An attractive cop who was working during a fiery anti-war rally in Sydney has been celebrated by social media users.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour on Tuesday morning, as police scrambled to hold back the large crowds shoving the metal barricades.
The fiery scenes unfolded as the three-day Indo Pacific International Maritime Expo kicked off.
But one officer from NSW Police’s riot squad has garnered dozens of comments on social media for being attractive.
‘That officer is very handsome. He should arrest me,’ one Aussie said.
Another quipped ‘I desperately need to do unlawful things near him’ while a third compared him to Tom Brady, an American former professional football quarterback.
Some referred to the officer as an ‘absolute Chad’, a reference typically used in internet culture as a disparaging slang term for a sexually active young white male.
Nick Riemer, activist and senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, first shared the photo of the police officer in a post criticising the use of force on protesters.
Australians admired a NSW Police officer from the riot squad after a fiery protest in Sydney
Protesters and NSW Police clashed during an attempted blockade by the Palestine Action Group of the Indo-Pacific Weapons expo at the ICC Sydney on Tuesday
Police used pepper spray to break up the crowd, forcing protesters to wash their eyes out
‘Not usual for pepper spray to be used by the police in Sydney but it was just sprayed in big quantities over anti-war protesters outside the arms expo at Darling Harbour,’ he said.
‘Riot cops beside themselves with excitement at having been released from their pens.’
Officers resorted to using pepper spray in an attempt to break up the crowd outside the event, forcing protesters to wash their eyes out with water.
Fifteen people were arrested during the operation, following the use of the spray, with two later released without charge.
Two police officers required medical treatment after one sustained a cut to the face and another had paint thrown in his eye.
On Tuesday, Superintendent Commander Paul Dunstan defended the response to protesters, claiming officers were ‘forced’ to push back against a group of 50 to 100 who ‘set upon’ police.
Superintendent Commander Paul Dunstan defended the use of force in detaining protesters, claiming officers were ‘set upon’ by a group of up to 100 activists
NSW Police said 15 people were arrested during the operation
‘It was a tactical option that was used, and we felt we were under significant pressure, and it was required to be used in the circumstances,’ he told reporters.
‘There’s police covered in paint. There’s police that had paint in their eyes. It was directly thrown on the police by the protesting group.
‘I’m not aware of protesters being injured, but I’m aware that a number were affected by the OC spray.’
But leaders among the protesters had said they were not stirring trouble with police.
A protest organiser told the Today show on Tuesday: ‘We’re here to peacefully protest against a convention of war criminals.’
Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees claimed that protesters were attacked by police, calling the incident ‘despicable’.
‘We’re just trying to assemble for a peaceful protest, and the police attacked us with horses and pepper spray, you know, and arrest us,’ he told NCA Newswire.
The police operation at Darling Harbour will continue for the next two days.
