Reporter arrested for third time at Elsipogtog
Miles Howe, a journalist reporting for the Halifax Media Co-op, has been arrested for the third time while covering protests against potential natural-gas fracking at Elsipogtog, N.B.
By Grant Buckler
Miles Howe, a journalist reporting for Halifax Media Co-op, has been arrested for the third time while covering protests against potential natural-gas fracking at Elsipogtog, N.B.
Media Co-op reported that Howe was arrested Nov. 26 while reporting on seismic testing along New Brunswick’s Highway 11. The organization said it appeared Howe was specifically targeted and called on police to release him.
[node:ad]J-Source reported in July that Howe was arrested in connection with an alleged incident on June 21. He was later released. Media Co-op said he was arrested again in October, and released without charges on that occasion as well. Both the Canadian Association of Journalists and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression expressed concern about the first arrest.
“It’s inexcusable police would detain any journalist for doing their jobs,” CAJ president Hugo Rodrigues said at the time of the original arrest. “If Mr. Howe has broken any laws that would require his arrest, that information should be put before the public as quickly as possible as it comes before the courts.”
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Grant Buckler is a retired freelance journalist and a volunteer with Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and lives in Kingston, Ont.