Police lay charges after NSW Police Minister verbally abused, followed

Man charged after allegedly pursuing NSW Police Minister down the street and grilling him about ‘tyrannical’ lockdown | WATCH

Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliot. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

A man has been charged with intimidation after he allegedly followed NSW Police Minister David Elliot down a Baulkham Hills street questioning the legitimacy of the lockdown.

Police allege the 35-year-old man intercepted Mr Elliot on Old Northern Road at about 3pm on Friday, before pursuing him while hurling verbal insults at him and another passer-by who intervened.

“The man questioned the MP, recording the interaction on his mobile phone and allegedly continued to verbally abuse and intimate him as he followed him to a nearby shopping centre,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.

The video, which has been circulated on social media, shows Mr Elliot at first beginning to engage with the man before walking away saying he wasn’t being listened to.

“I’m feeling intimidated by you,” Mr Elliot said, before crossing the street and walking into a shopping centre with the man in hot pursuit.

The video shows the man, who described himself as “one of (Mr Elliot’s) local constituents”, berating the MP about a number of senior politicians receiving pay rises during the pandemic.

David Elliot getting grilled by informed citizen 2 of 2 pic.twitter.com/nvjHn3JBjh

— ItsRedRum (@RedRum2198) August 20, 2021

“You’re the Police Minister, the NSW Police commissioner is saying we’re all in it together, why is the NSW Police Minister getting an $87,000 pay rise,” he said, in the video.

The man, who also identified as a veteran in the video, began the verbal onslaught by questioning the legitimacy of the tougher lockdown measures in place in Sydney‘s hard-hit southwest, and accusing the “tyrannical” government of “taking away our freedoms unlawfully”.

“The way I see it is this, you as a police minister who is also a veteran in Australia should understand the importance of the freedoms of our Australian citizens. That’s why you joined, that‘s why I joined,” he said.

Police attended a unit on Old Northern Road at about 5pm on Friday and arrested the man, after the incident was reported to police.

“He was taken to Castle Hill Police Station and charged with two counts of stalk/intimidate intend fear physical harm (personal), and not comply with noticed direction re s 7/8/9 – COVID-19,” a NSW Police spokesman said.

The man was granted conditional bail and will front Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday August 31.

Anti-lockdown protester in tears as he’s jailed for months

It comes a day after an anti-lockdown activist who drove from Queensland to Sydney to help organise an ­unauthorised protest scheduled for Saturday wiped away tears as he was sentenced to eight months’ jail for multiple breaches of public health orders and other offences.

Anthony Khallouf, one of the organisers behind last month’s violent anti-lockdown rally, was arrested on Thursday after The Australian revealed he had travelled to Sydney and checked into a luxury hotel.

Hornsby Local Court heard on Friday that Khallouf travelled extensively throughout Sydney after arriving on Sunday, including visiting a relative in the Covid-ravaged west of the city, before being tracked down at a train station in Sydney’s north.

The court was told Khallouf played a role in organising Victorian protests last year, and by travelling to Queensland and then NSW, and not residing in Victoria, he was automatically in breach of his bail conditions.

He is currently facing incitement, drug possession and breach of bail charges in Victoria. Khallouf was sentenced to a maximum of eight months in prison with a non-parole period of three months. He is due to be released on parole on November 18. NSW police have repeatedly urged people not to attend Saturday’s anti-lockdown protest, warning anyone planning to break stay-at-home orders will face fines.