Chris Minns defends police in ‘impossible situation’ after video emerges of officers punching protesters in Sydney | Australian police and policing

New South Wales premier Chris Minns has defended police actions at a rally against Isaac Herzog’s visit after video footage emerged showing officers repeatedly punching a number of protesters.

The prime minister on Tuesday rejected suggestions that his own anti-protest restrictions had created what he saw as an “impossible situation” for police dealing with thousands of protesters outside Sydney City Hall.

Rally organisers, Labor supporters and Green MPs accused Minns and police of creating an “unsafe situation” for participants.

NSW police pepper-sprayed protesters opposing the Israeli president’s four-day visit to Australia. They arrested 27 people and said 10 officers were assaulted, but none of these attacks were serious. Police confirmed Tuesday morning that some charges had been laid but did not identify the alleged crimes.

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Minns defended the police response and controversial protest restrictions that one member of his government said had created a “pressure cooker” situation.

He told reporters police were “put in an impossible situation last night” after protesters defied a protest restriction that prevented them from marching to the NSW parliament. The effective ban was imposed following the Bondi terrorist attack that killed 15 people during the Hanukkah festival on December 14.

The protest on Monday evening continued despite a NSW supreme court ruling against the Palestine Action Group, which wanted to revoke additional “major incident” powers granted to police for the duration of Herzog’s visit.

“I do not trust any reasonable person’s interpretation of the conditions on the streets of Sydney last night, it was an impossible situation,” Minns said on Tuesday.

“We had to keep the public safe and as harrowing as these scenes were, it would have been much worse if you had chosen your own adventure. [if] Protesters broke through police lines and we had clashes on the streets of Sydney. “That would be terrible.”

NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson, who said she would refer police actions to the independent Law Enforcement Commission, said police had “full power and discretion” to allow a peaceful march to proceed.

“They can’t hide behind this [public assembly restriction] declaration. Actually too much [a] “It’s layer upon layer of design that Chris Minns deliberately provided to create this whole situation that occurred last night,” Higginson said Tuesday. “This was inevitable.”

Upper house Greens member Abigail Boyd, who confronted NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon in the parliament corridors about allegedly being assaulted by police during the protest, told reporters police “made sure we had nowhere to go and then pushed us”. [protesters] We get into unsafe situations.”

“I was picked up from the ground. Another police officer [allegedly] He punched me in the head and then there was another one [allegedly] He punched me on the shoulder. “I don’t see how this is a proportionate response.”

Josh Lees, an organizer with the Palestine Action Group, said Monday night’s events were the worst he had seen after attending many pro-Palestinian events in recent years.

“Of course before this we said Sydney’s streets should belong to Sydney residents,” Lees told reporters. “There is no justification for the police’s actions last night.”

The Palestine Action Group planned to hold another event at the NSW police station in Surry Hills on Tuesday evening to demand that all charges against protesters be dropped.

Speaking alongside Minns on Tuesday, Lanyon said protesters could expect a “significant police presence.”

“There is no difference in the approach to the police. Wherever the protesters go, where they act lawfully and peacefully, there will be no problem.”

Lanyon and Minns said police will internally investigate violence at the protest that was shared on social media. Lanyon urged the public “not to look at the 10-second clip without full context.”

The police commissioner claimed that the rally speakers “incited the crowd” and that the police initially showed “remarkable restraint in the first part of the speeches”; until protesters attempted to march down George Street to parliament.

“The police did what they had to do, which was to hold the line and then pull back so they could fall and disperse the protesters. This was designed to keep the community safe.”

Footage taken from the scene shows some men kneeling and praying before being dragged away by the police. Asked about Tuesday’s video, Minns rejected the idea that it showed police disproportionately focusing on the Muslim community.

The Prime Minister told the ABC: “Context is incredibly important and the context here was in the midst of rebellious behaviour.” “I’m not saying people who are praying are exhibiting this behavior, but the police face a difficult situation when they ask people to evacuate the area.”

Lanyon said he met with leaders of the Muslim community on Tuesday.

One video shows police repeatedly punching a man in a white shirt. Another video shows police officers repeatedly punching a young man in the head while pinning him to the ground.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by what had happened but that they had “undermined” the protesters’ cause and that a visit by the Israeli president was appropriate.

“People should be able to express their views peacefully but the police were very clear about the routes required if people wanted to walk to go a certain route and they wanted to ensure that was done peacefully,” he told Triple M Hobart.

Federal Social Services Minister and Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek said videos of the protest shared on social media were “extremely concerning”.

“I hope they will be investigated,” he told the ABC. Plibersek said protesters “absolutely” had the right to protest but should heed police advice not to march on the NSW parliament.

Labor’s NSW upper house member Stephen Lawrence, one of four government MPs to attend the rally, said the state should facilitate a peaceful protest. He estimated that about 20,000-30,000 people were there. Police did not yet have an estimate Tuesday morning.

Lawrence was among those questioning the link between the Bondi attack and pro-Palestinian protests after the declaration to restrict public gatherings was extended this month and “major event” powers were challenged in the high court.

“We have removed the capacity to allow such marches and protests,” he said.

“This was almost an inevitable consequence of this. I don’t like to be right about something like this, but it has been said many times in parliament and in different places, we are essentially producing a pressure cooker and we saw that last night.”