EXCLUSIVE | ‘She caused this, Ben’: Police Commisioner defends arrest of protesting mum
A Sydney mum arrested during a CBD coronavirus lockdown protest is to blame for putting her son in danger, says NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.
The woman was arrested on Saturday during a protest against tough coronavirus restrictions outside NSW Parliament on Macquarie Street.
Vision emerged on social media of the woman resisting police while clinging to her four-year-old son as he screamed.
A protester has been arrested in Sydney's CBD – with vision emerging of the woman being carried into a police van in front of her distressed child. #9Today
Posted by 9 News Sydney on Saturday, May 9, 2020
Commissioner Mick Fuller said police showed “an enormous amount of restraint”, and told Ben Fordham the mother was “in the driver’s seat” of the situation.
Bodycam footage from the incident, he said, will make clear police acted appropriately.
The woman is also under investigation for allegedly operating her beauty business in contravention of coronavirus restrictions.
“It was an illegal protest … so why you’d take a four-year-old into that situation is beyond me.
“If this woman had’ve given police her details at the scene, she would’ve been given a ticket and would’ve left with her son, but she refused to do that.
“She caused this, Ben.”
Click PLAY below to hear the full interview
Image: Nine News Sydney