress and sunglasses pointed at the camera and asked, “Who are you? Why are you filming?” The cameraman’s hand entered the frame as he pointed back at her. She replied, “You shut up! You don’t shush me!” She then asked, “Who the hell are you?” and stated, “You don’t have the right to film people.” She added that she would call the police on him before walking toward a black SUV.
A security guard in a grey polo shirt and cap approached the cameraman. The cameraman said, “So you was here last time.” The guard replied, “That’s all I got to say to you,” and the two fist-bumped. The woman in the polka dot dress returned and asked, “Are you calling the police, Raya?” The security guard began to say the cameraman was allowed to be there, but she interrupted and insisted he was not allowed to film people who did not want to be filmed. The guard stated that he could film people, and she replied, “No, he can’t.”
Cameraman blocks the Buick after the spray and waits for police
The cameraman turned toward a black Buick with a California plate. A woman in the driver’s seat held up a small canister and said, “I’m going to spray you.” The cameraman replied, “All right,” then said, “Okay, that’s it,” and read the plate aloud.
He moved to the front of the vehicle, pointed at the driver through the windshield, and stated, “You’re not going anywhere.” He continued, “You don’t pepper spray people and get away with it. Sorry, lady, you’re not going anywhere.”
The car horn began blaring. The cameraman said, “She just pepper sprayed me,” as another security guard in a black uniform walked toward them. He stated that people think they can get away with anything, but they can’t, and told the man in the grey polo to call the police so he could show them the video. He pointed the camera at his black shirt and said, “Yeah, I got pepper spray on my shirt.” He urged the man to call the police and added, “I’m not stopping recording.”
The cameraman focused on the Buick again, read the plate, and identified it as a Buick. He pointed at the driver and asked, “You know, where do you think you’re f–king going? Where do you think you’re going after pepper spraying me?”
He stated that he was having the other man call the police and that she was not leaving. He repeated, “You’re getting arrested,” and added, “I hope you have somebody to watch your dog.”
The woman stood beside the open driver’s door and said she was just trying to leave. The cameraman cut her off and stated, “You just pepper sprayed me.” She replied, “I didn’t do it to your face.”
He told her she was not allowed to do that and insisted, “What I’m doing is legal. What you just did was breaking the law.” She said, “I’m so sorry.” He ordered her to get back in her car and wait, but she stepped around him and said he had her license plate. He snapped, “Don’t touch my stuff. Get your hands away from me.”
She pleaded, “Can you please, I’m so sorry.” He asked sarcastically whether she thought it was okay to commit a crime and get away with it. She repeated, “I’m so sorry,” and said she had to go and was in a very bad place. He replied, “I don’t care. You just pepper sprayed me.”
She stated that it was in his shirt and not on his face. He asked, “Did you just touch my stuff again?” She said, “Okay, let me go, and then you can call the police, but let me go.”
He responded, “I’m not letting you go, lady. I’m not- you’re getting arrested today, you realize that? That’s illegal use of tear gas. You can’t do that.” She turned away, then told him he couldn’t call the police. He replied that the other man was calling right now. She had been the first to threaten calling the police over his filming, and the police were called on a comedian in a parking lot before too.
She said he could come get her later, but she needed to leave, adding, “I just want to take a picture. I tell you, please just let me go. I just- I’m begging you.” He stated, “No, you’re getting arrested. You’re getting arrested, ma’am. You are getting arrested right now. I’m not letting you go.”
A uniformed Los Angeles police officer approached from behind, took her hands, and handcuffed them behind her back against the rear of a black police SUV marked 83603. She stood still as he secured the cuffs, then he led her away. An ambulance was visible in the background as the video ended.
Some viewers questioned the cameraman’s actions. Questions over his filming had come up from the start, as an employee questioning a woman filming showed. One commenter wrote, “You can’t pepper spray if someone gets in your face?” Another asked, “Why did you get close to her car.” A third stated, “She apologized I would have let her go.”
One viewer added, “That’s why it’s very important to mind your own business.” Another commented, “The camera guy is out looking for trouble.. It’s different when you’re just standing aside recording. He is intrusive. Provoking people to make content.”
Published: Oct 13, 2026 10:15 am