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Former Greens candidate, bruised and bloodied, undergoes facial surgery after police arrest

By Kate Aubusson and Anthony Segaert
Updated

The Greens candidate who ran against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in his inner west seat at last month’s election has undergone surgery for serious facial injuries after being arrested at a protest in western Sydney on Friday.

Hannah Thomas, a lawyer and activist, was photographed with a bloodied face and bruised, swollen-shut eye in the back of an ambulance after her arrest while picketing outside a business that reportedly supplies plating services for F-35 jets used by the Israeli Defence Force.

Hannah Thomas, with a bruised and swollen eye and a bloodied face, sits in an ambulance after being arrested during a protest in Belmore on Friday.

Hannah Thomas, with a bruised and swollen eye and a bloodied face, sits in an ambulance after being arrested during a protest in Belmore on Friday.

NSW Police arrested five people following what it called an unauthorised protest of about 60 people outside SEC Plating on Lakemba Street, Belmore, at 5.35am on Friday.

“As police attempted to arrest the protesters who were not complying with the directions, a scuffle ensued between police and protesters,” NSW Police said in a statement.

Thomas was arrested “after allegedly failing to comply with the [move-on] direction”, NSW Police said in the statement. “During the 35-year-old woman’s arrest, she sustained facial injuries and was taken to Bankstown Hospital for treatment.” Four other protesters were arrested and charged.

Thomas was in a stable condition on Saturday, a spokeswoman for Bankstown Hospital said. Her lawyer, Peter O’Brien, said the “extremely disturbing” situation “may well lead to her losing an eye”.

Video posted to Instagram that was filmed during an altercation between NSW Police and protesters at a picketing of a business in Belmore on Friday.

Video posted to Instagram that was filmed during an altercation between NSW Police and protesters at a picketing of a business in Belmore on Friday.

“We, as her legal representatives, are now focused on determining that what happened to her is … considered in very serious civil litigation,” he said, adding that the fact the injuries occurred when she was “lawfully engaged in what is a bedrock of our democracy, the right to protest” meant they would make sure Thomas was “properly and appropriately compensated”.

Video footage shared on social media shows police officers and protesters in a physical struggle around a person being pulled and pushed by the crowd.

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A woman can be heard repeatedly yelling “help me”. Another individual yelled: “Let go of her … Please let go of her.”

The footage appears to show two police officers pulling an individual from the scrimmage and moving the individual a few metres along the footpath before tripping them to the ground.

Police not investigating

But NSW Police has not classified the incident as a critical incident – that is, an incident involving a member of the police force that results in the death of, or serious injury to, a person, and which requires NSW Police to investigate.

“Should further medical advice be received, the decision can be reviewed,” NSW Police said in a statement.

This masthead asked NSW Police whether the injuries sustained by Thomas were considered serious injury as per the force’s critical incident guidelines. NSW Police declined to provide an on-the-record comment.

But O’Brien said that response was “wholly redundant, wholly inadequate, and entirely heartless”.

“It just beggars belief that they would suggest that the sort of injuries she sustained wouldn’t constitute a serious investigation,” he said.

A screengrab from video posted to Instagram that was filmed during an altercation between NSW Police and protesters at a picketing of a business in Belmore on Friday.

A screengrab from video posted to Instagram that was filmed during an altercation between NSW Police and protesters at a picketing of a business in Belmore on Friday.

O’Brien is also representing the four other protesters, who have been charged with various offences: a 29-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man allegedly did not comply with move-on directions, a 41-year-old man allegedly used obscene language towards police and ran from officers, and a 24-year-old allegedly took a police body camera.

Zac Schofield, who was charged with refusing or failing to comply with a direction and hindering or resisting police in the execution of duty, said he was arrested and had his phone seized after he challenged the legitimacy of a move-on direction.

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“We were being completely peaceful. We weren’t chanting or otherwise being threatening or doing anything, really,” Schofield said.

“I said [to a senior constable] that NSW Police don’t have the power to unilaterally declare a protest unlawful unless it meets certain characteristics which had not at that point been met … He pointed at me, said ‘him’ and put his hands on me, and a scuffle ensued, during which I did not resist,” Schofield said.

Schofield said he was extracted from the crowd. Several minutes later, he saw Thomas bleeding profusely from one eye.

“She looked completely shell-shocked, and I tried to move closer but was instructed to stay put,” he said.

‘Intolerance for protest’

NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson, who had viewed footage of the incident and spoken to the arrested protesters held at Campsie police station, said it had been a peaceful protest that descended into violence when the NSW Police attacked and assaulted protesters, and was a symptom of NSW’s “intolerance for protest”.

She described the police’s actions as brutal and excessive, and said she would write to Police Minister Yasmin Catley and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission on Saturday, insisting that it must be investigated as a critical incident.

“Everyone is so shocked and distressed. I can’t believe this has happened,” she said. “Hannah is tiny. She’s five feet two [inches].

“I have been a lawyer representing hundreds of protesters for decades … I have never before felt and experienced this sort of tinderbox of intolerance for protest,” she said.

“Engaging with civil dissent needs to be managed in a non-violent way by a state in a mature democracy.”

Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi said Thomas had “long been a fearless and strong advocate for the rights of all people to live without oppression and occupation”.

“This tireless advocacy has seen her oppose the government’s complicity in the genocide in Palestine, including actions against companies profiting off the two-way arms trade with Israel,” Faruqi said.

“Hannah’s health is my top priority. Once she is able to consider next steps, she has my full support in responding to this shocking assault and seeking accountability.”

The four protesters charged were released on bail and are due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday.

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Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/former-greens-candidate-bruised-and-bloodied-undergoes-facial-surgery-after-police-arrest-20250628-p5mayp.html