Latest news with #HannahThomas
Perth Now
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Protester's fears for vision after arrest
Greens candidate Hannah Thomas has revealed new details about the moment she was seriously injured while being arrested during an anti-Israel protest. Ms Thomas said she didn't know how much vision – if any – she'd be able to recover after the incident left her with a serious injury to her eye. She had been was protesting outside SEC Plating in Belmore, Sydney on Friday June 27 when she was involved in an altercation with NSW Police. 'It all happened very fast,' Ms Thomas told 10 News+ on Tuesday. 'I remember feeling that impact to my head and just thinking, 'oh my God, what was that'? 'I just could not believe that I'd been punched. That level of force to my head. I just totally did not see it coming. Then I was dragged away to another point.' Hannah Thomas was arrested during an anti-Israel protest. Credit: Supplied Former greens candidate Hannah Thomas after a protest in Belmore, Sydney. Supplied Credit: Supplied She said she then became worried about the injury to her eye. 'At that point I realised the extent, just because of the throbbing, and I was like, 'oh my face just does not feel normal',' she said. 'I think at that point I was already like, 'oh my God, I think my sight might be affected'.' Protesters claim SEC Plating provides components used in a class of jets operated by the Israeli Defence Force, these claims are strongly denied by the company. Ms Thomas denied doing anything to provoke the incident such as lashing out or spitting at officers and said the road to recovery remained a daunting prospect. 'Just complete shock. I think that I would have never expected that morning when I went to the protest, that would have been the outcome,' she said. 'Even if I don't lose the eye, I don't know how much vision I'm getting back. I won't know for some months because I'll have at least one more surgery.' Hannah Thomas has revealed new details after she was seriously injured while being arrested at an anti-Israel protest. Channel 10 Credit: Channel 10 Ms Thomas stood against the Prime Minister in his Sydney seat of Grayndler at the election earlier this year. Although unsuccessful, she is now employed as a media officer for the Greens party. 'I can't look at a screen for too long at the moment, I don't know what happens with my career because of this injury,' she said. Ms Thomas disagreed with the idea that by refusing move on orders from the police the protesters were putting themselves at risk and said real change was needed to prohibit similar incidents from occurring. 'I mean, I would disagree. I think protest is a fundamental right. And I think what makes us unsafe at protests are police. '[I would like to see] the charges against me dropped and I would like the officers involved to be charged and taken off duty. 'I think the level of violence towards protesters at the moment is escalated, and it's because [of the] anti-protest laws, which has really licensed police to crack down. 'I think if nothing changes, there'll be more injuries.' A critical incident team is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, and will be reviewed by the Professional Standards Command and oversighted by the LECC. Ms Thomas is due in court over the protest on August 12.
News.com.au
7 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
‘What was that?': Fresh details in Greens candidate's injury in protestarrest
Greens candidate Hannah Thomas has revealed new details about the moment she was seriously injured while being arrested during an anti-Israel protest. Ms Thomas said she didn't know how much vision – if any – she'd be able to recover after the incident left her with a serious injury to her eye. She had been was protesting outside SEC Plating in Belmore, Sydney on Friday June 27 when she was involved in an altercation with NSW Police. 'It all happened very fast,' Ms Thomas told 10 News+ on Tuesday. 'I remember feeling that impact to my head and just thinking, 'oh my God, what was that'? 'I just could not believe that I'd been punched. That level of force to my head. I just totally did not see it coming. Then I was dragged away to another point.' She said she then became worried about the injury to her eye. 'At that point I realised the extent, just because of the throbbing, and I was like, 'oh my face just does not feel normal',' she said. 'I think at that point I was already like, 'oh my God, I think my sight might be affected'.' Protesters claim SEC Plating provides components used in a class of jets operated by the Israeli Defence Force, these claims are strongly denied by the company. Ms Thomas denied doing anything to provoke the incident such as lashing out or spitting at officers and said the road to recovery remained a daunting prospect. 'Just complete shock. I think that I would have never expected that morning when I went to the protest, that would have been the outcome,' she said. 'Even if I don't lose the eye, I don't know how much vision I'm getting back. I won't know for some months because I'll have at least one more surgery.' Ms Thomas stood against the Prime Minister in his Sydney seat of Grayndler at the election earlier this year. Although unsuccessful, she is now employed as a media officer for the Greens party. 'I can't look at a screen for too long at the moment, I don't know what happens with my career because of this injury,' she said. Ms Thomas disagreed with the idea that by refusing move on orders from the police the protesters were putting themselves at risk and said real change was needed to prohibit similar incidents from occurring. 'I mean, I would disagree. I think protest is a fundamental right. And I think what makes us unsafe at protests are police. '[I would like to see] the charges against me dropped and I would like the officers involved to be charged and taken off duty. 'I think the level of violence towards protesters at the moment is escalated, and it's because [of the] anti-protest laws, which has really licensed police to crack down. 'I think if nothing changes, there'll be more injuries.' A critical incident team is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, and will be reviewed by the Professional Standards Command and oversighted by the LECC. Ms Thomas is due in court over the protest on August 12.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Questions of excessive force': Major escalation in Hannah Thomas arrest probe
Senior NSW police have escalated their investigation into the arrest of former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas after a briefing raised 'questions of excessive force' by officers involved in breaking up an anti-Israel protest in Sydney's south-west. Internal affairs police have taken over the probe into Thomas' arrest, which was launched after she suffered a serious eye injury when police disrupted the protest, and are now investigating whether she was assaulted, sources say. It comes after the Herald revealed body-worn footage from the arrest showed Thomas suffered a serious eye injury when an officer punched her in the face during her arrest, according to lawyers and police sources. Thomas was injured after police broke up the protest outside SEC Plating on June 27, a business in Belmore demonstrators say supplies plating services for F-35 jets used by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). She was told to 'prepare for the worst' including the possibility she will never see out of her right eye again. Loading NSW Police on June 30 declared a critical incident, which tasked Campbelltown police command to investigate the actions of the officers who arrested Thomas. Thomas was charged with resisting arrest and refusing an order to disperse on the same day. The NSW Police executive called for an interim briefing on Tuesday and concluded the evidence raised 'questions of excessive force'.
