A disabled woman who was pepper sprayed by police as tensions spilled over during the Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney confronted officers with a confronting speech, revealing she was a military veteran.
Shocking pictures showed the woman sprawled on the ground on Saturday evening in Central Station after police launched pepper spray into the crowd, hitting her square in the eye.
Footage filmed at the tense scene shows the woman ranting at police screaming ‘look what you did’, explaining she was a military veteran who had been discharged after being injured on deployment.
In one particularly confronting moment, she asked the line of waiting officers: ‘If this is what you do to a white woman, what do you do to black people?’
The woman, who uses a crutch and wears a leg brace, fell to the floor during the battle with police, with other protesters helping her up as first aiders urgently cleaned her eye.
Standing in front of a row of police officers, water still dripping from her face, she said: ‘I said nothing.
‘I did nothing, look what you did! Look what you did!
‘I served five years in the defence force and I got medically discharged for being injured on deployment.
The woman, who identified herself as a defence force veteran, is seen screaming at police after they pepper sprayed her while inside Central Station in Sydney following the protest for Black Lives Matter (pictured on Saturday)
First aiders rushed to help the woman and pour water over her eyes just moments after being pepper sprayed during the protest in Sydney (pictured on Saturday)
‘And this is what you did to me.
‘If you did this to a white woman, what do you do to black people?’
Her fellow protesters are heard shouting ‘she’s disabled’ as she gave the gut-wrenching speech to a sea of police officers.
Another yells ‘are you proud?’ as the waiting officials refuse to display emotion during the heartfelt rant.
It came after screams of ‘f**k the police’ rang out as Black Lives Matter protesters and authorities clashed after thousands took to the streets across Australia on Saturday.
Dramatic scenes at Sydney’s Central Station saw police using pepper spray on protesters, leaving some screaming in pain and laying on the ground after tensions boiled over following a day of rallies.
What started as a peaceful protest ended in chaos at the train station, as swelling crowds were trapped in the station and began taunting police officers.
But police showed little emotion as they stood shoulder to shoulder while the crowd, who shouted ‘take a knee’ and ‘no racist police, no justice, no peace’.
Police spray protesters with pepper spray inside Central Station following the protest in Sydney on Saturday evening (pictured) as tensions spilled over
The woman is seen during her heartfelt rant to Sydney police officers in Central Station (pictured on Saturday) explaining she had been injured on deployment for the defence force
Several protesters were knocked to the ground by police after firing pepper spray onto the crowd in Central Station (pictured, on Saturday night)
In Sydney, one protester was seen following a police officer and demanding he show ‘solidarity’ with the marches, which are demanding the end to racial inequality.
South Brisbane police station was swarmed by angry marchers who chanted ‘I can’t breathe’, the same words African American George Floyd said before he was killed while in police custody.
Protesters were seen just inches away from the faces of officers some with megaphones and others armed with signs reading ‘f**k the police’.
In Sydney, protesters unleashed on authorities after the Black Lives Matter protest was ruled legal just minutes before it was due to start after being banned the night before.
The protesters were eventually pushed to Central Station by police who then appeared to fire pepper spray into the faces of the crowd.
Several young ralliers were knocked to the ground before having their eyes washed after the violent altercation.
‘F**k you you f***kg pigs. Go die, every last one of you,’ one angry protester is heard shouting at NSW officers.
The march started at Sydney’s Town Hall, ending at a park near the large train station, where protesters refused to disperse and ended up trapped inside.
Protesters help one another off the ground of Central Station after being pepper sprayed by police officers in Sydney (pictured) on Saturday
One man is treated for pepper spray injuries after he was sprayed in Sydney’s Central Station by police after tensions boiled over after Saturday’s march (pictured)
Huge crowds turned out at the march on Saturday (pictured) which began at Sydney’s Town Hall and soon spread across the city
An arrests was made at Central Station as the evening began and activists converged – leaving some protesters struggling to breathe as the crowd swelled.
Protesters began chanting at police while they ushered them towards the station, shouting ‘Justice today for David Dungay’.
Mr Dungay died in a Sydney jail in 2015 and told officers who were pinning him down ‘I can’t breathe’ 12 times before his death.
Despite the violent scenes of crowds being pepper-sprayed, NSW Police insisted the protests had ‘remained peaceful’.
Operation Commander in Sydney, Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing, said officers across the state reported minimal problems.
