Pro-Palestine protester who appeared in viral clip appearing to be punched by police had allegedly BITTEN an officer
A man has been accused of biting a police officer after viral footage showed him being assaulted by two cops.
During the chaotic protests in Sydney on Monday night, triggered by the arrival of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, two NSW Police officers were seen repeatedly hitting a restrained man.
A video showed the man being held on the ground by two police on the tram lines on George St, near Town Hall in Sydney’s CBD, after crowds were ordered to disperse.
The cop closest to the arrested man’s head hit him twice while an officer holding the man’s hands behind his back took several swings.
The Australian identified the arrested man as 28-year-old Jace Turner and revealed he has been accused of biting an officer, breaking the skin.
He was charged with assaulting an officer in the execution of duty causing actual bodily harm and released on conditional bail on Tuesday.
Mr Turner was one of nine people charged after police made 27 arrests during the protest.
‘Thousands of participants gathered at Town Hall and at the conclusion of the speeches, the crowd assembled on George Street indicating an intention to march,’ NSW Police said in a statement.
Jace Turner (above) allegedly bit a police officer while being restrained on Monday night
‘A section of the crowd attempted to push past officers with the intention of marching, against the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD).
‘The crowd were issued a number of directions by police to disperse in accordance with the PARD and Major Events Act.
‘When participants failed to comply, officers moved to disperse the crowd, including anyone who had stopped and was blocking pedestrian access.’
The 27 arrested were taken to several police stations across Sydney.
‘Paramedics treated a number of participants after OC spray was deployed,’ NSW Police said.
‘Five members of the public were taken to hospital for assessment while two officers were treated at the scene.
‘Police are in the process of issuing an additional six people with Future Court Attendance Notices for refuse/fail to comply with direction under Part 14 to appear before court on a later date.
‘Officers are continuing to investigate the actions of protestors with investigators reviewing body camera footage and social media vision from the event.’
Police were seen pepper‑spraying, arresting, beating and shoving demonstrators
Confronting footage and photos shared online showed protesters being pepper‑sprayed, arrested, beaten and shoved by police.
One video showed a group of Muslim men leading a prayer on their knees before being hauled away by police.
In another widely shared clip, a man appeared to shove a police officer on a bicycle before raising his hands, after which several officers punched him repeatedly as shocked bystanders watched.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said he would not ‘throw police under the bus’ and argued that moving on the Muslim men praying was justified because other protesters had attempted to breach a police line.
‘I appreciate the scenes on television didn’t look good, but it would have been far, far worse,’ he said.
‘I support police in a very difficult set of circumstances, they were trying to keep the public safe, and the record shows they did everything possible to avoid these confrontations.’
Minns said police were forced to balance protest activity with a major religious gathering taking place at the same time, which he referred to as a ‘secret event’.
‘What we can reveal today that we couldn’t say yesterday for operational reasons, is that there were 7000 Jewish mourners in the same city at the same time that police had to keep separate from protesters,’ he said.
NSW Premier Chris Minns defended the actions of officers in a press conference on Tuesday
Minns repeated police proposals to hold the protest in Hyde Park and allow a march down College Street were rejected, leaving officers to manage what he described as a rapidly deteriorating situation on Monday night.
‘Now that is a dynamic and difficult situation for NSW Police, and in the circumstances, you can’t just look at an individual clip. You have to look at the last week of trying to de-escalate the situation that was rejected by the protester organisers,’ he said.
‘NSW Police tried everything possible to avoid a confrontation last night.
‘I think a fair minded person would look at their engagement with the Palestinian Action Group over the last seven days and see repeated pleas from NSW Police to hold this protest in Hyde Park and have a march down College Street immediately or persistently rejected by the protest organisers.’
More to come…
