Sydney police attack Muslim men praying during protest

Australia’s special envoy for Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, has called for an investigation into police used force while a group of Muslim protesters were praying during a Sydney rally opposing Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit.

Footage circulated on social media appeared to show a group of Muslim men kneeling in prayer during the demonstration outside Sydney’s Town Hall, when several police officers physically moved two of the men away from the group and dragged another to his feet as others continued praying.

The men were reportedly undertaking a five-minute prayer as thousands gathered at Sydney Town Hall to protest Herzog’s arrival, despite a court decision that upheld the police powers to restrict protests, and 27 people were arrested.

Footage circulated on social media appeared to show a group of Muslim men kneeling in prayer during the demonstration outside Sydney’s Town Hall, when several police officers physically moved two of the men away from the group and trying to drag another to his feet as others continued praying.

Australian Police attack and arrest Muslim men praying outdoors

This is hard to watch. God bless those that stood between the people praying and police. pic.twitter.com/ihuxzldouO

— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) February 9, 2026

More than 100 Muslim organisations, including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Lebanese Muslim Association and the Islamophobia Register Australia condemned the incident in a joint statement, describing it as “completely unacceptable”.

Malik has called for NSW Premier Chris Minns to publicly apologise to the Muslim community. Minns broadly defended police actions, saying officers were put in an “incredibly difficult” situation.

“Context is important,” Minns told a press conference. “And the circumstances facing New South Wales Police was incredibly difficult. It was, in effect, in the middle of a riot. Police have to make critical early decisions in those circumstances.”

Minns said the police response “wasn’t designed to pick on or target a particular community” and not representative of the “strong and co-operative” relationship police have had with Sydney’s Muslim community.

“There was absolutely nothing on the face of the earth that could warrant police to break up people who are praying in a quiet, non-threatening, peaceful manner, and to punch and to grab and to throw individuals onto the concrete,” Malik said.

“The police have to acknowledge that what happened was unprovoked, unnecessary and disproportionate, and if they do not come out with that recognition, it will irreparably damage relations between Muslims and the NSW Police.”

NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon said the incident occurred “long after the violent aggressive crowd had started to be moved on police”.

“When I say you need to take into context, another angle where you can see the police line moving forward, moving those protesters out. At that stage, we were dispersing the crowd for community safety,” he told reporters.

NSW Police assistant commissioner Peter McKenna was asked about the video as well as footage that showed a man being punched by police officers. McKenna said the footage had been taken out of context.

“I would say out of context, on their own, without knowing what happened in the lead-up to them, that people shouldn’t judge too quickly,” he said.

Asked if he could provide the context, McKenna replied: “It’s very early, but what I’ll say is police were involved in violent confrontations throughout the night over a number of hours of sustained attacks and violence.”