A police officer has been charged with assaulting Hannah Thomas, a former Greens candidate who was allegedly punched in the face at a peaceful protest outside SEC Plating in Belmore in June.
Thomas ended up in hospital with serious injuries to her right eye and is still facing more surgeries months later.
The protest was calling out Australia’s connection to parts allegedly made for the Israeli Defence Force, though SEC Plating denies this. Around 60 people participated before the peaceful protest was disrupted.
The officer involved, a 33-year-old senior constable from south west Sydney, has been issued a court attendance notice for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. A spokesperson from NSW Police confirmed his employment is “under review” and that the situation is being looked at by the police watchdog.
The recent news has renewed pressure to stand down Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden who told ABC News in June that he had a “preliminary review of the body-worn video with a number of commanders and one of our operations experts” and found “no information at this stage that… indicates any misconduct on behalf of my officers”.
Greens MP Sue Higginson has written to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, Police Commissioner and Police Minister Yasmin Catley calling for McFadden to stand down and for an investigation into how the incident was handled.
“It’s a just and welcomed step to see charges finally laid against the police officer who brutally assaulted Hannah Thomas while she was attending a peaceful protest,” Higginson said in a statement today.
“But there is more to the police brutality and misconduct on that day, there are now serious questions over the police misconduct following the incident and we must confront the source of this injustice, the impunity given to police by Labor Premier Chris Minns through the anti-protest laws and rhetoric he espouses.
Higginson also wrote to Premier Chris Minns demanding urgent action in June.(Image: Getty)
“This demonisation of peaceful protest is reckless political behaviour and it leads to innocent people of good conscience getting hurt. Innocent people have the right to peacefully call for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and they have the right to do so without being victims of heinous police brutality at the hands of an emboldened NSW Police force.”
The initial charges against Thomas and four others have since been dropped and they’ve been awarded over $40,000 in legal costs. Thomas is now taking civil action against NSW Police.
The officer charged is due to appear at Bankstown Local Court next month.
Lead image: Instagram / Hannah Thomas
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