Protesters who attended a pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Tuesday night that was forcibly broken up by police have disputed the New South Wales premier Chris Minns’ claim that the response to the event was reasonable.
NSW police arrested and charged 23 people who attended the protest at Port Botany directed at the unloading of a ship owned by Israeli company ZIM, which has supported the Israeli government in its fight with Hamas in Gaza.
The organisers, Palestine Justice Movement Sydney and Unionists for Palestine, along with civil rights groups, condemned the police for their response after riot squad and mounted officers forcibly tried to disperse the crowds, which included children.
Guardian Australia has spoken with a number of protesters who claimed the police were aggressive and appeared unconcerned about the potential for a crowd crush as a result of their actions.
An Australian Services Union member and protester, Hannah Thomas, claimed the protest was a “peaceful sit-in” until police arrived and began “ripping up” attenders from the road in a “ruthless and rough” manner.
“They started pulling people up by their clothes and limbs,” she said.
“Cops were ripping up protesters. Mounted police started running their horses into the crowd.”
Thomas said protesters tried to get out of the way but the exit was a narrow pathway and there was potential for a “terrifying” crowd crush.
“It felt like police were … recklessly indifferent to it,” Thomas claimed.
“I found what has been really shocking is that despite how much footage there is, that the premier has backed the police.”
Freelance photographer and journalist Ran Fields witnessed and filmed the police response and said in no instance did he see any of the protesters “act first”.
“They were not aggressive in the crowd. They were not provoking the officers in the crowds,” he said.
Fields, who showed the videos he took to Guardian Australia to corroborate his claims, said he did not think the way in which the officers were engaging with the protesters was proportionate.
“A person was being held down but also given an order to stand up, but their legs were being contorted by another officer,” he claimed.
“And the police officer came and smacked their phone out of their hands, grabbed them by the arm and slung … their body into the ground.”
NSW police declined to comment further when contacted by Guardian Australia.
Rights groups voice ‘deep concern’
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Australian Democracy Network released a joint statement saying they were “deeply concerned” about the “police repression of a peaceful protest”.
They also accused police of causing a “crowd crush” and alleged that officers “physically pushed” several independent legal observers who were there.
The premier defended the police and said he “completely rejected” any suggestion their response was disproportionate.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Minns said the protesters had occupied a street without organisers lodging a form 1 declaration, which they were required to do in order for the event to be “authorised”.
“It was only after ample time was given to the protesters to leave the roadway and allow commerce to transact in that port were arrests effected,” he said.
“Now, I think any reasonable person would say, once you stack up that chronology, the police acted completely responsibly.”
The police commissioner, Karen Webb, said police were “very patient” in dealing with the protesters and only took “proportionate” action when they failed to comply with orders to move on.
Webb claimed a “large number” of the people present were “professional protesters” who were “currently protesting about the Gaza conflict but next week they’ll probably protest about something else”.
The protesters who were arrested were charged with failing to comply with a move on direction and damaging or disrupting a major facility. One 29-year-old woman was also charged with assaulting a police officer without causing actual bodily harm.
Police said all of the people arrested were released on bail except for two, a 24-year-old man and another 29-year-old woman, who were remanded in custody to appear at the Downing Centre local court on Wednesday.
The NSW opposition leader, Mark Speakman, threw his support behind the police. He said it was “disturbing” that there had been a confrontation at a public place and people’s right to import goods had been disrupted.
Speakman called on Minns and the police minister, Yasmin Catley, to condemn the Sydney branch of the Maritime Union of Australia for their involvement in the protest.
Minns attempted to distance his government from the union on Wednesday morning. The MUA, which is affiliated with the NSW Labor party, declined to comment.
NSW Greens MPs Sue Higginson and Jenny Leong accused police of responding to the protesters with “unprovoked and unbridled aggression”.
“Violence against peaceful protesters can never be justified – and must never be tolerated,” they said.
One of the protest’s organisers, Ahmed Abadla, condemned the police response, saying the protest was a “peaceful, nonviolent boycott”.
