BLM protest to proceed ‘regardless of court orders’

Black Lives Matter activists face a confrontation with NSW Police after threatening to defy a court ruling and proceed with an illegal protest even.

Raul Bassi, Black Lives Matter protester, speaks to the media out the front of The Supreme Court in Sydney on Sunday. Picture: Adam Yip

Black Lives Matter activists face a confrontation with NSW Police after threatening to defy a court ruling and proceed with an illegal protest even if their appeal is quashed.

Police won a dramatic last-minute NSW Supreme Court battle to stop the rally from going ahead at Sydney’s Town Hall on Tuesday amid fears of a second-wave outbreak of COVID-19.

In a special out of hours session on Sunday, judge Mark Ierace ruled against the BLM organisers, who had sought a permit for up to 1000 protesters to attend the rally.

Last week, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told The Australian BLM activists were “playing Russian roulette” with millions of lives by planning the protest.

He said an earlier demonstration in Victoria had been linked to the coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne’s public housing towers.

Black Lives Matter protest organiser Padraic Gibson speaks outside yhe Supreme Court in Sydney. Picture: Adam Yip

Mr Fuller has threatened $1000 on-the-spot fines for anyone who defies coronavirus health orders.

But organiser Padraic Gibson, who is acting on behalf of David Dungay Jr’s family — an Aboriginal man who died in custody in 2015 — said the court decision would be appealed and the rally would go ahead regardless of the result.

“Racism cannot be defeated by staying isolated in your house,” Mr Gibson said outside court.

He said police had turned the protest “into this massive media controversy where we’re being demonised” and there was “nothing for people in this city to fear from these rallies”.

“The only people that have anything to worry about these rallies (are) the people who have an interest perpetuating racism and injustice against First Nations people,” Mr Gibson said.

Police Minister David Elliott said the decision to prohibit the protest was “the obvious one” and that “unfortunately one of the casualties of COVID-19 has been our ability to exercise our freedom of speech”.

“If we couldn’t have an Anzac Day march this year, if we can’t gather in large numbers at sporting events, then it would have been completely irresponsible for this particular protest march to go ahead,” Mr Elliott said.
He appealed to the organisers to instruct people not to attend on Tuesday, as it would now be considered an illegal gathering with the potential for on-the-spot fines and charges that could carry a six-month jail term.

But Mr Gibson said organisers understood there was “an enormous amount of fear and anxiety across Sydney about the renewal of community transmission of coronavirus”.

“Very, very unfairly the government, political leaders … and the Police Commissioner have channelled that anxiety towards us — towards people organising a protest of a few hundred people who are going to be spaced out as much as you can. We are not responsible for the transmission of the coronavirus.”

Black Lives Matter protest organisers outside the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Sunday. Picture: Adam Yip

Justice Ierace accepted there was a risk to “momentum being lost” in the BLM movement if protests were banned, but argued the risk of coronavirus infection was “medium” as a consequence of the resurgence in Victoria.

“The balancing of the competing concerns of the right to demonstrate, as against the safety of the community at large, at this particular phase of the pandemic necessitates the granting of the order prohibiting the holding of the public assembly,” Justice Ierace ruled.

Defence barrister Felicity Graham asked the court to stay the order so they could talk to police about moving the protest to the Domain parklands to further ensure people could socially distance.

Justice Ierace accepted and suspended his orders until 10am on Monday to allow the organisers to approach police with their compromise.

Last week, BLM activists accused police of treating them unfairly by moving to block the rally before the movement’s leaders had even submitted a ­formal application.

In the hearing before the Supreme Court, lawyers for the protest organisers accused Mr Fuller of failing to “engage meaningfully” with ­protesters and making a pre-emptive decision to try to ban the ­demonstration.