LIDIA THORPE TACKLED BY POLICE AFTER ATTEMPTING TO DISRUPT ANTI-TRANS RALLY
Footage posted on Twitter shows police physically handling Senator Lidia Thorpe. Credit: India Willloughby, Twitter.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) will investigate after Senator Lidia Thorpe was pushed to the ground by police yesterday following her attempt to disrupt an anti-transgender rights protest outside Parliament House in Canberra.
According to reporters, around 30 people gathered on the lawn outside parliament to hear UK anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen give a speech.
Independent ‘Blak Sovereign Movement’ Senator Lidia Thorpe was among more than a hundred pro-trans counter-protesters who gathered nearby.
Video footage posted on social media shows Senator Thorpe being pushed to the ground by police after approaching the podium for the anti-trans rally.
After returning to the counter-protest, Senator Thorpe told the Guardian the government should not have allowed Ms Keen into the country.
“I went to tell her, that thing, that they are not welcome here, and I got pulverised by the police,” she said.
In a statement, the AFP said: “The interactions between the AFP and protesters will be reviewed, and an incident has been referred to the AFP’s Professional Standards Command.”
Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney told ABC Radio the footage of the incident was “disturbing and concerning.”
“My concern is for Lidia,” she said. “I hope she’s getting the support that she should get, and I think the fact that it has been referred to the professional standards unit is absolutely appropriate.”
“The real issue is to make sure that her wellbeing, her welfare is okay.”