Overview
- Amber Bracken and The Narwhal seek a court declaration that her 2021 arrest was unlawful along with damages for Charter and related violations.
- The RCMP, joined by the B.C. and Canadian governments, maintain she breached a court injunction after entering a barricaded cabin and say the arrest was on reasonable grounds.
- Plaintiffs told the court that restricting press access chills reporting and weakens democratic accountability, while defence counsel urged the judge to narrow the case to whether the arrest complied with the injunction.
- The five-week B.C. Supreme Court trial is expected to include testimony from the Canadian Association of Journalists’ president and several reporters who worked near the injunction zone.
- Bracken was detained for three days and later saw charges dropped; in a separate case, a recording seized from her captured officers’ racist remarks that led a judge to reduce protesters’ sentences.