Police will fight a pro-Palestinian march across Brisbane’s Story Bridge in court if organisers insist on going ahead, Acting Commissioner Shane Chelepy said.
Organisers expect about 7000 people will join a march on the afternoon of Sunday, August 24, across the Story Bridge, which comes after more than 100,000 pro-Palestinian supporters protested on the Sydney Harbour Bridge this month.
Chelepy said police respected the right of groups to protest, but they had safety concerns, and had offered an alternate route that included a pedestrian bridge.
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“Omar [Ashour, an organiser] may think that he can control 7000 people, my concern is he doesn’t control everyone that turns up, and we’ll see behaviour during that protest that’ll make things unsafe,” Chelepy told 4BC radio this morning.
“I’m hoping that he’ll listen to reason today, but if he doesn’t, we’ll use every means we can.”
Chelepy confirmed that would include taking protesters to court.
He said police had a plan for both alternate routes that were offered to protesters, but if they lost their argument, more than 120 officers would be deployed to manage a Story Bridge protest.
Chelepy said police managed protests as part of their job but “I’m not convinced that causing disruption to the rest of the community is the best way to get them onside with you”.
Last night, the Justice for Palestine Magan-djin group said the onus was on police to take protesters to court if they wanted to stop the march, but they insisted it would be safe and family-friendly.
“We continue to encourage Queensland police to work with us to alleviate whatever concerns they hold and to avoid escalating this through the courts,” the group posted on Facebook.
In May, a court blocked active travel advocates from shutting down all six traffic lanes of the Story Bridge for a Friday peak hour protest.
That group is coincidentally also planning a Story Bridge footpaths protest for August 24, at 11am.
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