The NSW Police Force has defended arresting multiple people and shutting down a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney billed to attract thousands of people.
The event in The Domain, which nearly 5,000 people had registered on Facebook to attend, came to nothing as police ordered protesters to disperse 15 minutes before it was scheduled to begin at midday on Tuesday.
Police vastly outnumbered protesters at the park, with six arrests made, including two organisers, and a number of $1,000 fines handed out.
NSW Police Force Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing said the police operation was justified given a new coronavirus wave in the state was on a “knife’s edge”.
“This is about public safety. At the end of the day, we are in the middle of a pandemic,” he told reporters.
One of the protesters, human rights activist Vanessa Turnbull Roberts, said she was arrested while telling attendees to go home.
A protester is arrested by police during in a Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney, Tuesday, July 28, 2020. Source: AAP
"I was completely complying by orders. The only people who are breaching health safety orders are the police," she said.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian had earlier appealed to "people's conscience and ethical standards" not to attend.
Assistant commissioner Willing said police “appreciate people's rights to protest”.
“We understand the issues that are in question here are significant and are sensitive to a lot of people,” he said.
“However, we must do what we can to ensure that the public in general are safe at this time.
"We are not about anti-the right to free speech. We're about public safety."
Other Black Lives Matter protests have been attended by tens of thousands across the country in recent months, though very few COVID-19 cases have been linked to any of them.
Organisers had asked supporters to gather in groups of fewer than 20 after they failed on Monday to overturn a NSW Supreme Court decision prohibiting the protest.
Justice Mark Ierace on Sunday accepted the police argument that the possibility of community transmission of COVID-19 arising from the Sydney rally made the event too risky.
The appeal court, which will hand down its reasons soon, on Monday dismissed a challenge to Justice Ierace's decision.
The rally organisers had said they would call off the march if NSW reopened the investigation into the death of David Dungay Jnr.
Mr Dungay, a diabetic Dunghutti man, died in December 2015 at aged 26 after five prison officers stormed his Sydney jail cell to stop him eating biscuits.
A three year inquest found none of the officers who restrained Mr Dungay should face disciplinary action.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits.
If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
Additional reporting by Omar Dehen and AAP.
