CUTV journalist arrested in Montreal

Montreal police arrested CUTV journalist Savanna Craig while she was covering a pro-Palestinian protest inside a Scotiabank in downtown Montreal.

Police on the scene said it was likely Craig would be charged with mischief under $5,000, reported Ricochet/The Rover.

Craig told the Canada Press Freedom Project on May 1, 2024 that she had not yet been charged, and had not heard anything further about her arrest. She added that her lawyer had said it could take as long as six months to confirm whether she would be charged. 

On Oct. 2, 2024, Craig said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that she had been told, nearly six months after her arrest, that prosecutors had chosen not to pursue charges against her. “The dropping of these charges is 5 and a half months too late,” Craig wrote. “Police should have never arrested me in the first place. The dropping of these charges once it reached the prosecution shows there was no solid case against me from the start.”

Craig told CPFP on May 1, 2024 that she had not yet been charged, and had not heard anything further about her arrest. She added that her lawyer had said it could take as long as six months to confirm whether she would be charged. 

On Oct. 2, 2024, Craig said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that she had been told, nearly six months after her arrest, that prosecutors had chosen not to pursue charges against her. “The dropping of these charges is 5 and a half months too late,” Craig wrote. “Police should have never arrested me in the first place. The dropping of these charges once it reached the prosecution shows there was no solid case against me from the start.”

When police first arrived at the protest, Craig said she introduced herself and showed officers a CUTV-issued press pass. An officer asked her to stay off to one side of the room, which she did. 

A video Craig posted on social media shows protesters sitting inside the bank, facing a line of police officers. 

About 90 minutes after police arrived, protesters began to leave; police surrounded the group and said they would be charged with mischief. 

Craig was detained and processed alongside the protests in another room inside the bank. She again identified herself to police as a journalist and showed police her CUTV press pass and camera equipment. As she was being processed, “officers made critical comments that she didn’t look like a journalist and question[ed] why she wasn’t wearing a press vest,” Craig told the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

After Craig was arrested, a police officer at the bank called a “higher-ranking officer” and informed the officer that Craig had shown press credentials, according to CUTV. That officer then approved Craig’s arrest, CUTV said. 

Officers then photographed Craig and her equipment, gave her a document with a file number and told her she would be informed if she was being charged. 

In an email on May 1, Montreal police said that the incident was still under investigation, and refused to comment further.