Karl Dockstader opens up About his Arrest During the Press Freedom & Land Defense Event

After the arrest of an Indigenous journalist in Canada, a larger concern has been raised about law enforcement determining who is a journalist and what journalism actually is, according to Karen Pugliese, former president of Canadian Association of Journalists and Ryerson University professor.

“This is outrageous when we have a constitutional right,” said Pugliese. “We’ve always had the right, we’ve gone back to court and proved we have the right to be there, to tell the stories and to bear witness. If we’re going to have the courts mucking about, they’re starting to much in who we are as Indigenous people, as well as who we are as journalists.”

Karl Dockstader, One Dish, One Mic co-host and Oneida Bear Clan member, was arrested after reporting on a land dispute between a development company and Six Nation members at 1492 Land Back Lane in Caledonia, Ontario on Sept. 2.

According to the Ontario Provincial Police, the charges consist of mischief and failure to comply with a court order. Dockstader, like many other Indigenous journalists in his situation, was left confused as to why these charges were placed, given that he had embedded himself within the community and partook in festivities and helped his interviewees.

“I wasn’t there just to parachute in, extract a story from these people and go back to sell it for the ‘big money that journalists make’,” said Dockstader. “The idea was I wanted to tell this story from a journalistic vantage point in a different way.”

Dockstader had begun to question what had gotten him charged. “Was it the lacrosse? Was it the taking out the garbage? Was it the fact that I camped? I don’t know, but I know that I don’t want the OPP to be deciding that.”

On Nov. 5, along with journalist Brandi Morin and media lawyer Peter Jacobson, Dockstader and Pugliese discussed the proceedings and events at the Journalists for Human Rights Panel “Indigenous Media Talks: Press Freedom and Land Defence.” While making Dockstader’s case the main point, they talked about numerous other instances where Indigenous journalists were mistreated during their coverage of events, namely land defence articles

Pugliese had traced Dockstader’s situation back to Canadian journalist Justin Brake, who was covering the Muskrat Falls story for The Independent and after was charged with mischief and disobeying a court order as well. This, according to the panelists, was the first major arrest that showcased a trend of Indigenous reporters getting arrested without being noted as a journalist.

“What Justin did was create a precedent that should be extremely persuasive in other courts,” said Jacobson. “When [the police] went and got this interlocutory ex-party injunction, they did not disclose Justin was there as a reporter, so that was one of the main reasons for his case overturning.”

Jacobson went on to read what the Court of Appeals said about Brake’s case, highlighting the importance of reporters being identified properly from the demonstrators, especially in the case of aboriginal reporters. Pugliese had actually intervened on this case, on behalf of APTN after seeing that the work done at APTN was at risk every single day.

“When I intervened in that case, we did raise the issue of reconciliation, and I was really glad that the court heard that,” said Pugliese. “We did raise the specter of what had happened in Ipperwash and Gustafsen Lake and what happens when journalists are not there to bear witness to police actions, as they move in on these events and the kind of human rights abuses that can happen.”

In regard to his own case, Dockstader said that he is fortunate that his employer had offered their full support on his case, which wouldn’t have happened for the ‘little guy’ several years ago according to him. If he had been without their support, though, Dockstader said he would’ve self-represented and fought the charges on his own.

“It’s a matter of principle,” said Dockstader. “The cops don’t get to decide what is and isn’t journalism, period. That’s all. It’s not up to police.”