Tonight’s ‘unauthorised’ Stop All Black Deaths in Custody protest proceeded in spite of a massive police presence and warnings that it would take unprecedented measures to prosecute attendees.
In the days leading up to the protest, Federal and State government leaders warned people against turning up to the rally, citing COVID-19 concerns. At the same time, the Prime Minister was pressuring the States to open up travel restrictions and suggesting that up to 10,000 people could attend football matches in the coming weeks.
Reports estimated that more than 600 officers, including riot squad and mounted police, were mobilised around Town Hall. By the scheduled start at 6:30pm, only a handful of protesters were present. As the numbers slowly built, word went around that another group of protesters had headed to Hyde Park. Slow hand-clapping began to filter through the hushed tense crowd, gradually growing in intensity, before chants about police brutality and Aboriginal deaths in custody rang out, in defiance of the protest ban. Police moved in, announcing that people would be fined or arrested under recently introduced health orders, if they did not disperse. With chanting still echoing in the air, the protesters reluctantly moved on, marching down Pitt Street towards Belmore Park in a game of cat and mouse with police, before disappearing peacefully into the night.
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