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Erin Burnett of CNN’s Erin Burnett Outfront attends the WarnerMedia Upfront 2019 red carpet arrivals at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 15, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Dimitris Kampouris/Getty Images for WarnerMedia Sangha said Nicholas Ryan Sullivan, 38, has been charged with five counts of making threats to cause death or bodily harm through social media. He will appear in court on Friday. Surrey RCMP worked with US authorities, including the FBI, on the investigation. Sangha said that on July 10, Sullivan was arrested and his home was searched. He was released on conditions pending an investigation. The Crown approved charges in the case on November 10. The court’s online database alleges the threats were made on May 3, 2021, February 27, 2022 and May 10, 2022. Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, said Wednesday that he’s “glad to see law enforcement is taking this seriously. Obviously the attempt to threaten and intimidate journalists is something we see all over the country.”
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He said the charges in the Burnett case likely have to do with the cross-border nature of the investigation and the fact that he is “a high-profile figure”. In many of the Canadian cases where journalists have been threatened online, there has been “a lack of follow-up by police agencies … to actually identify these individuals and hold them accountable,” Jolie said. “There has been a lot of vitriol directed at journalists of color, especially women. It’s more than a trend. It’s a fact of life for so many.” The CBC earlier obtained a copy of the court document used to obtain the search warrant for Sullivan’s residence. Sullivan claimed to police that: “I’m just yelling like everybody else. I am not a credible threat,” according to the CBC report. “I don’t know if I can be charged for rambling on the Internet like everyone else.”
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The CBC also reported that it first contacted the RCMP about the man in May 2021, and that Google had sent an email to Interpol in the US with the headline “User in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada threatened to kill named CNN employee , her family and her colleagues.” Online comments that police allege were made by Sullivan also threatened other CNN employees. Sullivan was charged and convicted in 2009 of making threats and was sentenced to prison and 18 months of probation. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to another count of threats, as well as assault with a weapon and breach of probation and was sentenced to two days in jail and two additional years of probation. [email protected] Twitter.com/kbolan More news, less ads: Our in-depth journalism is made possible by the support of our subscribers. For just $3.50 a week, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, the National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.
