NSW Police to show up in force to prevent repeat lockdown protest

NSW Police say they will send 1000 officers to prevent people from joining another anti-lockdown march in Sydney.

NSW Police are working on mobilising a throng of officers to meet an expected follow-up march on Saturday.

It comes as Chief health officer Kerry Chant said authorities were aware of a person had “attempted” to attend the protest last Saturday before testing positive to Covid-19.

“If that person would have attended the protest, they would have been infectious,” she said.

“We’re just working with police to ascertain whether that person did attend. The police indicated they had turned the person around and they had been given an infringement notice.”

A crowd of people at the Sydney protest.

“Please don‘t come into Sydney tomorrow to protest,” NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller said. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The state’s top cop said police were aware of plans for a follow-up protest at the weekend and that anyone who tried to march would be met by throngs of officers.

“Please don't come into Sydney tomorrow to protest,” NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller said.

“If you do, you will be met by up to a thousand police who will be ready to deal with you, whether that be via the health orders or other laws.

“We know that this is such an important time for NSW in terms of winning the battle against the virus and coming into town to protest is not the answer.”

Mr Fuller said officers were monitoring online forums and that it appeared some protesters were looking march again.

“Protesters are using chats and other forums so it has been more complex to work out numbers, but it is a very similar type of intel summary that we saw leading up to last week,” he said.

“So from our perspective we have to expect it will be a protest. It appears it will not be in the same numbers. But we can still look untidy and can still be violent.”

A massive police presence was foreshadowed for Saturday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

A taskforce set up after the original event, which went under the banner seeking of “freedom” from Sydney’s tough Covid-19 restrictions, had received more than 20,000 tips from members of the public, Mr Fuller said.

The march drew thousands of people to the city’s centre, where some demonstrators clashed with police.

Some of the people presents carried signs with anti-vaccination messages and misleading slogans claiming Covid-19 statistics are “false”.

Despite sifting through the massive amount of tips from the public, police had only made some 60 arrests, a number that didn’t appear to have increased significantly since earlier in the week.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said if infected people mingled with others at large public gatherings, it could create a “ripple effect” and cause a “major setback” for the state’s suppression strategy.

“That’s why I’m so strongly appealing to everybody, please don’t go to the protest activity tomorrow, it’s going to prolong the pain for all of us,” she said.

“Surely you care about your loved ones. Don’t give them a death sentence.”

Originally published as NSW Police to show up in force to prevent repeat lockdown protest