Police expect to arrest more Sydney anti-lockdown protesters
Police have assembled the biggest strikeforce since the Cronulla riots to arrest anti-lockdown “anarchists” planning another rally.
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Police have warned that anyone who participates in another anti-lockdown protest in Sydney next weekend will be arrested.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said on Monday that an additional 107 tickets were issued to protestors overnight and that more arrests were expected.
He said that police had recived 10,000 tip-offs and were aware of “discussions” about a follow-up demonstration next Saturday.
“Can I just put this warning out now to everyone – that will be heavily policed, we will be taking the ground very early,” Mr Fuller said.
“You will be arrested.”
He also said police would take a zero-tolerance approach for a protest planned next Saturday.
Already, 63 people have been charged over their roles in last Saturday’s rally.
Mr Fuller said the police response was one of the biggest in more than 10 years.
“The strike force we have set up is probably the biggest since the Cronulla riots in terms of making sure we hold these grubs to account”.
“We saw violence at a level that we haven’t seen since 2005.”
Chief health officer Kerry Chant said she was “really distressed” about the illegal protest.
“I just can’t understand the motivation at such a time. I mean every day, I look at the data on the number of hospitalisations and the numbers of deaths and the number of young people that are impacted,” she said.
“It actually is quite distressing, so I think we all have a collective responsibility to take up vaccination.”
Here are some of the protesters who showed utter contempt for their fellow citizens with their actions:
ALLAN OMER
An out-of-work landscaper says he tried to save a rainbow lorikeet at the anti-lockdown protest just moments before his was arrested by police.
Allan Omer, 52, appeared in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday charged with resisting an officer, failing to comply with police directions and defying Covid-19 public health orders.
The Bellevue Hill landscaper pleaded guilty to all three charges immediately to have the matter dealt with by Magistrate Michael Barko.
His solicitor Robert Kaufmann told the court that Omer maintains he was not involved in any violence at the protest – and in fact took steps to save a bird when a scuffle broke out.
“He saw a rainbow lorikeet being trampled on the ground and made his way over to a tree to try and protect it from further injury,” Mr Kaufmann said.
“Police saw him helping the bird, he then continued to join the group and he heard over a bull horn a general move on direction.”
Mr Barko convicted Omer for defying Covid-19 public health orders and fined him $550.
Omer was also convicted and fined $110 for failing to comply with police orders, and sentenced to a 12-month conditional release order without conviction for resisting police during his arrest.
TIKTOKER JON-BERNARD KAIROUZ
TikTok tool Jon-Bernard Kairouz, who accurately ‘guessed’ NSW Covid numbers five days in a row, has been ordered to appear in court for breaching public health restrictions.
The Belmore resident, 24, was visited by police on Sunday and issued a court attendance notice for attending the rally.
He spoke to the crowd on Saturday – dubbing himself the ‘People’s Premier”.
“From what I’ve calculated, there’s over 50,000 people here today. Everyone that’s here, small businesses and people doing it tough – all we want is freedom,” he said on a loudspeaker.
Social media users blasted him for “trying to stay relevant”.
THE WINTERSTEINS
International rugby league player Frank Winterstein and his wife Taylor Winterstein – both vocal anti-vax campaigners – posted live videos and photos of the pair not wearing masks or social distancing at the rally.
Taylor boasted to her 70,000 fans in a live video of hugging strangers.
“I got to run into so many people I know on the street, old friends, new friends, people I’d never met before, but I love to say hey and give everybody a hug,” she told her followers.
“All in all it was a really successful day. Incredible vibe. There’s so many of us now. It’s undeniable how many of us now are fed up with this bulls***.”
Frank played a song while filming the rally around him, with the lyrics: “That’s my team, loyalty over everything,” and a song chanting, “Freedom”.
The pair have been contacted by The Daily Telegraph for comment.
JOHN RUDDICK
A Liberal Democratic candidate for the seat of Warringah callously said the Sydney rally would be an “experiment” to see whether ”corpses would pile up” after protesters marched without masks.
“It was a jam-packed protest and 99% had no masks … so we have conducted an experiment. Will there will be corpses piling up in three weeks from now from Covid?,” John Ruddick said on Twitter.
Mr Ruddick posted continuous videos and updates from the protest, calling NSW Police “bloody scum” and “liars”.
They visited him on Sunday, informing him of an incoming $1000 fine for breaching Covid restrictions.
He told followers: “No problem – I‘ll frame it and put it on the wall”.
