This Video Of Police Questioning An Indigenous Journalist At An Anzac Day March Is Going Viral

For the past four years, an Aboriginal political movement called Sovereign Union has organised an annual march in Canberra to commemorate those who died in Australia’s Frontier Wars, the largely-unrecognised decades-long conflicts between Aboriginal nations and European soldiers that began in the 1780s, and claimed tens of thousands of lives, white and black. The march has never been huge — the first one in 2012 only attracted about 20 people — but it does make headlines, because it falls on Anzac Day, and shadows the official Anzac Day National Ceremony that marches through Canberra to the National War Memorial each year.

It’s important to note that Sovereign Union don’t classify what they do as a “protest” and never intend to disrupt the official Anzac march; according to Sovereign Union convenor Michael Anderson, Anzac Day is chosen for the march because it is “related to wars” and encourages people to think about a part of Australia’s war history that is relatively unknown. As such, the march’s organisers emphasise respect for the Anzac commemorations, and they have walked peacefully for the last four years with the knowledge and permission of both the RSL and the Australian Federal Police.

This time round, though, the atmosphere between marchers and the AFP quickly turned hostile; according to New Matilda‘s Amy McQuire, AFP officers prevented veteran Fred Hooper from joining the Anzac parade because he was carrying the flag of the Murrawarri Republic, a self-declared independent Indigenous nation of which Hooper is chairman. Officers also refused to let the march up Anzac Parade to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial, and escorted Hooper as he joined service members from the Submarine Association, of which he is a member.

These restrictions resulted in heated exchanges and scuffles between marchers and police officers. Station Sergeant Adrian Michael Craft from Emergency Management & Planning, an AFP department responsible for policing events held in the ACT, told Hooper “today is the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day. You will respect the day,” and “this is not a day for you”. In the footage below, Craft can be seen pointing a taser at a man’s chest.

NITV video journalist Myles Morgan, who was reporting on the protest, was asked by police to hand over footage he shot on his camera on the grounds that he was “a witness to an offence.” Morgan refused to hand it over on the spot, saying he needed to contact his bosses before he could do so, and in edited video obtained by the ABC, Senior Constable David Power can be heard saying in reply: “What I’m saying is, if you don’t give it [the footage] to me, I’m going to seize your camera.” Morgan filmed the exchange between himself and AFP officers, one of whom was Station Sergeant Craft. The resulting footage has been viewed almost 100,000 times.

“You’re shaking, Myles,” Sergeant Mark Steel says in the video.”What are you shaking for?…Your face is twitching really badly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone’s face twitch like that, though, that’s all.”

“Unfortunately, stupidity is not illegal,” Craft says in the video. “We’re in an interesting philosophical juxtaposition here. One cannot use the law as a weapon.” Craft also points out a rip in his AFP jacket, which he notes is “damage to Commonwealth property,” and wrongly accuses Morgan of using Commonwealth assets of his own — the SBS video camera — for “a private purpose,” and “behaving in contravention” of an unnamed bylaw. Sergeant Steel concurs.

Senior Constable Power, the officer who originally intended to seize Morgan’s camera, neglects to take down some of Morgan’s details despite repeatedly asking for them. When Morgan mentions, at the officer’s request, that he is a Wadi Wadi man of the Dharawal nation, Power’s response is: “I don’t see that that’s relevant.”

NITV told Junkee they have lodged a formal complaint with the AFP for further investigation. The AFP told Junkee that “a minor disturbance occurred between activists and police during ANZAC Day remembrance activities,” during which “a female ACT Policing officer was struck by an unknown person” and another “had clothing torn by the activists.” Regarding the NITV footage, the AFP told Junkee “a complaint in relation to this matter has been received by the AFP’s Professional Standards team. As such, it would be inappropriate to respond to your questions or provide comment.”