26.07.2021
2 min read

Warning to protesters ahead of another planned march in Sydney

NSW Police received more than 10,000 tip-offs about people who attended the anti-lockdown protest over the weekend.

Police warning over second planned lockdown protest

New South Wales’ top cop has issued a warning to people who plan on protesting Greater Sydney’s lockdown after police received thousands of community tip-offs about coronavirus rule-breakers - you will be arrested.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Sydney’s CBD in an anti-lockdown protest over the weekend.

So far, more than 100 people have been fined and at least 63 have been charged over their attendance.

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NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said more than 10,000 reports had been made to Crime Stoppers since the protest.

“(It’s) an amazing outcry by the community, not just in terms of their disgust at the protest but the way that the police, the mounted unit in particular, retreated during that,” he said on Monday.

Fuller added there are suggestions a second protest was set to take place on Saturday, July 31.

Thousands of people attended the protest over the weekend. Credit: AAP
Protesters are arrested by police at Victoria Park on Broadway. Credit: MICK TSIKAS/AAPIMAGE

“Can I just put this warning out now to everyone: We will be heavily policing that event,” he said.

“We will take the ground very early.

“You will be arrested.

“The community has spoken about that behaviour ... and it won’t be tolerated.”

Police say anti-lockdown protesters are being tracked down and warn of further fines and charges. Credit: AAP
Protesters climb the awning at Sydney Town Hall. Credit: MICK TSIKAS/AAPIMAGE

A strike force has been established to investigate the weekend’s protest and track down every individual who attended.

Those who are identified will be either arrested or fined, Fuller said.

“It is not just about whether it is an unauthorised protest, it was about the danger that they put all of us (in), in terms of the Delta variant,” he added.

A number of police officers were injured during Saturday’s march as protesters threw plastic bottles and pot plants seized from the roadside at them.

NSW recorded another 145 cases of coronavirus on Monday.