- NSW police are investigating reports that an on-duty officer wore a pro-police and anti-Black Lives Matter symbol on his uniform on the night of the Sydney gay and lesbian carnival parade.
- Images of the policeman wearing a thin blue line on his uniform were shared on social media on Saturday night after the Pride march in protest that preceded the Mardi Gras event.
- Protest Pride organizers condemned the officer for using a “flagrant hate symbol” in a statement posted on Facebook late on Monday.
- Visit the Business Insider Australia home page for more stories.
NSW police are investigating a police officer who was photographed on the night of the Sydney gay and lesbian carnival parade wearing a ‘Thin Blue Line’ patch on his uniform, a pro-police symbol that has come to represent a reaction against the protests of the Black Lives Matter.
On Saturday, participants in the Pride in Protests march spotted a NSW police officer wearing the controversial emblem during an interaction with the police in Hyde Park, Sydney.
Twitter user @UnionSlug shared images of the police officer on social media on Saturday night.
“Please explain this patch, @nswpolice? Officer J Smith (Sydney cbd) is wearing a police-sanctioned uniform modification for the Sydney Mardi Gras, ”she tweeted.
Please explain this patch, @nswpolice? Is Officer J Smith (Sydney cbd) wearing a Nsw police-sanctioned uniform modification for Sydney Mardi Gras?#blaklivesmatter #Carnival #blm
@prideinprotest @sallyrugg @jennyleong @Rise @GuardianAus @vanbadham @MehreenFaruqi @CloverMoore pic.twitter.com/6IN9ieOdN0
– AL (@UnionSlug) March 6, 2021
A NSW Police Force spokesman told Business Insider Australia that they are investigating the matter.
“The NSW Police Force is aware of reports of a police officer wearing a patch that is not part of the standard NSWPF uniform. Quakers Hill Police Command officers are investigating the matter, ”they said in an emailed statement.
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras did not respond to a request for comment.
Thin blue line and black life are important
The Thin Blue Line symbol usually takes the form of a black and white version of the country’s flag with a horizontal blue stripe in the middle.
Although it has been around for some time, the symbol was recently adopted by the Blue Lives Matter, a reactionary pro-law movement against Black Lives Matter.
Critics of the movement say the Blue Lives Matters and its Thin Blue Line patch represent a rejection of police responsibility during the police’s increasing scrutiny of the treatment of racial minorities.
Symbolic goods sold around the world are regularly seen being used by police officers on duty and have been used – not exclusively – by far-right extremists and white nationalists.
In September last year, Business Insider Australia reported that Australian police were promising to ignore orders to stop using the Thin Blue Line symbols on their uniforms, after Victoria police chiefs instructed them to stop using them.
Queensland police also said they were cracking down on police who used the symbol after one of them was spotted wearing it at a Black Lives Matter protest during the same month last year.
Police opposition to the march Pride of protest
The Pride in Protest march on Saturday afternoon was organized “to bring Mardi Gras’ proud roots of protest back and collectively fight the systems and structures that maintain injustice,” said the group’s Facebook page.
The march – which drew attention to the deaths of indigenous people in custody, compulsory detention of refugees and criminalization of sex work – was initially contested by the NSW Police, but received a public health exemption in the eleventh hour before a hearing at the Supreme Court. NSW Court.
On Monday, the organizers of Pride In Protest released a statement condemning the official for wearing the Thin Blue Line patch.
“The Thin Blue Line patch is a symbol of hate so blatant that even the Victorian police, however draconian, were forced to recognize it as such. Three other officers nearby overheard the discussion of the patch, and they all remained silent. Shame on Smith and the NSW police force, ”the group said in a Facebook post.
After the successful acquisition of Oxford Street, which saw thousands of people take to the streets, NSW police felt the need to …
Posted by Pride in Protest on Sunday, March 7, 2021
Twitter user @UnionSlug, who asked not to be identified by Business Insider Australia, said that the choice of a police officer to use an anti-Black Lives Matter symbol at the event was particularly irritating, given the event’s history.
“When it was at an event that had intersectionality, it had race relations as a major focal point, it is not ideal,” they said.
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