On March 15, 2025, agents of the SPVM physically attacked two journalists including photojournalist Andraé Lerone Lewis who was on assignment for The Link.
CUTV considers physical assault of identified journalists to be a direct attack on freedom of the press, and calls on all press groups, elected officials and police officials to take immediate steps to discipline the officers involves and proactively educate police agents in the elementary principles of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly freedom of expression.
This incident is part of a long-term pattern. Writer Yves Engler was arrested on February 20 for online statements, police pepper sprayed William Wilson while reporting at a rally opposing NATO in Montreal on November 22, CUTV’s Savanna Craig was arrested while covering a pro-Palestine protest in April 2024, and police held student journalists at gunpoint during a 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstration. Footage from 2012 shows police attacking CUTV journalists directly with chemical irritants while filming.
Police officers have openly disclosed that they are making determinations about who is or is not a legitimate journalist. Indiscriminate use of force against people exercising their right to demonstrate is a violation of those people’s rights. If some of them are journalists identified doing their job, then that use of force is also a violation of freedom of the press.
When Savanna Craig was arrested for documenting a protest while clearly displaying her press pass, she faced charges for months despite the clear violation of her rights. Craig’s arrest and legal limbo are another point in what appears to be an ongoing effort to erode press freedom and intimidate journalists on certain topics.
CUTV stands in solidarity with all journalists who face intimidation and repression while carrying out their work. We believe that a firm stance must be taken to oppose police tactics of targeting members of the press. These growing attacks against journalists must be understood as an attack on press freedoms, and we are keenly aware of the precedent this sets in this climate of rising authoritarianism.
