Herzog protests. Medics attacked too, lawyers question police violence

Police actions against anti-genocide protesters in Sydney on Monday mark a significant increase in unwarranted violence. Stephanie Tran And VY Franco-Klothos reports.

NSW Police are on the defensive. Following multiple attacks on pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday night and amid growing criticism of their brutality, Police are refusing to answer questions about the number of people arrested, the number of people charged and the nature of the charges.

According to ABC, 27 people were arrested yesterday and 9 people have since been charged. It was yesterday. They were unresponsive except for a maternity statement unrelated to those arrested today.

From the beginning of the protest against the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, police had placed clear lines around every exit in the City Hall area to control the protest in City Hall Square.

The police were seen giving conflicting instructions He both instructs the protesters to leave the square and demands that they stop their attempts to leave the square.

Aerial video clearly shows NSW police intervening with protesters, causing the crowd to be crushed.

Irrefutable evidence that police blocked protesters, prevented them from leaving, and attacked them.

They started this even before the speeches were over. The police commissioner is proud of this. He needs to resign along with Minns. pic.twitter.com/ERU7K3Tn9f

— Longford Slasher (@Longfordslasher) February 10, 2026

Aggressive police behavior

Larissa Payne was with a group of Muslim demonstrators who had begun evening prayers in a corner of City Hall Square when police entered. Payne and his family members crossed their arms to create a barrier between the praying group and riot police.

“It was prayer time. They were not blocking anyone. This was not a public street; they were in order at the corner of the square, led by an imam,” he said.

images A picture of the scene shows officers entering and violently grabbing members of the prayer group.

Payne was restrained by his wrist and dragged down the stairs, causing his wrists to be sprained. During the incident, his 78-year-old father’s arm was forced from behind, leaving a deep wound on his elbow.

Larissa Payne

Payne’s partner, former Sen. Scott Ludlam, fell to the ground and broke a rib. He was handcuffed and arrested before being released.

Payne said Monday’s lack of accountability for police brutality will lead to the “normalization” of police impunity. MWM:

If there is no collective response regarding responsibility, impunity will become normal.

Another protester, Ali Al-lami, said he pushed to the ground and was called “brown c*nt”. The police punched Al-lami and handcuffed him while pressing his head to the ground.

“It was like an IDF soldier pinning a Palestinian to the ground and brutalizing him. They did the same to me,” Al-lami said. He was arrested but later released without charge.

“They released me without any charges because they knew what they did was wrong. They had no legal basis to arrest me. I did nothing wrong, I did not resist, I did not attack anyone,” he said.

Jordan, who wanted his surname to be kept secret, said that he was also injured during the police operation.

“I saw the police knocking and punching someone next to me,” he said. “When I tried to save the police from them, I fell to the ground.”

He said officers removed his protective goggles, tossed them aside and restrained him. “I was handcuffed tightly and suffered injuries to my face, hand and wrist,” he said.

He was charged with inciting violence, disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

“There is photographic evidence that shows I did not resist arrest in any way,” Jordan said.

“I was amazed at how openly and proudly they all did it. Many of the officers were literally grinning as they hit us; they were loving life. I knew at that point this was state-sanctioned violence.”

Healthcare workers are under attack

Volunteer street medics, working independently of the PAG, attended the meeting Monday evening and treated dozens of protesters who were indiscriminately attacked with pepper spray and tear gas, a chemical weapon banned in warfare under the 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol and other International Agreements.

Umaim K. Al-Baghdadi was one of the paramedics at the scene. he said MWM He said police officers attacked medics helping injured protesters and used tear gas.

“I started coughing and I started feeling something in my throat and that’s when we realized we were tear gassed. There were a lot of injured people who were tear gassed,” he said.

“We were in the middle of treating people. We told them we were doctors, but that didn’t matter to them. They grabbed us, pushed us and told us to move on.”

Many families and elderly people were trapped in the crowd as the police used pepper spray.

Another volunteer doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, was left in the middle of the crowd when the police simultaneously crushed the families, sprayed them with pepper spray and used tear gas.

“I saw a lot of terrible things at the protest, but what really struck me was the fear and panic I saw in the eyes of the children and their parents as this was all happening. Even as someone who has personally witnessed and experienced so much police brutality, this was truly distressing to me,” they said.

“We were being crushed when the police cornered us, and then everyone around me started coughing violently. I think it took him longer than the others to hit me because I was wearing an N95 mask and goggles, but when it finally hit, it was so bad. I felt like I was suffocating, I started suffering and shaking. It’s been almost 24 hours since the protest, and I still have lingering nausea and misery in my stomach.”

Excessive powers of the police

Following the Bondi attack in December 2025, the NSW parliament swiftly introduced the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, which gives police powers to effectively ban protests and other public gatherings for up to three months following what is ‘declared a terrorist incident’.

By law, the Minns Labor government issued a ‘Declaration of Significant Event’ to facilitate the Herzog visit. This law gives the police additional powers, including the power to significantly increase the number of officers, conduct warrantless searches and deny the public access to a declared area.

On Monday afternoon the NSW Supreme Court rejected the PAG’s challenge to the major incident declaration, leaving the public vulnerable to these broad powers.

The Major Incident declaration not only further expanded the powers of the police, but also gave them relative immunity from brutality. Perhaps most worrying, the Major Incident Declaration removes the right of protesters to receive compensation for violence committed by the State.

Specifically, section 62 of the Major Incidents Act 2009 details the exemption from paying compensation. According to the legislation, the State, local Councils and officers, employees or agents of the State or local council cannot be required to pay compensation for “an act or omission that is the subject of a major incident or arises (directly or indirectly) out of a major incident involved”.

Criminal lawyer and investigative journalist Nick Hanna

It significantly limited the claims of protesters injured by police.

“As a result of the major incidents declaration, there are serious limitations on people’s ability to take legal action against the police for their behavior at Monday’s protest,” Hanna said.

“This is one of the most egregious examples of wanton police violence we have seen in a long time. There are countless people who would normally have a strong basis for suing police for assault, unlawful detention and/or false imprisonment, but are now effectively prevented from doing so as a result of the major incident declaration.”

“Had the High Court accepted our application on behalf of the PAG to declare the major incident declaration invalid, these restrictions on the ability to obtain compensation for police wrongful acts would not apply.”

“If the PAG appeals the decision and is successful, it could lead to the removal of restrictions on people suing the state for police brutality.”

Peaceful, diverse, numerous, then attacked. Herzog protesters are shattering this narrative