Justice for Brandi Morin

 

Journalist Brandi Morin at the site of a former homeless encampment near 101A Street and 95 Street in Edmonton on Jan. 11, 2024. Morin was covering the removal of the camp by police and city crews on Jan. 10, 2024, when she was arrested by police. PHOTO BY DAVID BLOOM /Postmedia

Last year I read Brandi Morin's autobiography, Our Voice of Fire and you may recall that I wrote about it. 

Morin is her forties yet has already lived a full, and often tumultuous life because of the trauma so many Indigenous women have experienced in what we call Canada, Somehow she has overcome violence, family disfunction, and a host of other challenges to become an award-winning journalist. Morin is an unapologetically feisty person, and also someone who has drawn on her considerable spirituality and faith to find her way forward. I found this quite moving and inspiring.

Today Brandi Morin is in an Edmonton courtroom, answering to a January charge for obstructing a peace officer during the Edmonton Police Service clearing of an Indigenous encampment. This is not the first time an Indigenous journalist has been charged for obstruction in both British Columbia and Alberta, even though these reporters and photographers identify themselves and their organizations and keep a respectful distance. In a number of instances the charges have been dropped because they don't have legal merit, but it is a form of intimidation. They are often taken away in handcuffs and held for extended periods of time. 

Morin has been supported by Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, the Indigenous Journalists Association, Journalists for Human Rights, and the Coalition for Women in Journalism. The Edmonton Journal newspaper has also criticized this arrest and the story has been covered internationally. 

As a member of the United Church of Canada I appreciate that our denomination's  goal of reconciliation with Indigenous persons goes beyond saying sorry for the past. We need to be advocates for those seeking justice today, in many different settings. I pray that the charges against Morin are dropped and that there will be some form of accountability for the officers who arrested her. 

Here is a portion of the PEN Canada statement from a few weeks ago: 

PEN Canada is deeply concerned at the Edmonton Police Service’s (EPS) arrest of Cree/Iroquois/French freelance journalist Brandi Morin and calls for the immediate dismissal of all charges against her ahead of a court hearing scheduled for February 1. Ms. Morin was arrested during a police raid on an Indigenous encampment on January 10.

Ms. Morin is a well-known journalist who has reported extensively on Indigenous land and environmental rights and has won awards for her work on Truth and Reconciliation, and residential school grave discoveries. According to the information available to PEN, Ms Morin was arrested and charged with obstructing a police officer after she refused to comply with peremptory orders to leave the vicinity of a police action or be forcibly removed.

A statement by Ricochet Media notes that although Morin “repeatedly identified herself as a journalist, offered a letter of assignment from her outlet, and filmed everything up until the point she was handcuffed and had her camera taken away” she was nevertheless arrested and detained for several hours.