Montreal police threaten to arrest Pivot journalist

A Montreal police officer threatened to arrest Oona Barrett, a video journalist with Pivot, as she was covering an environmentalist demonstration on a road near the Montreal airport. 

Barrett was filming as police gathered around three protesters who were sitting in the middle of the road with their hands glued to the pavement. She was wearing a press card issued by the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec. 

In a video of the incident shared by Pivot, Barrett can be seen standing on the side of the road, surrounded by police officers. In the video, one officer can be seen pointing away from the protesters and telling Barrett to move. The officer can be seen putting his hand on Barrett’s back; when she protests, he can be heard replying, in French, “Yeah, I have the right to touch you, if you refuse to listen to me.” 

The officer walks Barrett away from the scene, with his hand on her back, before letting her go. When she turns to walk away, the officer calls after her “Hey, girl!” Barrett replies “I’m a journalist,” to which the officer replies “You may well be a journalist,” before grabbing Barrett’s arm and pulling her forcefully away. He can then be heard telling the person who is filming the scene, “You too, with the camera, let’s go.” 

Barrett then moved behind a perimeter set up by police. She was then approached a second time by a police officer. In a video of the incident, the officer can be heard asking: “Do you want me to go and get you arrested for obstruction?”

In reply, Barrett asks if she has gone past the perimeter set up by police, and notes that she has not. “You’re not even a journalist,” the officer replies. Referring to her FPJQ press card, the officer asks “Press card? What does ‘press’ mean?” Barrett replies that the card identifies her as a member of the press and the FPJQ. The officer replies: “A journalist respects the rules given to them.” 

Later, as Barrett was filming police gathered around the demonstrators, an officer positioned his boots directly in front of Barrett’s lens, blocking her view, a video of the incident shows. In the video, the officer can be heard saying, “There, does that suit you?” 

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the FPJQ confirmed that Barrett is a member of the organization, and noted that “her Press card clearly identifies who she is, and the work she does. We note that our members do crucial work, and invite the police to respect the Press card.” 

In an emailed statement, an SPVM spokesperson wrote that the police service would not comment on the incident. “Like any public organization, police or otherwise, the SPVM is bound to respect the freedom of the press, which is among the fundamental rights and freedoms recognized by the Canadian and Quebec charters,” the spokesperson said.

The Canadian Association of Journalists wrote in a statement on X that “The interaction demonstrates not only an arbitrary, and unnecessary, exertion of power, but also a sense of paternalism that belittled a woman who was guilty of nothing else than bearing witness and doing her job.”