Rebecca Payne was wearing a fluorescent pink vest – clearly identifying her as a legal observer – as she filmed from the edge of a crowd of Australians protesting the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog in Sydney last week.
When she was hit with pepper-spray and started feeling an immediate burning sensation in her eye, her first thought was that it was an accident. It was only later, when she watched back footage of the incident, that Payne realised a police officer had reached over and pepper-sprayed directly into the packed crowd.
