Police have attempted to disrupt a weightlifting event held by Australian nationalists on the Gold Coast, and issued an official order banning attendees from wearing face coverings in public for three days.
The White Australia Powerlifting Competition was underway at a Scout Hall in Ashmore at about 11am on Saturday when a police helicopter appeared overhead and about 50 uniformed officers tried to force their way into the building, witnesses told Noticer News.
Queensland Police officers demanded event attendees, which included women, children and babies, give their identification and served several participants with a Public Safety Order claiming that they posed a “serious risk to public safety or security”.
The order prohibits respondents, defined as “the group of persons known as the National Socialist Network (also known as the European Australian Movement) meeting in Queensland from 10 August 2024 to 12 August 2024”, from wearing face coverings in a public place in South East Queensland between those dates.
A video shared on social media shows Melbourne-based nationalist activists Thomas Sewell and Joel Davis responding after being served the order outside the building.
Mr Davis asked officers about the legislation referred to in the Public Safety Order, reading a section saying that police must take into account the public interest in maintaining freedom to protest.
“How does wearing face coverings have any relation to public safety?” Mr Davis asks in the video.
“Because we are a political organisation, so you’re depriving us of our political rights.”
Mr Sewell then asked for further clarification about whether the order infringed on the group’s right to protest, and said: “We’re not even protesting right now”.
“I know, we’re here to serve documents on you,” the police inspector responded.
“You are the errand boy serving the documents,” Mr Sewell replied.
Another video shows officers being blocked in the doorway and told to leave because they were on private property, and Noticer News understands that one officer needed to be restrained by colleagues outside after losing his temper at an attendee who asked him for his name and badge number.
The weightlifting event, which had bench press, squat and deadlift categories, proceeded despite the heavy police presence and finished at about 5pm.
Officers then attempted to serve the documents to more attendees as they departed.
Queensland Police were contacted for comment.