Mr Ruddick said a small Australian Christian conservative news website had reported “fairly” on the protest while criticising other media for saying the protest was violent. ”The media is lying. This was the happiest protest imaginable,” he posted. ”People are smiling for the first time. It‘s been extremely well attended. Let’s triple it next week.”
Mr Ruddick has been contacted by The Daily Telegraph.
RHYSS KEANE
Central Coast gym owner Rhyss Keane, who just last week was dealt a $1000 fine for keeping his business open during the lockdown, defiantly marched at the rally.
The tattooed bodybuilder told followers he “expected a visit” from police after attending.
He said he marched at the “99 per cent peaceful” protest to highlight the mental health issues the lockdown is causing.
“I don‘t want people killing themselves. There are people around me attempting suicide who can’t work,” Mr Keane said.
He was not worried about spreading the disease, arguing he did not know anyone who had caught coronavirus.
He told the Telegraph posed TikTok comedian Jon-Bernard Kairouz, who he posed with at the rally, was “bringing people laughter in a bleak time”.
Mr Keane told The Daily Telegraph he was now running his business outside his Wyoming warehouse, with just two people training at a time, in line with public health rules.
He chased A Current Affair’s Steven Marshall from his gym when he was not complying with orders, telling the journalist to “stand up like a man” and “get the f*** away” or he would “f**k” him up.
THE MALLIES
Customers of Central Coast cafe Modern Organic have vowed to boycott the “selfish” business after the owners drove to Sydneyto attend the protest.
Kiran Mallie posted a video to Facebook marching alongside husband and cafe co-owner Kirt Mallie, who held a sign that read: “Freedom is Essential.”
Ms Mallie was forced to respond to criticism flooding their social media, telling users the pair would isolate and be tested.
“We are acting responsibly and making sure our choices don’t impact anyone else,” she wrote.
Mr Mallie’s personal Facebook was flooded with attacks. “Mentally and culturally you were a leader mate,” one user wrote. “I’m gutted.”
JOSEPH MEKHAEL
A known Covid denier who marched at the anti-lockdown protest has been granted bail, with the court hearing he was under a “misguided delusion” in attending the rally.
Joseph Mekhael, known as “Smokin’ Joe,” appeared by video link from Surry Hills Police Station on Sunday charged with participating in the rally and breaching bail.
The prosecution argued bail should be revoked because Mekhael had previously organised rallies, including one for which he was charged in February. His lawyer said: “The penny has dropped, he understands the right to … assembly needs to be contained in these circumstances.”
KRISTIAN PULKOWNIK & REMON KORKISE
A man who allegedly punched a police horse – captured in a picture from the protest – will remain behind bars, while another protester on similar charges walked on bail.
Kristian Pulkownik, 33, appeared in a short hearing at Parramatta Children’s Court charged with multiple offences including animal cruelty, unlawful assembly and breaching health orders on Sunday.
Appearing via video link, Pulkownik did not apply for bail or enter a plea after being charged for allegedly punching Tobruk the police horse.
Another man at the rally, photographer Remon Korkise, 36, pleaded not guilty in court to assaulting an officer, animal cruelty and breaching health orders.
The court heard Korkise attended the protest out of “frustration” as his business had closed.
NIKOLA DEDOVIC
A protester who appeared on the front page of The Daily Telegraph has been granted bail, with even his own lawyer describing him as “poster boy for the biggest idiot in Australia”.
Nikola Dedovic, 20, travelled from Wollongong to attend the rally, where he allegedly shoved a NSW constable on a pushbike and then ran into the crowd.
The court heard Dedovic attended the rally not because he was politically aligned, but because it sounded like a “bit of fun”.
His lawyer said Dedovic was overwhelmed by the allegation that he had pushed the police officer, claiming it was a case of mistaken identity.
He was granted bail to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on August 10.
ANTHONY ‘CHOC’ MUNDINE
Covid denier and former pro boxer Anthony Mundine has been issued a court attendance notice after appearing at the Sydney rally on Saturday.
Mundine was issued the notice on Sunday, along with other people in breach of the public health rules.
The anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist told The Telegraph earlier this year that Covid was a “cover up” and a symptom of “5Gradiation”.
He has already been fined twice for breaching public health orders.
Earlier this month, he was fined for telling a Bunnings employee he was exempt from wearing a mask.
Mundine’s social media is filled with bizarre rants about Covid and vaccines.
On June 29, he posted: “My people don’t get conned (into) getting the shot! Do your research. It’s a death wish!”
He said those who had already received a vaccine should have the “antidote” medication, Suramin, a drug used to treat a parasite-borne disease.
Mundine did not respond to The Daily Telegraph.
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