Media harder to identify, RCMP official says in press freedom lawsuit

Assistant Commissioner John Brewer told a B.C. Supreme Court hearing that it has become harder to identify journalists at protests and that the RCMP does not arbitrate who is media; photojournalist Amber Bracken and The Narwhal are suing over her 2021 arrest.

Assistant Commissioner John Brewer testified at a B.C. Supreme Court hearing in a civil lawsuit brought by photojournalist Amber Bracken and The Narwhal. The case concerns Bracken's arrest during a November 2021 protest over the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Brewer said the RCMP aims to give media as much access as reasonably possible but finds it harder to identify who is working as media during enforcement actions. He denied that the Mounties have used arrests or exclusion zones to suppress coverage. Court testimony highlights: - Brewer said inconsistent media behaviour can lead to misunderstandings and that visual identifiers once common among journalists are less reliable. - He stated police do not "arbitrate who's media and who's not" unless someone interferes with police work or is overtly complicit with protesters. - Bracken and The Narwhal seek a declaration that her November 2021 arrest was unlawful; Bracken was held for three days and initially charged with civil contempt, a charge later dropped. - A recording seized from Bracken at the time of her arrest was heard in a separate trial, where a judge found some officers' recorded remarks to be "grossly offensive, racist and dehumanizing." The judge reduced protesters' sentences in that matter as a remedy. Summary: The testimony relates to press access at enforcement operations and is part of the civil suit over Bracken's 2021 arrest. Undetermined at this time.