The brutal police attack on former Strathfield councillor turned full-time solo protester Danny Lim sparked a snap protest on January 13.
About 150 people gathered outside NSW Police Command near Darling Harbour in the city鈥檚 CBD following news of the 74-year-old鈥檚 bashing by police two days earlier at Barangaroo.聽A young man who was also harassed by the police during the incident initiated the protest.
and his calls for help, along with pictures of his subsequent bruising, have been widely shared on social media.
Police say Lim was arrested for offensive behaviour.
Lim is renowned for promoting peace and most of his sandwich board placards include a large smiling face, with the request that people love each other.
Lim has a large fan base because he sides with the poor and marginalised 鈥 he mostly takes aim at those in power.
He is no stranger to controversy, using words creatively to draw attention to his issue of the day.
Lim is often pushed around by the police but has refused to give up.
Last August, his 2015 conviction for offensive conduct was overturned. The 鈥渙ffensive鈥 conduct was to wear a sandwich board mocking then-prime minister Tony Abbott that included the word 鈥渃vn鈥檛鈥.
According to聽, 鈥渙ffensive conduct鈥 is a frequently prosecuted crime in NSW. The聽Summary Offences Act 1988聽does not define what is considered 鈥渙ffensive鈥, meaning it is left to police and judges to decide based on a 鈥渞easonable person鈥檚 test鈥.
If found guilty of offensive conduct, a person can be jailed for 3 months or fined $660. A conviction for the offence can result in a criminal record.
The NSW Police Force is hardly the best arbiter of changing contemporary standards.
With British global fashion retailer French Connection branding its clothing as 鈥渇cuk鈥 and聽, whose brand聽鈥渁ims to represent the true spirit of the Northern Territory鈥 promoting 鈥淐U in the NT鈥 merchandise, the real intent of NSW Police鈥檚 attack on Lim becomes clearer.
Dozens of police officers and vehicles blocked off streets around the site where the protest took place in an attempt to intimidate Lim鈥檚 supporters. Plain-clothes officers videoed the crowd while police dogs were at the ready.
Despite this, Lim arrived with his 16-year-old dog Smarty to a hero鈥檚 welcome.
Several speakers made it clear that by arresting and roughing up Lim, the NSW Police had overstepped the mark.
Rachel Evans from the Socialist Alliance received rousing support for calling out the hypocrisy of police in charging Lim with offensive behaviour.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 offensive is that 14-year-old Aboriginal girls are being strip searched,鈥 Evans said.
鈥淒anny joins a long line of victims of police brutality in NSW. Police target young people, Aboriginal people, queer people and protesters鈥
鈥淚 was strip searched after a refugee rights rally by Newtown Police. It was traumatising and outrageous.
鈥淚鈥檝e been protesting for many years, faced arrest at a bunch of actions, but their sexual assault on me deeply affected me.
鈥淭his is their strategy: they aim to scare us from protesting.
鈥淭he police, who work for rich governments, want us to be afraid, so we don鈥檛 protest and we give up. We will not. Danny isn鈥檛 and we won鈥檛 either.鈥
Protesters called for the police responsible for the attack on Lim to be sacked, and for those present to help make the聽聽on January 26 as big as possible.