Backpackers who were pepper sprayed and shoved to the ground by police breaking up a beach party have slammed the ‘unprovoked and violent’ response.
Ronja Klaar, from Sweden, was among 3,000 tourists who gathered at Little Bay, in Sydney’s east, to celebrate Christmas Day with a boozy party.
The 24-year-old was one of four revellers roughly thrown down by officers after they moved the crowd off the beach and into nearby streets.
Ronja Klaar, 24, from Sweden, was among 3,000 tourists who gathered at Little Bay, in Sydney’s east, to celebrate Christmas Day with a boozy party
‘I was afraid, it was like a horror film. It was so wrong for them to be pushing people over when we didn’t do anything,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I couldn’t understand what we did wrong. I know the police were trying to do their jobs but there’s no need for violence.’
Her friend Hugo Trygg, 24, was also pushed in the back while he was blinded with pepper spray, before being arrested but released without charge.
Ms Klaar, wearing a white dress, was seen in footage of the party’s aftermath being pushed seconds after two other women were shoved by the same policeman.
Ms Klaar, wearing a white dress, was seen in footage of the party’s aftermath being pepper sprayed in the face at close range
She was later thrown to the ground (pictured centre) when she confronted an officer about why her friend was pushed in the back seconds earlier
She was then helped up and wandered towards the fallen girls until she was pepper sprayed in the face at close range and staggered back in the crowd.
After the women were pushed, the crowd began throwing bottles in the general direction of police, one of which appeared to hit a policeman.
Police fired pepper spray into the crowd, hitting several people, one of whom was Mr Trygg who was seen stumbling around with his hands over his face.
The fellow Swedish backpacker was shoved in the back by another officer in what appeared to be an unprovoked action.
Ms Klaar then confronted the officer who pushed her friend, before she was grabbed and thrown down next to him.
‘I was afraid, it was like a horror film. It was so wrong for them to be pushing people over when we didn’t do anything,’ Ms Klaar said
‘They didn’t say anything, like warning us to get back, it just came out of nowhere. It was very shocking,’ Ms Klaar (R) said
The Stockholm native said she didn’t touch the officer and was just questioning why Mr Trygg was pushed.
‘They didn’t say anything, like warning us to get back, it just came out of nowhere. It was very shocking,’ she said.
Mr Trygg said he never made any threatening moves toward police and the pair were just trying to make their way home after the party was broken up.
‘There was a lot of people so I guess the police got stressed out but they were six burly men. There was no need for anything like their reaction,’ he said.
‘I’m considering taking action as I disapprove of this violent and unprovoked behavior but I don’t think I can expect to see much come of it.’
Hugo Trygg, 24, was also pushed in the back while he was blinded with pepper spray, before being arrested but released without charge
Mr Trygg said he never made any threatening moves toward police and the pair were just trying to make their way home after the party was broken up
The tour guide claimed he was left sitting by the side of the road in handcuffs for 90 minutes besides two women who were charged was assaulting police.
‘I was finally released when none of the police officers who actually arrested me were around and none of the others knew who arrested me and why,’ he said.
He claimed there was also a police officer who ‘called me a “f**king orphan” and said I deserved being pepper sprayed and that I had nothing to do in Australia’.
‘[The officer] told me to go home and ruin my own country instead,’ he claimed.
Earlier in the video, a woman could be seen walking past an officer and appeared to lightly touch them on the shoulder, then be roughly shoved to the ground.
The tour guide (pictured earlier in his travels) claimed he was left sitting by the side of the road in handcuffs for 90 minutes besides two women who were charged was assaulting police
‘I’m considering taking action as I disapprove of this violent and unprovoked behavior but I don’t think I can expect to see much come of it,’ he said
Seconds later another woman, who was next to the first one when she was pushed, appeared to throw something past the officer’s head.
It wasn’t clear whether the projectile hit the officer but the policeman responded by shoving her down next to the first woman.
The second woman was then dragged to the ground when she stood up, then handcuffed and led away by the same officer.
These two women aged 23 and 25 from Britain and Ireland, were charged with assaulting a police officer, and the younger was also charged with causing actual bodily harm.
They were granted conditional bail to face Waverley Local Court on January 31.
Police alleged three officers were injured when bottles were thrown at them by the crowd, with one officer suffering a minor cut to the right side of his head.
Earlier in the video, woman could be seen walking past an officer and appeared to lightly touch them on the shoulder, then be roughly shoved to the ground (R)
A woman is pushed to the ground by police seconds after another woman was shoved over, and is seen lying on the grass by the roadside
Superintendent Karen McCarthy defended police present when the party was broken when she addressed the media on Tuesday.
‘Police deployed appropriate tactics to deal with the alcohol-fuelled violence and bring the matter safely under control,’ she said.
‘Officers simply took actions that were required to bring the matter safely under control and keep the majority of the crowd safe.’
Superintendent McCarthy refused to discuss the officers shoving the women to the ground, saying it was before the courts, even though only two were charged.
When asked if the officers’ conduct would be investigated she said: ‘The matter if before the court and those matters can be raised at the court.’
He is seen being tended to by a paramedic for a facial injury while another man sits next to him
At least 3,000 backpackers flocked to Little Bay beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for a boozy Christmas Day party
Footage from the beach showed large crowds singing, dancing, and drinking, many wearing Santa hats and other festive costumes
Other backpackers who witnessed the shocking scene slammed the police response as heavy-handed and unnecessary.
Becky Brown, claimed officers punched and ‘rugby tackled’ multiple woman and blamed police for sparking the violence.
‘It wasn’t ‘out of hand’ until the police got there and f**ked everything up,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘I witnessed with my own eyes a police man push and punch a girl in the face then pepper spray her. I also got pepper sprayed and I done absolutely f*** all.
‘That’s why they had two bottles of alcohol thrown at them, not one of the bottles hit the policemen. I can’t believe how this has been portrayed.
‘Police are supposed to make you feel safe and protected… I have never been so scared like I was when those policemen were punching girls and rugby tackling them. I am absolutely livid.’
Superintendent McCarthy, however, maintained actions by police were appropriate to bring the matter safely under control.
Officers arrived in force to break it up after residents complained it was out of control and the youths were drinking in an alcohol-free zone
Hundreds of people were seen taking over the beach as revelers began drinking and dancing