L.A. TACO Investigative Journalism Fund

Help L.A. TACO Launch Their Investigative News Desk

Our readers and members consistently tell us they visit L.A. TACO for our groundbreaking news investigations. Today, we're asking for your help in creating an exclusive news desk to bring you more of this vital coverage.

Many people know L.A. TACO for our food and culture stories, but for years now, we have also published investigative pieces that have led to real change in our city, helping to hold powerful people and institutions accountable.

Way back in 2020, our investigations forced numerous institutions to stop taking donations from a foundation that also supported anti-immigration organizations.

During the pandemic, we pushed the city to invest millions of dollars in public bathrooms after we published a series of damning stories showing that contractors were making hundreds of thousands of dollars off of bathrooms that weren't being properly maintained.

Last year, we were the only publication to report on an LAPD officer who hosted an underage, alcohol-fueled prom party at their house that ended with the officer drunkenly threatening to shoot an unarmed 17-year-old girl with a shotgun. Our reporting prompted the LAPD to open an investigation into the officer’s actions.

We also brought attention to the case of an incarcerated man who was stabbed in prison, 20 years into a sentence for a crime he still maintains he did not commit.

And we pushed the California Attorney General’s Office to hire a full-time attorney to finally begin reviewing the wrongful convictions of incarcerated Californians.

All of these investigations were handled by me, Lexis-Olivier Ray, L.A. TACO’s first and only investigative reporter.

Doing this work has been challenging.

Since 2020, I’ve been physically hurt by LAPD officers multiple times.

The City Attorney’s Office charged me (and only me) with a crime for covering the Dodgers World Series victory gathering in 2020.

A few weeks later, the LAPD detained me (and a handful of other prominent reporters) for approximately two hours while I was covering a protest in Echo Park.

In 2024, I was handcuffed and detained in the back of an LAPD patrol car for roughly an hour while legally filming a sanitation sweep.

And federal agents have shot me with pepperballs twice in the last 8 months alone.

With everything going on today, it feels nearly impossible for me to work on long-term investigations while also keeping up with the seemingly endless amount of investigative news tips that we get on a regular basis, analyzing data, filing public records requests, covering protests on the ground, and writing breaking news stories.

That’s why we’re launching L.A. TACO’s first investigative news desk.

L.A. TACO’s investigative news desk will focus on a mix of long-form reporting and shorter watchdog pieces, in addition to social media content that will include more on-the-ground coverage at protests, as well as explainer videos.

We’re currently focused on two BIG projects.

A deeply-reported investigation looking at the use of “less-lethal” police armaments at protests.
Digitizing all of the data that we’ve collected while producing the Daily Memo, L.A. TACO’s nightly show that summarizes all of the ICE raids in Southern California, ensuring it’s protected and preserved for the future

We also want to continue reporting on wrongful convictions, the homelessness crisis, and food-related investigative stories.

With your support, L.A. TACO will be able to:

Hire more freelancers, compensate scientists and data specialists
Cover the cost of professional lab tests for our “less-lethals” project
Invest in equipment, software, and other technology to help us publish more investigations and create content
Invest in tools that will help keep our reporters and sources safe

WHY INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM?

L.A. TACO isn’t owned by a corporation or an evil billionaire. We don’t take orders from politicians or advertisers. We’re powered by people like you who believe Los Angeles deserves journalism that’s fearless, community-rooted, and accountable only to our readers.

When you give to L.A. TACO, you’re keeping one of the last independent newsrooms in the city alive and growing.

OUR GOAL

We hope to raise $25,000 to launch our investigative news desk. Every dollar will go directly into reporting, researching, analyzing, and compiling data to hold powerful people and institutions accountable.

JOIN US

This is your chance to be part of something new for Los Angeles: an independent, visual record of our city, created by and for the people who live here.