‘Dagger at the heart of our country’: Former PM Tony Abbott erupts amid Sydney protest
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has condemned the thousands of people who threw central Sydney into chaos on Monday night to protest Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia.
Mr Herzog is on an official state visit to Australia to show solidarity with the Jewish community following the anti-Semitic terrorist attack on Bondi Beach on December 14 that killed 15 innocent people.
Nearly 7000 protesters descended on Sydney City Hall on Monday evening.
At the end of the speeches, NSW Police said protesters began gathering on George St “to indicate their intention to march” despite a court order to the contrary.
The rally descended into chaos as police officers tried to disperse the crowd and used pepper spray to control the scene.
The Palestine Action Group marched to the state legislature, holding a rally against Mr. Herzog at City Hall, despite losing a last-minute legal challenge to the Minn. government’s decision to call the president’s visit a “major event.”
This gave NSW Police expanded powers, giving them the power to close down parts of the CBD and eastern suburbs, carry out searches and issue $5,500 fines to anyone who does not comply with police instructions.
NSW Police had previously suggested an alternative route and pushed for Monday’s protest to start in Hyde Park and end in Belmore Park.
Following the court’s decision just after 4 p.m. on Monday, PAG organizer Josh Lees said the group planned to go ahead with the City Hall rally.
“That’s all we’re going to do right now, go to City Hall for a massive protest that’s happening in about 30 cities around the country,” Mr Lees said outside court.
Wild scenes at Monday’s protest
So far, 27 people have been arrested, including 10 for assaulting police officers after the City Hall rally.
Other protesters were handcuffed for not following officers’ instructions.
Footage shared online from the rally showed violent clashes between protesters and police officers at City Hall, with one man allegedly being punched by NSW Police officers.
Other images revealed allegations that officers moved Muslims bending over in prayer.
Other videos online showed hundreds of protesters being chased down the street by mounted and foot police officers, who allegedly used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
A video was shared on TikTok with the following title: “When you are in a crowd, the police charge you on horseback and use pepper spray.”
Police Chief condemns ‘disgusting’ protests
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna told 2GB some police officers were injured during the violent clashes.
One police officer was injured in his leg, and another left the scene with an injury in his hand.
“I saw police officers getting punched in the face and all kinds of assault,” he said.
“…it was really disgusting to be honest with you.”
He said several of the videos of violent clashes were “taken out of context.”
“What I will say is we went out of our way to show restraint,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
“Restraint was shown not for seconds or minutes but for over an hour to say, ‘You can’t do this.’
“When they decided to chant that we will march to the police, they tried to march on the police and started attacking the police officers, that’s when things got worse.”
He described the scenes as “dynamic”, “volatile” and an “ugly situation”.
Asked about police officers charging into the crowd on horseback, Mr McKenna said “protesters caused it”.
“We tried really hard to make this peaceful. We didn’t want conflict,” he said.
“We gave them every opportunity to go to Hyde Park.
“Once they determined that they were at City Hall – which still didn’t mean it had to be that way – but when they were determined to incite the crowd by saying they were going to march, they were going to attack the police, so they left us no choice but to try to disperse the crowd, to use our forces.”
Mr McKenna said: “It really escalated into constant fighting and melee on the streets of Sydney, which is something we didn’t want to happen.”
‘Dagger aimed at the heart of our country’: AbbottFormer prime minister Tony Abbott praised officers at the protest, saying they should receive “quiet praise” and not face disciplinary action.
“I think it’s time for the fight to begin,” he told Mr. Fordham.
Mr Abbott said more police intervention was needed to control the protests.
“I think we need to see more police force,” he said.
“We need to see the tear gas and rubber bullets. These people who are trying to intimidate the Australian community need to know that the forces of law and order are responsible.”
The protesters’ slogans were also criticized by the former prime minister.
“This is a dagger pointed at the heart of our country, and we need to see it for what it is,” he said.
Chris Minns defended police actions
Speaking to 2GB, Chris Minns dismissed the idea that he was unable to contain the protesters and that the city had “lost control”.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” the Prime Minister said.
“If you look at the NSW Police and the government’s actions last night, they held the line, they protected the people of NSW from the clashes on the streets of Sydney.”
He said rally attendees ignored advice to stay in Hyde Park to protest. “We would prefer this to be done in Hyde Park,” he said.
“What we can say today that we could not reveal yesterday is that there were 7,000 mourners in the ICC at the same time, in almost the same place where the protests took place.”
ICC is located approximately 1 km from the City Hall.
More to come
