June 27, 2025 – in front of SEC Plating in Belmore (Sydney)
35-year-old. Punched int the face: could lose her eye while charged with causing a public disturbance (dropped) and hindering or resisting police and not following a move-on direction
- Last update: 15:12 - First published
The crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests is intensifying in many Western countries. She was participating in a protest outside SEC Plating in Belmore, Sydney (reportedly linked to the manufacture of components for United States fighter jets used by the Israel Defense Forces or IDF) , on Friday, June 27, when she was attacked by New South Wales police. Hannah Thomas was among five people arrested (including a 24-year-old man who they allege temporarily stole a police body-worn camera).
Green Party candidate Hannah Thomas in Sydney (she ran against the Prime Minister in his Grayndler constituency in Sydney in this year’s elections) was seriously injured during her arrest. It is unclear to what extent she will recover her sight after suffering a serious eye injury. A police officer struck her violently and then dragged her away to arrest her. The police justified the violence by explaining that the protesters had refused to move despite their orders. NSW Police assistant commissioner Brett McFadden has previously said he did not observe any misconduct in the body-worn camera footage of the incident. All officers involved remained on duty.
Hannah Thomas has been issued a Future Court Attendance Notice for allegedly hindering or resisting a police officer and refusing to comply with a direction to disperse. She is due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on August 12 to face charges for her participation in the protest.
Police initially brought a charge connected to causing a public disturbance, but dropped it. Thomas has also been charged with hindering or resisting police and not following a move-on direction.
Having reviewed police body-worn camera evidence of a pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney, Hannah Thomas’s lawyer Peter O’Brien says it’s clear that police punched Ms Thomas in the face, causing grievous bodily harm. He has written to NSW Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions demanding the charges be dropped. He also has instructions to proceed on a civil claim seeking compensation for the actions that led to her injury.
“Torts likely to be pursued against the state include assault and battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office, and collateral abuse of process. I am satisfied that Ms Thomas was punched in the face by a male police officer, causing extensive and serious injury to her eye … We are further satisfied that Ms Thomas was an innocent victim of gratuitous police brutality and excessive use of force, actions that were completely and entirely unjustifiable. It cannot be known what goes through the mind of a police officer who uses gratuitous violence like this, but the context and timing appear unavoidably revealing.“
Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said, ‘Now the evidence is clearer, I am calling for the actual offenders, the police, to be charged and those members of the community who were lawfully protesting for peace, who were assaulted, harmed and wrongly arrested, detained and charged by police to be released from further persecution. Justice has run away, in the wrong direction for weeks now, and it’s got to be stopped.’
Ms Thomas posted a video to Instagram on Sunday night, thanking people for their support.
“I don’t want to get into too much detail about the traumatic events on Friday, but I’m 5’1″, I weigh about 45 kilos. I was engaged in peaceful protests, and my interactions with NSW Police have left me potentially without vision in my right eye permanently. What I’m going through was “obviously nothing compared to what people in Gaza are going through because of Israel“.
Physical violence
| X | Arrest |
| Detention / Custody | |
| X | Hustle / Projection |
| Prone position / lying flat on the stomach / ventral decubitus | |
| “Folding” (holding a person in a seated position with their head resting on their knees) | |
| Painful armlock | |
| X | Kicks, punches, slaps |
| Feet / knees on the nape of the neck, chest or face | |
| Blows to the victim while under control and/or on the ground | |
| Blows to the ears | |
| Strangulation / chokehold | |
| Fingers forced backwards | |
| Spraying with water | |
| Dog bites | |
| Hair pulling | |
| Painful tightening of colson ties or handcuffs | |
| Painfully pulling by colson ties or handcuffs | |
| Sexual abuse | |
| Striking with a police vehicle | |
| Use of gloves | |
| Use of firearm | |
| Use of “Bean bags” (a coton sack containing tiny lead bullets) | |
| Use of FlashBall weapon | |
| Use of sound grenade | |
| Use of dispersal grenade | |
| Use of teargas grenade | |
| Use of rubber bullets weapon (LBD40 type) | |
| Use of batons | |
| Use of Pepper Spray | |
| Use of Taser gun | |
| Use of tranquillisers | |
| Disappearance |
Psychological violence
| X | Charge of disturbing public order |
| Charge of rebellion | |
| Accusation of beatings to officer | |
| Charge of threatening officer | |
| Charge of insulting an officer | |
| Charge of disrespect | |
| X | Charge of resisting arrest |
| Aggressive behaviour, disrespect, insults | |
| Intimidation, blackmail, threats | |
| Vexing or intimidating identity check | |
| Intimidation or arrest of witnesses | |
| Prevented from taking photographs or from filming the scene | |
| Calls to end torment remained unheeded | |
| Prolonged uncomfortable position | |
| Failure to assist a person in danger | |
| Photographs, fingerprints, DNA | |
| Threat with a weapon | |
| Shooting in the back | |
| Charging without warning | |
| Kettling (corraling protestors to isolate them from the rest of the demonstration) | |
| Car chase | |
| Sexist remarks | |
| Homophobic remarks | |
| Racist comments | |
| Intervention in a private place | |
| Mental health issues | |
| Harassment | |
| Body search | |
| Home search | |
| Violence by fellow police officers | |
| Passivity of police colleagues | |
| Lack or refusal of the police officer to identify him or herself | |
| Refusal to notify someone or to telephone | |
| Refusal to administer a breathalyzer | |
| Refusal to fasten the seatbelt during transport | |
| Refusal to file a complaint | |
| Refusal to allow medical care or medication | |
| Lies, cover-ups, disappearance of evidence | |
| Undress before witnesses of the opposite sex | |
| Bend down naked in front of witnesses | |
| Lack of surveillance or monitoring during detention | |
| Lack of signature in the Personal Effects Register during detention | |
| Deprivation during detention (water, food) | |
| Inappropriate sanitary conditions during detention (temperature, hygiene, light) | |
| Confiscation, deterioration, destruction of personal effects | |
| Pressure to sign documents | |
| Absence of a report | |
| Complacency of doctors |
- 12.08.2025 – Due to appear at Bankstown Local Court to face charges of hindering or resisting a police officer and refusing to comply with a direction to disperse
- 27.06.2025 – Aggression on Hannah
- Hannah Thomas on Instagram
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