Photographer Sues Canadian Police Over Protest Arrest Case That Could Reshape Press Freedom

A photographer and the news outlet that sent her to cover a protest are suing the Canadian police over her arrest in a case that could redefine who counts as a journalist in an era where “anyone with a cellphone” can be considered media.

Photographer Amber Bracken and the news outlet The Narwhal filed a lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), arguing that her November 2021 arrest at a small cabin at a protest camp against the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northwestern British Columbia was unlawful. They say the police wrongly labeled Bracken as an “occupier” rather than recognizing her as a clearly identified journalist who was sent to document the protest by The Narwhal — a distinction that media advocates say is central to press rights across Canada.

Bracken was arrested on November 19, 2021, and held in custody for four days after officers raided the small cabin, which had been erected in defiance of a court-ordered injunction obtained by Coastal GasLink.

According to a report by The Canadian Press, Bracken had two professional-grade cameras around her neck, press tags identifying her as a journalist, and a letter of assignment from The Narwhal when she arrested by the RCMP. Senior management at The Narwhal and the president of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) had also alerted RCMP leaders in the days and hours before the raid that Bracken was present in the small cabin in the injunction zone.

During opening statements at the start of the trial in the British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday, Bracken’s lawyer Sean Hern presented a photograph of her arrest as she emerged from the tiny cabin.

“Two professional-grade cameras around her neck, a large bag, press tags at her side — clear evidence she is media in addition to her declaration of the same,” Hern argues, according to a report by CBC.

‘Anyone with a Cellphone’ is Part of the Media

However, lawyers representing the RCMP claim that being a photojournalist does not grant someone special permission to breach a court order. They contend that because so many people now gather and share information — through phones, blogs, and social media — it is difficult to define who qualifies as “media.” Granting special treatment to journalists, they say, would in practice extend special treatment to almost everyone.

Craig Cameron, the lawyer for the Attorney General of Canada representing the RCMP, says: “Anyone with a cellphone (or) a blog is part of the extended definition of media. A lot of people are in a news-gathering function now, pretty much everyone. So if you’re going to give people gathering information preferential treatment, you’re giving everyone preferential treatment. And what does that even mean?”

In response, The Narwhal’s acting editor-in-chief Carol Linnitt said in a statement that injunction zones like the one at the protest effectively allow the RCMP to “determine what journalism is, who performs it, where and how.” She added, “Whatever form of freedom of press we can say we have in this country will utterly wither under these circumstances.”

The CAJ has also spoken in support of Bracken’s case, saying the journalist-police relationship in Canada has become “untenable” and “the photographer isn’t alone in experiencing this kind of censorship or interference at the hands of police.”

Five Indigenous land defenders who opposed the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on traditional Wet’suwet’en territory, as well as a documentary filmmaker, were also in the tiny cabin and arrested alongside Bracken in 2021.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.