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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/13/nsw-police-officer-appears-to-make-white-power-salute-near-sydney-black-lives-matter-protest
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| NSW police officer appears to make white power salute near Sydney Black Lives Matter protest | NSW police officer appears to make white power salute near Sydney Black Lives Matter protest |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Video taken on Pitt Street, near Sydney’s town hall, showed officer making the sign while crossing street with other police | Video taken on Pitt Street, near Sydney’s town hall, showed officer making the sign while crossing street with other police |
| Attendees of Friday night’s Black Lives Matter protests in Sydney say they were left terrified after an officer appeared to flash a hand symbol associated with the white power movement. | Attendees of Friday night’s Black Lives Matter protests in Sydney say they were left terrified after an officer appeared to flash a hand symbol associated with the white power movement. |
| Black Lives Matter protesters gathered in the Sydney CBD to draw attention to Australia’s record on Indigenous deaths in custody. | Black Lives Matter protesters gathered in the Sydney CBD to draw attention to Australia’s record on Indigenous deaths in custody. |
| Protester Jen Atherton filmed the video after the group was moved out of Hyde park by dozens of police officers and both parties made their way to Town Hall. | Protester Jen Atherton filmed the video after the group was moved out of Hyde park by dozens of police officers and both parties made their way to Town Hall. |
| “It was just really shocking,” Atherton said. | “It was just really shocking,” Atherton said. |
| The symbol is extremely similar to the “OK” hand gesture but has been used by white power movements in recent years. | The symbol is extremely similar to the “OK” hand gesture but has been used by white power movements in recent years. |
| “You can’t really ever confirm but … I don’t see why he would be saying everything was OK in that moment,” Atherton said. | |
| NSW police have denied the gesture was in any way related to the white power movement. | NSW police have denied the gesture was in any way related to the white power movement. |
| “The officer has been spoken to and did not intentionally make a gesture that could be deemed offensive,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “Further, the officer indicated he was responding to a group of women about the night being ‘OK’ and used a hand symbol as he was wearing a face mask. He did not know the gesture had any other meaning.“The NSW police force works closely to foster a strong and cohesive partnership with Aboriginal communities and other groups and does not appreciate irresponsible inflammatory commentary in this space.” | “The officer has been spoken to and did not intentionally make a gesture that could be deemed offensive,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “Further, the officer indicated he was responding to a group of women about the night being ‘OK’ and used a hand symbol as he was wearing a face mask. He did not know the gesture had any other meaning.“The NSW police force works closely to foster a strong and cohesive partnership with Aboriginal communities and other groups and does not appreciate irresponsible inflammatory commentary in this space.” |
| Atherton did not accept the police’s account of events. | Atherton did not accept the police’s account of events. |
| “I don’t believe it for a second. It was directly to the camera and I was clearly a protester.” | “I don’t believe it for a second. It was directly to the camera and I was clearly a protester.” |
| The video was taken at the corner of Pitt and Park St in the CBD. | The video was taken at the corner of Pitt and Park St in the CBD. |
| More than 600 officers flooded the CBD on Friday night as about 300 people protested against Aboriginal deaths in custody. | More than 600 officers flooded the CBD on Friday night as about 300 people protested against Aboriginal deaths in custody. |
| One of the rally’s organisers, Lizzy Jarrett, described the police presence as “ridiculous”. | |
| The mother of David Dungay Jr and family members of other Indigenous people who had died in custody were meant to speak at the rally, but Jarrett said there were too many police. | |
| “There was wall to wall to wall of riot police cornering off all of Town Hall,” she said. “If you are a mother or a family member or an elder who has been affected by black deaths in custody, that kind of police presence is traumatising before you even have a chance to stand up for yourself.” | |
| Jarrett told protesters to disperse once the police presence got too high. | |
| “I made sure the crowd realised that if one of us was arrested that’s a loss,” she said. “I said no arrests tonight, let’s not let them win. Let’s all go home, let’s have no violence, let’s not wake up to headlines that we are the ones out there being violent, that we are the ones out there being disruptive when we know the truth of the matter.” | |
| During the rally, police on foot and horseback ringed the statue of Captain Cook in Hyde Park, fearing it could be vandalised. | |
| “It was a joke, I don’t believe there was a person amongst us that didn’t laugh about it, we are out there protesting for life yet you are going to put two rings of men around a piece of concrete,” Jarrett said. | |
| Jarrett said she and other organisers were eventually escorted by police five blocks away from the protest. | |
| One person, a 24-year-old woman, was issued a fine for disobeying a move-on direction at the protest on Friday night. | One person, a 24-year-old woman, was issued a fine for disobeying a move-on direction at the protest on Friday night. |