The TikTok comedian who developed a cult following for predicting NSW’s daily Covid count has been charged by police in relation to Sydney’s anti-lockdown rally.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz, 24, was among 3,500 people who attended an illegal protest in the Sydney CBD on Saturday and was filmed addressing the crowds on a megaphone.
Three police detectives were waiting outside his home in Belmore, in Sydney’s south-west, on Sunday to present him with a court attendance notice.
As the self-appointed ‘people’s Premier’ rounds the corner wearing a NSW Blues Origin jersey, one detective approaches him and explains the criminal charge.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz (pictured), 24, was among 3,500 people who attended an illegal protest in the Sydney CBD on Saturday and was filmed addressing the crowds on a megaphone
As he explains it is for a breach of the public health act, the TikTok comedian interrupts him and motions for officers not shown in the video to move back.
‘I’m listening, yeah… can you just take it easy?’ he asks one of the other officers as a friend films the encounter.
Kairouz was issued with a court attendance notice for two counts of not complying with notice direction – Covid-19 and encourage the commission of crimes.
The comedian appeared unworried when the notice was handed to him, thanking the police and telling them to ‘have a good day’.
He will appear in Bankstown Local Court on September 14.
The comedian has since deleted his latest TikTok video as well as footage of the protest he uploaded to Instagram on Saturday.
A group of investigators are seen waiting outside a Belmore home in Sydney’s south-west on Sunday to issue the Sydney comedian with a penalty infringement notice
As the investigator explains the fine is for a breach of the public health act the TikTok comedian interrupts him and motions for people out of the camera to move back
Angry fans were quick to voice their disappointment at his attendance of the march.
‘Hope you enjoyed the protest, because everyone has lost respect for you,’ one woman wrote.
‘He was pressed they were close to him but then not pressed to be close to thousands of people at the march? Interesting,’ another wrote.
‘You had a big rise and an even bigger fall, how hilarious,’ a third commented.
‘This was my favourite Crime Stoppers call by far but I was probably beaten by 2000 calls first. Everyone was keen to call this loser in,’ a fourth shared.
‘Maybe he can predict how many people will be in court to greet him,’ a user joked.
TikTok comedian Jon-Bernard Kairouz was spotted firing up the anti-lockdown protestors in Sydney’s CBD on Saturday
NSW Police set up Strike Force Seasoned to track down all attendees at the protest, which is now being feared by health officials to be a coronavirus super-spreader event.
More than 200 alleged attendees have been identified so far, including Kairouz.
Kairouz was filmed at Saturday’s protest holding a megaphone and declaring himself ‘the people’s Premier’ as he whipped a crowd of thousands into a frenzy outside Town Hall on Saturday.
‘All we want is freedom,’ he shouted to a roar from the crowd, before sharing clips of the speech to his Instagram, which were later deleted.
But the stunt quickly backfired, with some of his 57, 100 followers questioning why he joined thousands of protesters and risked extending the city’s lockdown.
‘This is f**king ridiculous,’ one person wrote. ‘If your aim is freedom — you’ve f***ed up by bringing thousands of people together. Watch the spike. Congrats!’
‘There are people in ICU how selfish can you be?’ added another.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz was charged with for two counts of not complying with Covid-19 notice direction and encouraging the commission of crimes
Jon-Bernard Kairouz will face court in September after being identified as one of alleged attendees at the protest
Kairouz shot to fame during Sydney’s lockdown after correctly reporting how many cases NSW would announce the following morning five times in a row.
His streak ended last Monday with his prediction of 109, beyond the actual figure of 98.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was a ‘disappointment someone, somewhere in the system’ felt it was necessary to leak the numbers to Mr Kairouz.
‘I saw someone saying on social media that it was a sting. No it wasn’t,’ Mr Hazzard told reporters on Monday.
‘It was looking at what the issues were and making sure that the system was such that the information could be kept to the appropriate time.’
NSW, which counts cases over a 24-hour period to 8pm, releases figures and the context of each case daily at 11am.
Kairouz has repeatedly insisted his predictions are the result of ‘simple maths’, but has not released a single video since his suspected leak in the NSW Health department was outed.
Kairouz accurately predicted the count of NSW Covid figures five days in a row, before his suspected source in NSW Health was exposed
Kairouz was filmed at Saturday’s protest holding a megaphone and declaring himself ‘the people’s Premier’ outside Town Hall on Saturday
Gladys Berejiklian was recently questioned at a press conference on whether NSW Health had a leak and if she was concerned.
‘I know at the moment a lot of people alleged to have various bits of information and that’s welcome, we are in democracy,’ she said.
When questioned about his newfound social media stardom, Kairouz said he was just trying to enjoy the process and his new-found notoriety.
‘I’m having a ball,’ he said.
‘I’ve been creating content on Instagram and TikTok for just about a year now and to grow exponentially on the social platforms has been really fun and it’s been a whirlwind.’
Police have received more than 5,500 reports from members of the public as 22 strike force detectives continue to investigate Saturday’s protest.
Of the 63 people arrested at the protest, 35 were charged with various offences.
Twenty one men appeared in Parramatta Local Court on Sunday, where 15 were granted bail to appear at Downing Centre and Newtown Local Courts at a later date.
Investigators have since issued two more court attendance notice and public infringement notices to another 16 people on Sunday, including Kairouz.
The latest notices were issued after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and police minister David Elliott urged residents to dob in those who posted footage of themselves at the protest.
‘All we want is freedom,’ he shouted to a roar from the crowd, before sharing clips of the speech to his Instagram, which were later deleted
Ms Berejiklian was disgusted and heartbroken by those who had shown ‘utter contempt for their fellow citizens’.
‘We know that events like that can cause those super-spreading events,’ she said.
‘Please know that all of the sacrifices we’ve made over the last three or four weeks in particular have resulted in us being able to stabilise the growth in cases.
‘We don’t want a setback, and yesterday could have been a setback.’
Mr Elliott condemned the thousands of ‘very selfish boofheads’ who marched.
‘Yesterday, cannot happen again. We saw the figures, they are not going down at the rate we want to see them go. And they won’t go down if we see the activity we saw yesterday,’ he said.
‘You need to think again.’
It comes as NSW recorded 145 new local cases of Covid-19 on Monday, 51 of which were infectious while in the community.