Police praise behaviour of community at today’s rally, South Australia

Police wish to thank the community of South Australia for their support and patience during today’s rally in Adelaide. Once again South Australians have led the way in how the community works together during these challenging times.

On 5 June 2020, State Coordinator Commissioner Grant Stevens issued a blanket exemption to the COVID-19 Direction to allow the peaceful rally to take place. This decision was made taking into consideration all of the health advice and the rights of people who wanted to peacefully protest following the death of George Floyd in the United States.

SAPOL worked with the organisers of the rally to ensure that participants were able to express their views passionately but peacefully.

Assistant Commissioner Peter Harvey said that the interactions between the police and the protesters were excellent. “He said “we had resources in place to help facilitate the rally and to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance.”

“People have the right to protest lawfully and police were there to help them express their views peacefully.

“We estimate that over 5,000 people marched throughout Adelaide. Today is a prime example of how successfully the community and the police can come together to achieve a common goal.

“I am very pleased to say that there were no incidents of note”.

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