Thousands Expected To Attend Black Lives Matter Protest In Sydney Next Week

New South Wales Police are planning on taking organisers of a Black Lives Matter protest to the Supreme Court to stop it from going ahead.

Authorities have learned as many as four thousand people are planning on attending the march in Sydney next week.

Naturally, with the second wave of coronavirus infections causing parts of Victoria to lock down and more cases in NSW, police are worried a massive rally could be detrimental.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has issued a warning to people thinking of attending the march, saying they are putting their health at risk.

ABC News

"Relying on some pretty good intelligence from Victoria, we know how dangerous these protests can be, in terms of health," he said to 2GB Radio.

"At the moment, you just can't take chances."

Thousands of people rallied around Australia last month at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. Interestingly, authorities are yet to find a single case where someone contracted the coronavirus as a result of going to the rally.

There were several people who tested positive after attending the Melbourne BLM rally, however they have determined that these cases were picked up before the event was held.

NSW Police took the organisers of the large Sydney rally to court on the week it was meant to go ahead in June, however it ruled in favour of the protestors.

PA

It might not do the same this time round.

Commissioner Fuller said if the event is deemed illegal they will stop at nothing to ensure people are penalised for going against the health guidelines.

"Whether I can write two or three thousand tickets, I don't know. But do you want to be that person to get the first ticket?" he said.

While New South Wales isn't the same as Victoria, the state has still been recording dozens of coronavirus cases.

The state recorded 18 new cases of the virus yesterday (Sunday July 19), which is the largest single-day increase since April 29. Only five of those cases were people returning from overseas.

Authorities are clearly worried a protest with a few thousand people could set New South Wales back as it tries to navigate its way out of the pandemic.

Topics: Black Lives Matter, News, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie