Paparazzo says surfers attacked him

A paparazzo trying to photograph and film actor Matthew McConaughey at the beach Saturday told police he was attacked by a mob of surfers who threw his camera in the ocean and struck him.

The 29-year-old photojournalist told sheriff’s deputies that a large group of surfers near Paradise Cove in Malibu approached him and other paparazzi about 2 p.m. and demanded they stop taking pictures and filming.

“They formed a semicircle in front of his camera and they said he [McConaughey] didn’t want him to film,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore. “They got into an argument, and he indicated that he received injuries… . [They] took the video camera and threw it in the water.”

Whitmore said detectives with the Sheriff’s Department’s Lost Hills Station were investigating the incident.

Celebrity websites TMZ.com and x17online.com posted similar videos that were allegedly taken at the time of the incident. The video on x17online.com shows about 13 young men in swimsuits approaching what appears to be a group of paparazzi and yelling at the photographers.

“I’ll give you a thousand bucks if you leave right now,” said one of the surfers who took a sip of his beverage and then made a vulgar gesture with his middle finger to the video camera.

“Hey, you guys, they don’t want you here, and nobody that lives here wants you here,” said another person.

“Let’s go. We’ll draw a line in the beach, and we’ll fight for the beach. If you guys win, you can have the beach,” said another.

One of the group of apparent paparazzi on the video appeared to argue with the surfers, saying that the beach was public property and he had every right to be there.

“This is public property, this is public property,” he said.

The video then shows two beachgoers chasing one of the paparazzi, dragging him into the water and kicking him.

 ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com