Police Brutality Mars Sydney Mardi Gras

A spokesman for the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras this morning sent us the below press release.

Late Tuesday evening, SGLMG received and viewed footage  involving NSW Police arresting a spectator with excessive force at the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade on March 2, 2013. This incident is quite distressing and our thoughts are with the individual, his family, friends and those that witnessed this. The Board and Management of SGLMG assure the community and parade viewers that we have requested a meeting tomorrow with the Minister of Police and that we are working with the state Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, MP Sydney, to have this incident investigated and addressed.

Minutes before the above statement arrived, I was tipped to the below video by JMG reader Dennis. While we don't yet know the backstory regarding this young man's arrest, I must warn you that I literally gasped when the cop slammed his head into the pavement. Unforgivable.

UPDATE: The Australian gay news site Same Same is on the story. The victim claims he was arrested for attempting to cross the road during the parade.

Same Same has also been contacted by witnesses to another alleged police assault in the same vicinity on the night, with claims that a young man was punched and left bleeding after his head was smashed against concrete after he had already been handcuffed by police officers.

A witness at the scene with her two teenaged sisters says the violent actions of the officers involved left her younger siblings seriously traumatised. “They were crying while the police bashed the boy’s head into the cement,” she said. “It was horrible, disgusting behaviour.”

Another witness adds: “They picked him up by the throat and slammed him into the ground with his head hitting the ground that hard it sounded like a bowling ball hitting the ground,” she said. “This was while he was in handcuffs.”

The victim also claims the he was kicked by several officers. The Sydney Morning Herald is now reporting the story.