Indigenous town councillor slams Black Lives Matter activists for being selfish by protesting in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and putting elderly lives at risk
- Alice Springs town councillor Jacinta Price slammed Black Lives Matter protest
- Organiser Paddy Gibson was arrested in Sydney after losing NSW court appeal
- Police arrested six people who lost two legal bids to hold a mass gathering
Indigenous town councillor Jacinta Price (pictured) has slammed as selfish Black Lives Matter activists for protesting in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic
An indigenous town councillor has slammed as selfish Black Lives Matter activists for protesting in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jacinta Price posted on Facebook an image of a dying elderly woman, being treated by a nurse in personal protective equipment, to highlight the irresponsibility of mass gatherings.
‘When you are not one of our elders wanting to die in isolation you do your part so that the vulnerable don’t have to face this heartbreak,’ she said on Wednesday.
‘This is why you don’t protest in the middle of a pandemic and this is why you adhere to regulations. Sometimes it’s not about you.’
Ms Price, an Alice Springs town councillor in central Australia, condemned Black Lives Matter activists after six protesters were arrested on Tuesday in Sydney.
She posted on Facebook an image of a dying elderly woman, being treated by a nurse in personal protective equipment, to highlight the irresponsibility of mass gatherings
The police swooped in to stop the demonstration after the New South Wales Court of Appeal rejected organiser Paddy Gibson’s illegal gathering. He is pictured being put into a van on the edge of Sydney’s The Domain
The police swooped in to stop the demonstration after the New South Wales Court of Appeal rejected organiser Paddy Gibson’s illegal gathering.
He was filmed being arrested at The Domain and dragged into a waiting police van.
‘Leave now, don’t come near me, don’t come near me,’ Mr Gibson is heard yelling in footage shot by Nine News.
‘Tell the people to cancel the rally, leave The Domain, don’t come near me.’
Three men, aged 40, 37 and 22, and two women aged 50 and 23, were arrested at The Domain, behind Parliament House.
Each were issued with $1,000 fines for breaching public health orders, before being issued move-on directions.
A third woman, aged 25, was arrested and issued a criminal infringement notice for offensive language.
The protest was due to start at noon Tuesday, despite being declared illegal by the NSW Supreme Court on Sunday.
Black Lives Matter organiser Paddy Gibson (pictured) persisted with the protest despite
A subsequent appeal on Monday failed in the NSW Court of Appeal, with Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, Court of Appeal president Andrew Bell, and justice Robert McFarlan agreeing with the arguments put forward by NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller’s legal team.
Up to 5,000 protesters had registered on Facebook to attend the rally but police shut it down shortly before the demonstration was due to begin.
Ms Price, who ran as a Country Liberal Party candidate at last year’s federal election, has previously criticised the symbolism of the hard-left Black Lives Matter movement, arguing domestic violence against women in remote Aboriginal communities was a more pressing concern.
The daughter of former Northern Territory CLP minister Bess Price has also questioned the focus on black deaths in custody, pointing out indigenous inmates were no more likely to die in custody than white prisoners.
The outspoken conservative, who has indigenous Warlpiri heritage, has criticised the Black Lives Matter movement in Australia for importing an American slogan, devised by Marxists capitalising on the death in May of former African-American security guard George Floyd, as he was arrested in Minneapolis.