‘I have spoken with commanders who have said they are pleased that all their protests were essentially peaceful,’ Assistant Commissioner Willing said.
A man has water washed through his eyes after being pepper sprayed by police in Sydney on Saturday night (pictured) after clashes between protesters and authorities
Protesters are seen berating police offices (pictured, left and right) at Central Station on Saturday evening as the marches became tense
Thousands of marchers took to the streets across all Australian states on Saturday, demanding an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody. Pictured in Sydney
A woman is seen laying on the ground being tended to by a first aider (pictured) during the clash in Central Station on Saturday
‘Initially, we had a tough job in Sydney as the police operation was already underway when the Supreme Court decision was overturned, but we rapidly changed plans to ensure the event would run smoothly.
‘There were some concerns raised by officers on the ground around physical distancing, and while some people were spoken to, no formal police action was required.’
An estimated 30,000 people gathered outside Town Hall on Saturday afternoon despite the Supreme Court banning the protest on Friday in a last ditch attempt to enforce social distancing restrictions.
Organisers won a last-minute court appeal on Saturday to allow the march to go ahead.
It came after two people were arrested before the event at around 2.30pm and one man waving an ‘All Lives Matter’ sign was led away by police.
One man ‘takes a knee’ in front of a NSW police officer in Sydney following the Black Lives Matter protest (pictured) in Central Station
Police clash with ralliers in Sydney after the crowd was pushed into Central Station on Saturday (pictured) with tensions soon spilling over
One protestor has an intense stand off with a police officer during the protest in Sydney fighting for racial equality (pictured at Central Station)
The Sydney protest was moved to Central Station by police where people continued to dance and chant (pictured) in more light-hearted scenes
One shocking video taken in Brisbane showed a man aggressively approaching a police car in the street.
Despite other protesters trying to pull him off, he pushed the car up the street before jumping on its roof – as police desperately tried to reverse it away.
Crowds gathered as the man sat and then stood on the car before being told to get down, and was escorted away by police, according to the Courier Mail.
It is understood the man was not arrested.
The crowds were really well behaved,’ a spokesman for Queensland Police said.
Protesters are calling for an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
One woman in Sydney was seen following a police officer and demanding her show solidarity with the protesters (pictured on Saturday)
Thousands of Australians calling for an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody have gathered for the global Black Lives Matter protests across the country (pictured, demonstrators march in Adelaide)
NSW’s highest court had banned the Sydney protest because it breaches COVID-19 restrictions.
At least 432 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in police custody in Australia since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody report in 1991.
One man was booed after he raised an ‘All Lives Matter’ placard as a counter-protest. He had his sign ripped from his hand and was handcuffed and led away by officers.
‘Get those animals off those horses!’ another man screamed at police outside Sydney’s Town Hall.
A small child who attended the protest was seen carrying a sign which read: ‘I didn’t choose to be black, I just got lucky’.
One woman told Daily Mail Australia the problems with racial inequality in the US were similar to ones experienced in Australia.
Protesters stand in front of a barricade of police officers in Melbourne during the Black Lives Matter protest (pictured on Saturday)
A young child in Sydney is seen carrying a sign saying ‘I didn’t choose to be black, I just got lucky’ (pictured on Saturday)
Aboroginal protesters performed a traditional smoking ceremony before the start of the Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney
A protester is seen in Sydney (pictured on Saturday) as thousands marched on the city for a Black Lives Matter protest
Two men were arrested at Town Hall Station before the protest started. Officers cuffed this man before leading him away
‘I’m here to show support, I don’t think I do enough. Just trying to amplify voices,’ Andrea said.
‘I think this has been an issue forever [in Australia].
‘[What’s happening in the US is] just a reminder of what’s happening here. It’s not an isolated problem in America.
‘In light of what happens on invasion day, it’s not a one off thing. It’s an ongoing issue we’ve got to keep fighting on.’
One University of Western Sydney student said it was time ‘things changed’.
‘This isn’t the world we should be living in. We are all the same people, things need to change,’ Gabrielle said.
The nationwide protests kicked off with about 5,000 activists packing into Adelaide’s Victoria Square at 12pm on Saturday.
Flinders Street Station in Sydney is seen surrounded by protesters on Saturday night (pictured) during the Black Lives Matter protest
Protesters hold Aboriginal flags and ‘Black Lives Matter’ signs at the rally in Brisbane on Saturday
Speaker Jack Buckskin welcomed the large turnout, telling the gathering whether Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal, they were all part of the same society.
