Labor members demand probe after police actions at anti-Herzog protests

A group of pro‑Palestine Labor members has voiced its 'distress and disgust' at the police response to protests over Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit to Sydney, accusing the NSW government of presiding over a 'terrible erosion of civil liberties'. In a letter to police minister Yasmin Catley, the Labor Friends of Palestine group demanded an independent investigation of NSW police actions at the rally.

Eyewitness accounts and mobile phone footage showed officers pepper spraying demonstrators, punching a man with his hands up, and forcibly dragging a group of Muslim men kneeling in prayer. The letter said members witnessed 'numerous examples of police harassment and violence', including people being thrown to the ground and a man being pepper sprayed while held down, and called for a more progressive approach to policing protest.

Australia, Sydney, New South Wales

labor friends, pro-palestine, isaac herzog, sydney, nsw police, yasmin catley, civil liberties, independent investigation, pepper spray, police harassment