A Western Australian police officer drew his firearm while pulling over the vehicle of an environmental activist in Perth last month.
Emil Davey, 21, was driving in the suburb of City Beach on 31 July when he says an unmarked van overtook his car and then stopped suddenly in front of him.
Davey says a man who was not immediately identifiable as a police officer exited the van from the passenger side and pointed a gun at the car, shouting at Davey to stop.
The officer submitted a use of force report about the incident, which would now be subject to an internal review with external oversight from the Corruption and Crime Commission, a WA police spokesperson confirmed.
“Around 10.20pm on 31 July 2023, police conducting duties in the City Beach area became suspicious of a vehicle and subsequently conducted a vehicle stop,” the spokesperson said.
“An officer identified a perceived threat and briefly drew his firearm. The firearm was holstered as soon as the situation was assessed and no further threat was identified.”
Davey’s vehicle was searched and he was released without charge.
The day after the incident, the Disrupt Burrup Hub group, of which Davey is a member, staged a protest at the City Beach home of the Woodside chief executive, Meg O’Neill.
Davey was charged later that day with “conspiracy to commit indictable offence” in relation to this protest, and police say the intercept will form part of the evidence in that case.
Davey said: “I was not doing anything unlawful, and police did not seize anything from my car before letting me go without charge.”
He said police gave him a reason for pulling him over, but that was no justification for the conduct of the officer, which he said left him badly shaken.
Police would not comment on which unit the officers were a part of.
Davey’s lawyer, Zarah Burgess, said she had requested body-worn camera footage of the incident. WA police would not comment on whether the footage existed, or whether it would be provided.
Four days after the intercept, Davey was again arrested and charged with eight offences relating to a protest at Woodside’s headquarters in June.
The activists are protesting against the development of the Burrup peninsula, and claim Woodside has destroyed thousands of sacred rock art sites as part of the development of a large-scale gas development know as the Burrup Hub.
The peninsula, located in the Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains the world’s largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs.
Disrupt Burrup Hub claims Woodside’s operations in the area and its proposed expansion are the biggest new fossil fuel project in the country and could produce billion of tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2070. It has carried out a series of actions against Woodside this year.
• This article was amended on 11 August. An earlier version gave an incorrect age for Emil Davey.
