Coronavirus: BLM protest organiser Paul Silva ‘willing to catch Covid for the cause’

Tanya Plibersek calls on Black Lives Matter protesters in Sydney to stay home, but organisers say they have to go on marching.

Black Lives Matter organiser, and nephew of David Dungay Jr, Paul Silva Picture: David Swift

Organisers of a 1000-strong Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney are resisting calls from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the city’s MP Tanya Plibersek to abandon the protest, while protest leader Paul Silva says he is willing to risk catching COVID-19 for his cause.

BLM marchers are due to descend on Sydney Town Hall next Tuesday to protest Aboriginal deaths in custody, despite NSW Police’s vows to stop a repeat of last month’s mass gatherings.

Mr Silva is David Dungay Jr’s nephew – one of the nation’s most notorious deaths in custody – and he said protesters were taking COVID-19 precautions and were taking the same risks every other Australian does when they “go to the shops”.

“I definitely understand why people are concerned about the virus and we take social distancing seriously. We have masks and hand sanitisers, we advise people to keep 2m apart over our PA system every few minutes,” Mr Silva told The Australian.

“But people are taking a risk going to the shops. I’m not taking a risk buying clothes or shoes, I’m doing to it stand up for justice and Aboriginal lives.”

While last month’s BLM protests did not result in major outbreaks themselves, there are concerns mass rallies will prompt others to further ignore social distancing rules and ultimately spread the virus.

Ms Plibersek, the opposition education spokeswoman and the one of the most well-known leaders of the progressive movement, said she would be marching herself it were not for the pandemic.

The Sydney Labor MP said protesters should lobby parliamentarians for action on Aboriginal incarceration rates instead of marching on Sydney Town Hall.

“If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, I would be marching to protest indigenous deaths in custody, the overrepresentation of indigenous Australians in our justice system, and the many other injustices faced by indigenous Australians,” she told The Australian.

“But COVID-19 changes everything. The medical advice is clear: large physical gatherings are a serious health risk.

“We need serious government effort to stop the injustices faced by indigenous Australians. Scott Morrison should adopt justice and out-of-home care targets to help reduce the number of indigenous Australians in incarceration, and support children to stay safely with their families. “Marching is not the only way to make the case for change. I would encourage every Australian to lobby their member of parliament to demand action.”

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told The Australian on Monday he is prepared to fine anyone who attends the BLM rally next Tuesday and will go to court to stop it, despite the state government’s failed attempts to stop protests last month.

Paul Silva, left, takes a knee with a man he believes is an undercover police officer at a June protest. Picture: David Swift

The Prime Minister on Wednesday morning said the state government would have to make decisions on the protest but urged people not to attend them.

“I just think that’s appalling. Where the police and where the state government has said that there’s a mass gathering that can’t go ahead. Well, people should obey the law,” he told Sydney’s 2GB radio.

Mr Silva’s uncle died in Long Bay Jail in December 2015 at the age of 26, shortly after a team of prison officers had stormed Dungay Jr’s cell in the prison’s mental health ward and administered him a sedative.

“ (Mr Morrison) is telling us to follow the law but the police and corrective services are not following the law,” Mr Silva said.