Staff at Canada’s Global News TV have been released from police custody after being detained in Vancouver by riot police last week.
Staff reporter Nathan VanderKlippe and producers Jacquie Macdonald and Eric Miller have been reunited with Global News publisher Paul Godfrey. “We are so thankful to the men and women at Vancouver Police who released us today. So proud of everyone who stood with us in solidarity,” VanderKlippe tweeted Friday. Godfrey also thanked the “brave” reporters.
A Global News spokesperson tweeted last weekend that VanderKlippe was one of three Global News crew members arrested. “One of the three is not speaking. @globalnewsto work with lawyers to respond to charges,” spokeswoman Kathy Wilkinson said.
Three Global News crew members are being held by police in Vancouver as yet another reminder of a tense struggle in B.C.’s Lower Mainland as pipeline protesters decry construction as potentially harmful to local residents and important salmon.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Nathan VanderKlippe, Jacquie Macdonald and Eric Miller Friday afternoon. Both Godfrey and spokesperson Melanie Coulter were freed shortly thereafter. The trio were among 19 people arrested earlier that day.