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| Down Under | |
| Six were arrested and fined for violating public health orders in Sydney, Australia at an illegal Black Lives Matter rally | |
| 2020-07-29 | |
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Six people were arrested or fined — including rally organiser Paddy Gibson — as police cracked down on the few activists who breached public health orders by gathering under dark clouds in The Domain parklands on Tuesday afternoon for the Black Lives Matter demonstration. Almost 4000 people had indicated on Facebook they were interested in attending the illegal rally in the Sydney’s inner-city, yet only about 40 turned up on Tuesday. Five of the arrested six people — three men and three women — were fined $1000 for breaching the public health act and issued with move-on orders. Mr Gibson was removed from The Domain by police and dragged to a waiting van after he attempted to speak to a police officer who was holding a megaphone. As Mr Gibson was being led away, he urged the crowd to disban, shouting "leave now, leave now, don’t come near me, disperse the crowd." Moments after being released from police custody with a $1000 fine, Mr Gibson was rushed into State Parliament through a back entrance by Greens MP Jenny Leong. Police had sought a prohibition order for the rally organised by the family of Aboriginal man David Dungay jnr, who died in jug in 2015 after he was held down by corrective officers while gasping "I can’t breathe". NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Mick Willing said the activists had been warned "over and over again" not to proceed with the protest amid concerns it could lead to an outbreak in COVID-19 cases. "How many times we’ve had to warn people is beyond me," Commissioner Willing said. "We are not anti-protest. Just don’t do it in the middle of a pandemic, quite simple. "Over the last 24 hours, we said time and time again, do not turn up. At the end of the day, we are in the middle of a pandemic. "The Supreme Court judge himself described the current situation in NSW as being on a ’knife’s edge’." Aboriginal woman Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts was briefly detained by police after she attempted to ask officers why they had apprehended Mr Gibson. Ms Turnbull-Roberts was also fined $1000 but vowed to contest the fine in court after accusing police of only fining "black people". "I will definitely be contesting the fine," Ms Turnbull-Roberts told The Australian. Another man, who was also issued a $1000 fine, tore it up in front of the media and said he would take the matter to court. On Sunday, police were granted a prohibition order for the rally by the NSW Supreme Court. That decision was upheld by the NSW Court of Appeal on Tuesday who found the earlier decision by judge Mark Ierace to prohibit the public assembly was "admirable and detailed". While the prohibition order did not ban the rally, it meant protesters faced possible arrest and criminal charges for breaching public health orders. An inquest last year into Dungay Jr’s death did not recommend criminal charges after a coroner found the prison officers were not motivated by "malicious intent". | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 1) Andy Ngo kicks ass. 2) Feed these assholes to the sharks in Sydney Harbor. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-07-29 00:27 |