The Age
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘Questions of excessive force': Major escalation in Hannah Thomas arrest probe
Senior NSW police have escalated their investigation into the arrest of former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas after a briefing raised 'questions of excessive force' by officers involved in breaking up an anti-Israel protest in Sydney's south-west. Internal affairs police have taken over the probe into Thomas' arrest, which was launched after she suffered a serious eye injury when police disrupted the protest, and are now investigating whether she was assaulted, sources say. It comes after the Herald revealed body-worn footage from the arrest showed Thomas suffered a serious eye injury when an officer punched her in the face during her arrest, according to lawyers and police sources. Thomas was injured after police broke up the protest outside SEC Plating on June 27, a business in Belmore demonstrators say supplies plating services for F-35 jets used by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). She was told to 'prepare for the worst' including the possibility she will never see out of her right eye again. Loading NSW Police on June 30 declared a critical incident, which tasked Campbelltown police command to investigate the actions of the officers who arrested Thomas. Thomas was charged with resisting arrest and refusing an order to disperse on the same day. The NSW Police executive called for an interim briefing on Tuesday and concluded the evidence raised 'questions of excessive force'.
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
NSW police yet to withdraw protest charge against Hannah Thomas as promised as she pleads not guilty
New South Wales police are yet to withdraw a charge against pro-Palestine protester Hannah Thomas that relied on a rarely used emergency power introduced in the wake of the 2005 Cronulla riots. Thomas was arrested and charged alongside four others at a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney on 27 June that was attended by about 60 people at SEC Plating. The 35-year-old was taken to hospital, with her lawyers alleging a police officer punched her in the face. Last week Thomas underwent a second round of surgery amid fears she could lose sight in her right eye. The former Greens candidate had her matter briefly heard in Bankstown local court on Tuesday, where her solicitor Stewart O'Connell said Thomas would plead not guilty to three charges: resisting police, failure to comply with a move on direction, and refusing or failing to comply with a direction to disperse. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The last charge is yet to be withdrawn, despite the assistant commissioner Brett McFadden saying last week it would be. McFadden said in a statement last week after he launched a review to examine whether the charges against Thomas were relevant and appropriate, that the latter charge – which falls under laws used to quell 'large-scale public disorders' and which were introduced in the wake of the Cronulla riots – would be dropped. He said Thomas would instead face a charge of failing to comply with a move on direction. However, on Tuesday the court heard Thomas was facing all three charges, and the prosecutor Chris Allison said none had been withdrawn yet. Allison, who is a solicitor for the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court on Tuesday the DPP had taken over Thomas' matter from police. On Monday, in a statement calling for charges against Thomas to be withdrawn, Thomas's lawyers at O'Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitors alleged that a police officer punched her in the face during the protest, resulting in 'extensive and serious injury to her eye'. Her lawyers said they had taken the unusual step of commenting on the case while criminal proceedings against their client were under way after viewing the police's body cam footage. They flagged that Thomas will sue the state of New South Wales 'for the actions of the NSW police officers connected to her apprehension, injury, detention, and prosecution'. Days after Thomas's arrest, McFadden told ABC radio that he had viewed the body-worn video and there was 'no information at this stage that's before me that indicates any misconduct on behalf of my officers'. Thomas' arrest has been declared a critical incident by police, which means an investigation into the incident will be overseen by the independent police watchdog. Protesters claimed SEC Plating, at where the 27 June protest took place, was manufacturing parts used in the F-35 jet program. However, SEC Plating has denied that this is the case. The four protesters who were charged alongside Thomas also had their matters heard on Tuesday in Bankstown. All pleaded not guilty to their various charges relating to the protest and their arrests. This included Zack Schofield, 26, who is facing a charge of failing to comply with a police direction, and resisting police. On Tuesday he had a bail condition removed that had restricted him from attending protests. O'Connell, a lawyer at O'Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitors, who is acting on behalf of all five protesters, told the court during Schofield's bail variation hearing that: 'There's no objective evidence which I have seen which clearly shows he resisted.' 'We say that [direction from police] is clearly unlawful.' Outside the court on Tuesday, O'Connell said: 'Every minute that these charges persist is another minute of injustice'. 'The charges are ludicrous. There is objective evidence in relation to all of the matters that are consistent with innocence,' he said. 'Hannah Thomas, in the meantime, she'll be doing everything she possibly can to bring accountability to the NSW police and to receive justice.' O'Connell alleged that the body-worn video depicted 'a brutal, cowardly and despicable assault'.
