Police have detained at least three people, including organiser Paddy Gibson, at a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney’s Domain.
It has been reported that around 50 protesters who showed up to protest Indigenous deaths in custody were confronted by a near 400 police officers.
The rally was ruled unlawful by the NSW Supreme Court on Sunday, following police taking court action seeking a prohibition order for the rally last week.
The prohibition order does not ban the rally, but does leave those attending exposed to potential criminal sanction, including breaching public health laws.
The rally launched an appeal against the ruling, that was ultimately dismissed by the NSW Court of Appeal. Despite this, protestors rocked up.
Those who attended the rally were asked by organisers to fill out an online form or scan a QR code and provide their personal details should contact tracing be necessary.
Protest organiser Paddy Gibson was removed from the protest by NSW Police before midday, he was seen encouraging other protesters to disperse as he was led away by officers.
Gibson has since been released, and issued a $1000 fine. “We tried to be as safe as we could today,” he said. “We’ll continue our fight for justice. I don’t regret it at all.”
On Tuesday, Mick Willing, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner urged people to avoid the Black Lives Matter protest amid the current coronavirus outbreak.
“This is not about the right to protest, we support the right to protest, this is about doing it in a pandemic, and at the moment we just can’t take that risk,” he told 2GB. “We don’t want to have to go down the road of arrests but we are quite prepared to if we have to.
The rally was organised by the family of David Dungary Jnr. A Dunghutti man who died in police custody in 2015 after he was held down by Corrective Services officers for eating a biscuit. while gasping “I can’t breathe”.
