MEDIA STATEMENT
Police Violence Against Peaceful Assembly in Belmore Must Be Condemned
National racial justice organisation Democracy in Colour stands in solidarity with former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas, and condemns the police violence during a peaceful protest in Belmore on Friday, 27 July.
Thomas, an ASU member and a staunch advocate for human rights and justice, sustained serious injuries at the hands of the NSW Police, including potential permanent vision loss in one eye. Video evidence shows an officer specifically targeting and lunging at Thomas while she stood peacefully in the crowd.
The assembly was taking place outside SEC Plating, a company providing components for F-35 fighter jets used by the Israeli military—raising legitimate questions about the Australian Government’s complicity in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian in Gaza.
Democracy in Colour National Director Noura Mansour says: “We stand in solidarity with Hannah Thomas, all those injured and arrested, and every person practicing their democratic rights to protest and courageously speak out against injustice. What unfolded was not law enforcement, but state-sanctioned violence against citizens exercising their fundamental democratic rights. The right to peaceful protest is non-negotiable, and we will not be intimidated by state violence. The violence inflicted upon peaceful protesters in Belmore is a stain on our democracy. We call on all community members, civil society organisations, and people of conscience to condemn these actions and demand accountability.”
Democracy in Colour demands immediate independent investigation into police violence at the Belmore assembly and accountability for officers who committed acts of brutality against peaceful protesters. Democracy cannot survive when the state uses violence to silence those who dare to speak truth to power.
“This targeted violence against a prominent advocate and several individuals participating in a lawful public assembly represents an escalation in police repression designed to silence dissent and intimidate community leaders. This incident is part of a disturbing pattern where people of colour and marginalised communities are consistently targeted by state-sanctioned violence,” Mansour says.
Across Australia, state governments have systematically undermined the fundamental democratic right to peaceful protest through a wave of draconian anti-protest legislation that represents nothing less than an assault on our democracy. New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland have all passed anti-protest laws that impose severe penalties on people for engaging in peaceful protest in the last five years. These laws are designed to silence dissent and criminalise ordinary people standing up for their rights.
“We reject the premise that there is such a thing as ‘unauthorised protest’. The right to peaceful assembly is fundamental to democracy, and the NSW government’s anti-protest laws exist solely to shield the powerful from accountability,” Mansour says.