Coronavirus Australia: Conspiracy theorist Eve Black hits back over barricade stunt

A conspiracy theorist has said she “regrets nothing” about her high-profile stunt and called for people to “wake up” as she faces a police fine.

A “selfish” conspiracy theorist who filmed herself laughing after she breached a COVID-19 police roadblock in Victoria has said she “regrets nothing” about her public stunt.

Eve Black, who calls the pandemic a “SCAMdemic” on social media, uploaded vision of her interaction with officers at a lockdown checkpoint, saying she didn’t need to say where she was going, before driving off.

Her actions have been roundly condemned by politicians and health experts, and Ms Black is likely to receive a knock at her door from police.

But Black has no regrets about her public stunt, posting a message on her Facebook page saying “I regret nothing. I’m just tired of the abuse and threats. Wake up, sleeper” with the emoji of a sheep.

She also posted a quote purportedly from Melbourne Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kaye saying “it is an ancient principle of the common law that a person under arrest has no obligation to stop for police or answer their questions.

Black engaged in a short debate with one of her followers who asked “what about if they committed an offence”.

She replied: “An offence is usually considered such through legislation. Technically, you must consent to legislation. However even still, they can not arrest you for an offence such as speeding etc.”

Eve Black’s latest update.

POLICE SLAM ‘SELFISH’ MOVE

“What she did was incredibly selfish and by posting it on social media she was encouraging others to do the same,” Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville said.

The officer seen in the footage was wearing a body camera and police know who Ms Black is, Ms Neville added.

“I’m sure she’s looking forward to a knock on the door from police officers.”

Ms Black’s video is one of a number circulating showing Melburnians subject to a stage 3 lockdown flouting the rules, with the encouragement and support of a conspiracy group.

“Let‘s take them down,” she says in the video as she drives up the checkpoint, and prays to God to give her strength.

Instead of sharing information at the checkpoint, Ms Black asks the officer whether she’d “disturbed the peace” by trying to leave her town.

“No,” the officer responds. ”I just asked what your reason for leaving today is.”

Ms Black responds: “I don‘t need to tell you that. I don’t know you.”

RELATED: Follow our live coronavirus coverage here

A coronavirus conspiracy theorist who filmed herself laughing after she drove past a COVID-19 police barricade in Victoria without giving her details has been slammed as ‘dumb’ and ‘disrespectful’. Picture: Facebook

Eve Black believes coronavirus is a hoax.

The officer asked again where she had come from.

“I don‘t need to answer your questions. Have I committed a crime? Have I committed a crime?” she asked twice.

The officer then waves Ms Black through the checkpoint and she can be seen laughing loudly as she drives away.

“I feel so good,” she says to the camera. She then bragged about it on Facebook.

“BOOM! No fine, drove straight out of Melbourne, they took no info from me,” she wrote. ”No License, No questions of theirs were answered. They work for us, not the other way around. YOU get to ask the questions. NOT them.”

Ms Black said she was “nervous as heck” as she approached the checkpoint, but encouraged her friends and family to “know their rights” during lockdown.

She’s not the only one fighting back against public health measures.

RELATED: Victoria facing years cut off from rest of Australia

Well, that's one way to handle a police checkpoint...

Posted by The Conscious Truth Network on Monday, 13 July 2020

Ms Black is a member of a social media page called The Conscious Truth Network, whose members have been sharing vision of their own checkpoint jumps.

James Bartolo, the leader of the conspiracy group, uploaded a video of himself arguing with officers for 20 minutes about whether their actions were legal.

James Bartolo says he's a former Australian Army soldier and competitive bodybuilder.

James Bartolo runs The Conscious Truth Network conspiracy group.

Mr Bartolo used similar language to Ms Black, who was reading from a script on a piece of paper in her video.

He is encouraging Melburnians in stage 3 lockdown to breach checkpoints, arguing it’s a violation of human rights.

His group has 1660 members.

Mr Bartolo regularly shares videos with his followers discussing the “plandemic” hoax, questioning whether COVID-19 is infectious, pushing 5G conspiracies and sharing his theory that coronavirus is part of a push towards a cashless society.

In one bizarre clip, he also questions whether the moon landing was faked.

Ms Black reading from A conspiracy theorist has been slammed for her "dumb" coronavirus stunt.

Ms Black has been slammed for her "dumb" stunt.

She has been slammed by National President of the Labor Party, Wayne Swan.

“It‘s dumb. It’s disrespectful,” he told Today. “And at the end, she says she feels good.

“Well, she won’t feel too good in ICU. This sort of behaviour is what I think we are battling a bit around the country.”

AMA President Dr Tony Bartone said it was “absolutely reckless” behaviour.

“Look, I can‘t understand what possesses some people to do what they do,” he told Today. “Clearly bizarre is one way of describing it, absolutely reckless is another one word I would use.

“I would like to take that lady through the intensive care wards and show her the ultimate outcome of her ridiculously stupid behaviour. And really just everybody needs to hear the message and hear the guidelines. They‘re there for a reason.

“They are not there to make our life miserable, they’re there to protect lives and to make the community safer, and she should get a real look at what’s going on.”

Eve Black is part of a group called The Conscious Truth Network.

Questions have been raised about why police didn’t fine Ms Black on the spot, instead waving her through in apparent frustration.

Victorians breaching the directions of the chief health officer risk a $1650 fine.

“We will be issuing fines for deliberate, obvious and blatant breaches of the chief health officer directions,” a police spokeswoman told The Australian today.

On Friday morning, Ms Black deleted or restricted her Facebook profile, saying: “I have privatised my acc because I have better things to do than be a punching bag for your fear.”