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A 76-year-old man is considering legal action after claiming he was violently tackled by police officers during a protest in Sydney against the visit of the Israeli president. The incident involved filmmaker James Ricketson, who was caught on camera being taken to the ground by several officers after he had placed his hand on the back of one of them at the pro-Palestinian demonstration held at Town Hall on Monday evening.
Ricketson, who was reportedly detained for around five hours before being released without charge, shared his experience with SBS News. He spoke from a pop-up legal center in Sydney’s west, established to offer guidance to protesters like him.
Recounting the moments leading up to his arrest, Ricketson mentioned that he had not observed any aggression from either the police or the protestors. According to him, the demonstration was winding down, and he was about to leave the area when he encountered a line of police officers who directed him to take an alternative route.
Up until his arrest, Ricketson recalled he hadn’t seen any aggression from police or protesters.
He said the demonstration had “tailed off” and he was preparing to leave when he was stopped by a wall of police and directed to take another route.
“I had a little bit of an argument with the policeman, and decided to just sit on the wall and wait until it was possible to go through,” he said.
Minutes later, he said scuffles broke out as police started to push protesters who were trying to walk towards the Queen Victoria Building.
“The scuffles got more intense, and then suddenly, the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground covered in policemen,” he said.
“My body was not feeling good.”
While Ricketson doesn’t clearly recall the moment of his arrest, footage shows him placing his hand on the shoulder of an officer who was scuffling with another protester.
Other officers then grab Ricketson’s hand and drag him into a group of six officers.
A struggle follows before Ricketson is put in a headlock, dragged to the ground and piled on by several officers.
Ricketson said he likely placed his hand on the officer’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down “because he was behaving very aggressively”.
He said he was placed under arrest for assaulting an officer and taken to a police station, where he was interviewed and detained for five hours.
After police reviewed body cam footage of the arrest, Ricketson said he was released without charge.
He suffered cuts and bruising to his arms, but said his injuries could’ve been more serious.
“At the age of 76 … a broken hip at that age can be a death sentence,” he said.
“It’s lucky that nobody died, including me, but if they’re allowed to behave in this way in the future, eventually, someone is going to die.”
Ricketson said he was speaking out because he wanted to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
“Anybody who’s seen the footage, anybody who was there, knows that this is not the kind of thing that has ever happened before in Australia,” he said.
“It’s the kind of thing that is happening now in the United States with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement].”
He said he had spoken with a lawyer about possible legal action against police.
“Not so much in my case, with a view to kind of suing the police … but to guarantee, insofar as it’s possible, that something like this never happens again,” he said.
Lawyer Osman Samin, who helped set up the legal clinic, told SBS News many officers were doing the “right thing”.
“We’re very grateful for that, but unfortunately, we have witnesses, complainants, and streams of footage which suggests that certain police officers did do the wrong thing,” he said.
In response to SBS News, NSW Police said it could not comment on Ricketson’s testimony as a critical incident investigation and a separate investigation by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) were underway.
Minns ‘not changing’ remarks on protest
On Sunday, NSW Premier Chris Minns stood by police after the state’s police watchdog announced an investigation into alleged misconduct at the rally.
Social media footage showed Muslim men being physically dragged away by police while praying, triggering outrage among the Muslim community.
Other videos showed officers pinning down and repeatedly punching protesters and charging at, and pepper-spraying demonstrators.
On Friday, the LECC said it had received a “significant number of complaints” and it was in the public interest to investigate any alleged misconduct by police.
NSW Police also on Friday admitted that a senior officer had given the prayer the go-ahead, before it was broken up.
On Sunday, Minns — who previously defended NSW Police and declined to apologise to the Muslim community — stood by his remarks.
When asked about recent revelations and whether he had any messages for the Muslim community, Minns said: “I’ve spoken many times with the Muslim community over the last week, but I’m just not going to get into a long public commentary over and above what I’ve repeatedly said last week.”
The premier said it was important that an independent investigation take place, but declined to offer further explanation.
“We can’t have a situation where it’s fierce denunciations day after day after day, and that we get whipped into a political situation where we get more chaotic scenes or more clashes in the streets,” he said.
“No, I’m not changing what I’ve said.
“It was a difficult situation. I believe police were in a really tough spot, but I’m not going to keep offering a commentary about it.”
New Liberal leader condemns protest chants
Minns’ comments come after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on NSW Police to provide a “full explanation“Â over the disruption of the Muslim men praying.
“I think that is something that needs a full explanation. I know that that has caused a great deal of distress,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald’s Inside Politics podcast.
On Sunday, newly-elected Opposition leader Angus Taylor said people had the right to pray, but police had a “tough job”.
“They have been making those difficult calls, and I have great respect for the police who do that hard work,” he said.
“These were protests where we heard people calling for violence,” Taylor said, referring to the “globalise the intifada” chant.
Herzog was invited to Australia by Albanese after the Bondi Beach terror attack on 14 December, which killed 15 people when two alleged gunmen targeted a Jewish Hanukkah event.
His visit was welcomed by members of the Jewish community mourning the antisemitic attack. It was also met with protests around the country by demonstrators against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians since October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
It followed Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and 251 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
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