'Go home, pigs': Chaos on Sydney streets

Chaotic scenes unfolded in Sydney on Friday night with organisers of an anti-police rally, to coincide with Sydney’s Mardi Gras, claiming they were assaulted by NSW Police.

Far left activist group Pride in Protest, which organised the demonstration in the heart of the city’s LGBTI community of Darlinghurst, claimed 300 people were in attendance.

It posted videos online which showed officers pushing people off the roadway.

The protest comes in the wake of the alleged killing by serving NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon of gay couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

The atmosphere was tense as a police operation occurred on the major thoroughfares of Oxford St and Flinders St, near Taylor Square, where protesters had stopped cars.

Lines of police officers and vehicles could be seen on Oxford Street, where the Mardi Gras parade will go down on Saturday.

Cries of “pigs go home,” could be heard in the melee.

In back streets, police could be seen moving protesters onto the footpath, physically pushing them in some instances, as they were heckled.

There were claims police had taken some protesters’ mobile phones with the owners told to go to Surry Hills Police Station to retrieve them. Crowds could later been seen at the police station.

Pride in Protest said in a statement that “police began instigating violence”.

“Police officers formed lines, and began pushing, hitting, and threatening people”.

It alleged a police officer “grabbed a transgender woman by the throat,” threatened to pepper spray people and kettled protesters who weren’t blocking roads.

NSW Police has been contacted for comment.

Police in Mardi Gras

Although officers police Mardi Gras, like they do any major event, Pride in Protest has long campaigned for serving NSW Police officers and staff to be barred from marching in the Mardi Gras parade itself.

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It accuses NSW Police of long term homophobia. Mardi Gras itself grew out of a 1978 protest against police brutality against gay people in Sydney.

But opinion in Sydney’s wider LGBTIQ community has been divided on the issue.

NSW Police has apologised for its past actions against the LGBTI community as well as its previous lack of action on gay hate crimes. Many now see the police force’s inclusion in the parade as a sign of improving relations.

Following the death of Mr Baird and Mr Davies, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras initially “uninvited” serving NSW Police officers entirely from the parade. The organisation then modified its stance and said “LGBTIQ+ liaison officers, LGBTQIA+ officers, and their allies and supporters,” could march – but not in police uniform.

Protesters’ demands

The organisers of Friday’s protest took aim at Mardi Gras as well as the police.

“Mardi Gras took a stand to disinvite the police in response to community outrage over the police, but they have folded after pressure and intimidation from the cops and (NSW Premier) Chris Minns,” said Pride in Protest in a statement.

“This is a march demanding an end to police violence, ranging from the murders of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird to Blak (sic) deaths in custody like (in 2009 of Indigenous trans woman) Veronica Baxter.”

Organiser Charlie Murphy, who was previously a Mardi Gras board member from Pride in Protest, said that if the police did march in the parade on Saturday, even if not in uniform, “then the Mardi Gras board must be dissolved”.

People associated with the Pride in Protest group have board positions on Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras but are not in the majority.

In a statement Mardi Gras said that the decision to green light LGBTI police officers not in uniform to march “allows for (officers) who volunteer their time and service to the community to participate in the event in a considered and respectful way as we navigate this tragedy together”.