‘This is about us coming together as people,’ he said.
‘Today we stand united. Our movement happens with people.
‘We want people to walk alongside us. This is what Aboriginal people have been asking for.’
There was a strong police presence with a police helicopter overhead. The mood among protesters and police was peaceful.
But the day soon took a turn as protesters charged at mounted police outside the Melbourne East Police Station, with many shouting abuse and berating officers.
At least 432 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in police custody in Australia since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody report in 1991
A protester holds up a sign reading ‘Trump is a terrorist change my mind’ at Sydney’s Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday
There was a large police presence in Sydney on Saturday. These mounted police officers watched calmly as the peaceful protest got underway
Thousands of Queenslanders gathered at King George Square as part of the movement at 1pm on Saturday.
Police and the Queensland premier said they would have preferred for people show their support online but would not stop the march against First Nations deaths in custody, and violence and systemic racism towards black people.
Organisers in Brisbane vowed to storm a police station until the officer in charge leaves the station and flies the Aboriginal flag, Courier Mail reported.
The crowds were also heard chanting ‘f–k the pigs’ and ‘KKK’ as the passionate protesters rallied.
Quaden Bayles and his mother Yarraka were pictured at the Brisbane protest for Black Lives Matter.
Quaden, who has the most common type of dwarfism called achondroplasia, made international headlines in February when his mother filmed him saying he wanted to die after kids picked on him at school.
The protest started outside the Victorian Parliament where Aboriginals of the tribe native to Melbourne, the Wurundjeri, addressed the crowd.
Organiser Meriki Onus, who was wearing a shirt saying ‘destroy white supremacy’ then addressed the crowds.
‘Aboriginal people are subjected to police brutality and racist police practices and we have had enough. Black lives matter,’ Ms Onus said.
‘We’ve got the media on us. We’re in this together.’
In Sydney a couple were spotted getting married as crowds descended on the streets.
Speeches by indigenous Australians were met with claps and cheers by the crowd.
Activists displayed signs reading ‘racism is a pandemic’, ‘same problems different soil’, ‘white silence supports violence’
Quaden Bayles and his mother Yarraka were spotted at the Brisbane Black Lives Matter rally on Saturday
An aerial shot of protestors at the Black Lives Matter rally in Brisbane on Saturday where an estimated 30,000 people attended
Family members of David Dungay Jr participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Brisbane, Saturday, June 6
Brothers of David Dungay Jr. participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Brisbane, Australia, 06 June
At 3pm, thousands of protesters gathered at Sydney’s town hall chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘No justice, no peace’ and ‘I can’t breathe’
Sydney’s Town Hall was packed with protesters after the courts allowed the rally to go ahead
At 4:30pm protesters took a knee for one-minute to recognise the 434 Indigenous deaths in custody since 1991.
Footage from the scene showed the crowd on their knees and hands up in the air. One woman noticed police remained standing and called them out for it.
‘Not one of you have the guts to put your hands up,’ she said.
‘Raise your fists and show your support but not one of you have the guts or the courage to show us here today that you care about black people in this country.
‘If you care you will raise your fist and say black lives matter.’
Australia’s Chief Medical Office said that while people had the right to protest, mass gatherings were dangerous in the midst of a pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also urged Australians not to attend protests.
Protest organisers Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance have stressed safety of the community is paramount while also insisting the event outside Victoria’s Parliament House will go ahead.
Victoria Police have warned rally organisers could be fined $1,651 because of COVID-19 restrictions and that fines could also be issued to individuals.
One person with COVID-19 at Saturday’s rally could be all it takes to squander the gains made, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has warned.
Prof Sutton says people should stay home over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend unless absolutely necessary.
‘Black Lives Matter’ posters are displayed in the crowd during Adelaide’s protest on Saturday
Protest organisers Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance have stressed safety of the community is paramount while also insisting the event outside Victoria’s Parliament House will go ahead. Pictured: A hand sanitiser station at the Melbourne protest
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney Australia, 06 June 2020 holding signs reading ‘I can’t breathe’ and ‘Same Story Different Soil’
A woman holds a sign which reads: ‘If you don’t think racism exists, then you are blinded by your privilege’
Protesters are pictured outside the Supreme Court in Sydney on June 5 holding up signs (pictured), ahead of Sydney’s Black Lives Matter protest on June 6