MEDIA RELEASE: NPAC condemns Toronto Police aggression toward photojournalists
Photojournalist Chris Young helps flush pepper spray from the eyes of colleague Nick Lachance while photographing violent clashes between police and protesters when city crews dismantled an encampment at Lamport Stadium in Toronto on Wednesday July 21, 2021. Handout/NPAC/Joshua Best
The News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC) strongly condemns the increasingly aggressive tactics employed by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Police Service in preventing recognized reputable journalists from attempting to cover unfolding news situations on public property.
“For the second time in 30 days, the Toronto Police Service and the City of Toronto have failed to acknowledge or uphold working media’s constitutional guaranteed right to report freely, particularly on breaking news happening in a public area,” said Diana Martin, NPAC president.
Early Tuesday, July 20, 2021, photojournalist Chris Young, an internationally recognized and award-winning photojournalist on assignment for the Canadian Press, was arrested by City of Toronto security and escorted away by police before evicting residents of the homeless encampment at Alexander Park.
Police approached Young, who was on-site before authorities arrived and fenced off the area, and asked him to stand to the side and not to interfere, to which he complied. Shortly after, the City of Toronto security staff arrested Young and handed him over to the police, who escorted him away from the park.
“They gave me an option to leave on my own will, which I declined to do because it’s important to have press freedom,” Young said during an interview with the Canadian Press. “They gave me an option to either leave or be arrested, so I chose arrest voluntarily.”
Journalists encountered similar treatment and suffered injuries while covering police clashes with protestors and the homeless during the eviction of an encampment at Lamport Stadium Wednesday, July 21, 2021 where, in an all-too-familiar scenario, authorities pushed to remove journalists and restrict access and reporting on police actions.
On both days journalists identified themselves to police on more than one account and, despite claims by authorities to the contrary, at no time interfered between the police and protestors.
“The alleged human rights violations perpetrated by police on unarmed, non-violent encampment residents and their supporters reinforces the vital role photojournalists serve in recording the actions of those in power allowing the public to hold them to account,” said Martin.
NPAC is demanding a formal apology from the City of Toronto and Toronto Police Services to Chris Young and The Canadian Press regarding his arrest and removal of Alexandra Park. Additionally, an apology extended to the numerous journalists impacted by the increasingly aggressive tactics employed by authorities and the city to hinder, restrict and otherwise intimidate reputable journalists from documenting breaking news in public spaces and contravening their rights and freedoms.
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Photojournalist Chris Young helps flush pepper spray from the eyes of colleague Nick Lachance while photographing violent clashes between police and protesters when city crews dismantled an encampment at Lamport Stadium in Toronto on Wednesday July 21, 2021. Handout/NPAC/Joshua Best
