The organiser of a Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney on Tuesday has been detained by police, as the crowd of protesters are warned they "will be arrested" if they do not move on.
Protest organiser Paddy Gibson was removed from the Sydney CBD protest by NSW Police before midday, urging other protesters to disperse as he was led away by officers. A second man was also taken away by police.
Paddy Gibson is detained by NSW Police at the Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney. Credit:Nick Moir
A large number of police officers descended on The Domain in Sydney ahead of the Black Lives Matter protest, organised by the family of David Dungay jnr, a Dunghutti man who died in custody in 2015 after he was held down by Corrective Services officers while gasping "I can't breathe".
David Dungay jnr's nephew Paul Silva told reporters as he was leaving the area: "NSW Police have told us we will be arrested."
Mr Silva said he had been given an order to move on. By midday, protesters had left the area.
Protest organiser Mr Gibson was arrested before midday and released a short time later. He has been issued a $1000 fine.
"As he was leaving, he said he was “alright”.
"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.”
Last week, police took court action seeking a prohibition order for the rally, which was granted on Sunday.
Protesters have been told to move on by NSW Police. Credit:Nick Moir
The prohibition order does not ban the rally, but leaves participants exposed to potential criminal sanction including for breaching public health orders.
While an appeal was lodged, it was later dismissed by the NSW Court of Appeal.
Despite the outcome, protesters vowed the rally would go ahead.
Protest organisers had asked those attending to email, fill out an online form or scan a QR code and provide their personal details should contact tracing be required.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing on Tuesday urged people to avoid the Black Lives Matter protest and said police will not hesitate to arrest people if necessary.
“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.
“At the end of the day, we want people to stay away from this particular protest, find another time, find another way to express your views.”
With Michaela Whitbourn
More to come
Laura is a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2020-07-28 02:02:00Z
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