NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian condemns shocking footage of indigenous teen’s arrest in Sydney

‘We still have a long way to go’, says Gladys Berejiklian over footage of a police officer throwing a Sydney teen to the ground.

The footage of a male police officer throwing an indigenous teenager into the ground demonstrates “we still have a long way to go”, says NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, as Australia prepares for Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
While an investigation into the incident is ongoing, Police Commissioner Mick Fuller and Ms Berejiklian both condemned the incident, which resulted in the teenager suffering minor injuries.
Police are investigating the arrest in Surry Hills on Monday, which involved the 16-year-old male allegedly telling the police officer “I’ll crack you in the f*cking jaw, bro” resulting in the officer sweeping the restrained teenager's legs and heavily throwing him into the ground.
In an interview, Ms Berejiklian said she appreciated that police had already restricted officer’s duties while they looked into the matter.
“I think I thought what most Australians thought, and that is – we still have a long way to go in our country,” Ms Berejiklian told ABC News.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Dylan Robinson

“I think that this happened in the US – what happened in the US is a good wake-up call for all of us, and I think that all of us have our hearts breaking as to what's happening in the United States. And we have to ensure that we can do what we can in our own country to protect all of our citizens.”
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller also apologised to the teenager, saying that while police officers are trained to use the leg sweeping manoeuvre, they also needed to show restraint.
“From my perspective absolutely, regardless of whether he should or shouldn’t have been arrested, regardless of whether he has committed a crime or not, we certainly should have handled the situation better,” Mr Fuller told Ben Fordham on 2GB.
The child's sister, Ali Mongta-Finn also spoke out, saying that police shouldn’t “abuse children because they’re lippy”.
However, Minister Police and Emergency Services, David Elliott said while he was “keen” to see the findings from the investigation, he defended the response from the officer, saying he was provoked.
“I was just as disturbed about the threat from a young person to physically assault a police officer as I was with the response from the police officer,” Mr Elliott said.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, North West Metro Region Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius warned a solidarity rally planned for Saturday could be the "tipping point" that unleashes the coronavirus.
Mr Cornelius, who opened a presser on Wednesday with a Welcome to Country honouring the people of the Kulin nation, said protesters could face fines if found to be in breach of social distancing laws.
"As I understand what's planned on Saturday would amount to the largest mass gathering since the Chief Health Officer's directions came into force," he said.
"Saturday presents as a real potential tipping point."
About 18,000 people have registered their interest on Facebook in attending a rally at Victorian parliament on Saturday.
As well, Mr Cornelius said Victoria Police held concerns over potential counter protests, issuing a stern warning to anyone looking to exploit the rally.
He said he was aware community anger could be directed at officers attending the rally but said Victoria Police had a strong relationship with local Aboriginal communities.
"I have a great deal of confidence in my field commanders: they're very experienced and competent police officers," he said.
"They will be making judgments on the day about how best to deploy our resources in support of the right to protest and how best to deploy our resources to ensure the community is safe and to ensure offences are not committed."
Footage of the event in Surry Hills has been widely circulated on social media and has added fuel to simmering tension about police discrimination of Aboriginal Australians.
Many have drawn parallels between the horrific death of George Floyd with the death of Aboriginal man David Dungay who died in police custody in 2015.
In Sydney, 3,000 protesters rallied at Hyde Park to march in solidarity with the protests that have erupted across the United States. The rally marks the first of several planned across Australia, with tens of thousands of people registering interest on social media.
Mr Fuller said the community expected more from police officers, but didn’t believe that people wanted the officer to be sacked.