NSW Police Criticised For Heavy-Handed Arrest Of Anti-Herzog Protester

NSW Police have been criticised for heavy-handed arrest of a protester who attended the anti-Isaac Herzog protest in February, with eight heavily armoured officers breaking down the woman’s door at 5am on Thursday morning.

The woman is the 26th person to be changed in relation to the Town Hall protest held during the Israeli president’s visit, with alleged police brutality on the night set to be investigated by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC).

Video released by NSW Police of the Thursday arrest show eight armed officers in helmets, vests and face masks entering the Ashfield home, before it cuts to footage of the 42-year-old being escorted into a police van.

Police say she was then taken to Burwood Police Station, where she charged with hinder or resist police officer in the execution of duty, intimidate police officer in execution of duty without actual bodily harm, throw missile at police officer executing duty no actual bodily harm and use indecent/threatening etc language in major event area.

She has been granted conditional bail and will appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 15 April. As per The Guardian, she is required to report to police three times a week and not go within 300 metres of Town Hall. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like what happened today,” says lawyer

Lawyer Nick Hanna said in a post to Instagram later that day that he had given advice to the woman, and that the circumstances of her arrest “really demonstrates how crazy things are getting” in NSW.

“The main allegations against her are that she threw a water bottle at an officer and then threatened to assault another officer if he touched her,” Hanna said. “She’s got no criminal record and is not alleged to pose any ongoing danger.”

He shared a photo of a damaged door, which he alleged police had “smashed” open, before entering the woman’s home and arresting her while she was asleep and half-naked.

“Some officers grabbed her and took it to the police station while the rest of them raided her place and went through her belongings under a search warrant. They seized her phone and required her to provide the passcode, pursuant to a digital evidence access order so they could download it and go through its contents.

“I’ve been a criminal lawyer for almost 20 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like what happened today.”

Premier Chris Minns said in the wake of the protest that police had done “everything possible” to avoid confrontation, but were left with no choice after protesters defied restrictions preventing them from marching to NSW parliament.

Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said he was “very proud of the police officers” and stood by their actions in the face of “outrageous behaviour”.

“I absolutely think police actions were justified,” he said.

“I saw the restraint of police tonight. They took more than their time before they utilised any of their powers.

“It was really quite precarious at times for our officers, who were significantly outnumbered by the protesters and the people who wanted to act in a violent and offensive manner.”