Leaked Footage Reveals NSW Police Intentionally Brutalised the Public at Herzog

Abolitionist collective Watch the Cops posted a clip online, which, having been anonymously supplied to it, went viral last weekend. The leaked footage involves a NSW police officer bragging about beating up a civilian, during the policing of the 9 February 2026 anti-Herzog protest on Gadigal land at Sydney Town Hall, which confirms that officers intentionally used excessive force that night.

The snippet of police bodycam footage captures a male police officer excitedly telling a female colleague that he’d just “fucking pumped that cunt”, and “then I punched him in the head when he was down”. The woman laughs along with the admission prior to acknowledging that she “saw that” and adding that it was “so funny”.

NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson then referred the clip to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, so that the NSW police watchdog can incorporate it into its investigation of alleged widespread police use of violence at the February protest. This evidence comes after state officials and top brass have repeatedly denied any police misconduct.

The 9 February rally opposing the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog involved 20,000 pro-Palestinian constituents being set on by 3,000 police officers because the crowd wouldn’t disperse but sought to march to NSW parliament in violation of a law banning street marches in declared zones after an act of terrorism, which is a law that has since been revoked as it was unconstitutional.

The attitudes of the officers in the footage reflects the outlook that the NSW police had out on display in general that night. The clip further heightens the dubious manner, in which the NSW premier Chris Minns, police minister Yasmin Catley and police commissioner Mal Lanyon have insisted that officers were just following orders, and therefore, no official apology is warranted.

F@cking pumping the c#nt

“The senior constable who is featured in the bodycam footage should be charged with assault,” said a Watch the Cop spokesperson. “But we are wary of falling into the ‘bad apples trap’. It is not just public order cops who should get charged, it is Chris Minns, Mal Lanyon, Yasmin Catley, assistant commissioner Paul Dunstan and chief inspector Gary Coffey, who truly led the violence.”

“We hope the LECC investigation stands down every officer involved in the Herzog rally. But the LECC itself admits that NSW police is defensive when it comes to providing the commission with evidence,” they continued. “The police response to the Herzog rally was gladiator-style bloodsports, designed to entertain Herzog on his tour and prove Australia’s loyalty to Israel.”

The Watch the Cops spokesperson told Sydney Criminal Lawyers that the group was supplied with the footage anonymously last week and posted it online over the weekend. The understanding is that the clip comprises the body worn camera footage captured by one of the officers who bragged about punching the constituent in the head. This video has also featured in a recent criminal court case.

In terms of the assertion that NSW police is being “defensive” in delivering evidence in its possession that relates to the watchdog inquiry, refers to reports that there is a law that permits the NSW police commissioner to declare that certain evidence is ‘critical police information’, and therefore, it cannot be disclosed to the public as it could prejudice police inquiries or not be in the public interest.

“What we all saw on the night of the rally was terrifying. But harassment and violence from police is the daily experience of First Nations people, people with addiction, the homeless, the poor and those with psychosocial disabilities,” Watch the Cops made clear.

“We would say long before the police response to the Herzog rally, that they should be abolished.”

Watching them policing us

The anti-Herzog protesters sought to march on NSW parliament on 9 February, after peacefully rallying beside Sydney Town Hall for an hour, and after about another hour of the crowd refusing to disperse but insisting that it be able to walk upon the CDB streets, the NSW Police Force unleashed upon the public, in a coordinated manner to kettle protesters in and beat them whilst trapped.

SCL bore witness to what happened. Regular constituents, who’d turned up to protest a head of state presiding over an industrial-scale genocide, were set upon with brute force. People were repeatedly punched, wrestled to the ground, pushed into fixed street furniture and liberally pepper sprayed in the face. And the shift from regular policing to “no-holds-barred” law enforcement was instant.

Those in the crowd were set upon by armed officers of the law, but these constituents weren’t permitted to use unbridled force in response, as that would have comprised of the criminal offence of assaulting a police officer. And these civilians also experienced a collective shock at suddenly having law enforcement treating them en masse as criminals warranting the excessive use of force.

“When we received the footage anonymously, we were not shocked. Police have said the same and worse in front of us. They enact vile racism and sexism daily,” Watch the Cops said, in respect of the display captured via the leaked body cam footage. “Honestly, we were more surprised that anyone else was shocked after we shared the footage. This is typical police behaviour.”

“At this point, misconduct is what we expect from NSW police – from all police really,” the spokesperson added. “It is how they are designed. We would never expect, or quite frankly accept, an apology from NSW police or Chris Minns. They would simply apologise and then recreate the scene the next time a war criminal comes to visit.”

Won’t be swept under the carpet

The campaign for some form of accountability and justice to be served in the wake of the mass police violence at the anti-Herzog protest further picked up this week, when Amnesty Australia threw in its support for an independent investigation on Thursday. This was sparked by the recent body cam footage, and it appears that the organisation considers the LECC inquiry won’t cut it.

Amnesty spokesperson Mohamed Duar outlined that “state sanctioned violence, police brutality and excessive use of force have no place in Australia”. And he added that “people should be able to express their rights to freedom of expression, opinion and peaceful assembly without fear of violence or intimidation from those responsible for upholding the law”.

Higginson described the police misconduct she witnessed as “obscene”. She’d never before witnessed law enforcement operating with such impunity. The Greens justice spokesperson added that she has no doubt that attempts to suppress protest on the part of the Minns government led to the violence. And she underscored that the footage reveals the attitude of NSW police on the night.

Watch the Cops too insists that the NSW police is a “drain on society”, and it calls for its abolition. The group notes that the agency paid out more than $4 million in compensation, due to dodgy policing, last financial year, and they’re receiving a $126 million investment this year. And it further suggested that these funds could be better spent in sectors like health and disability supports.

“As much as we are hoping the LECC investigation provides justice, we would also say that this moment should convince the left that government institutions cannot be trusted to keep us safe. they only respond to controversy after the fact,” the spokesperson further suggested this week.

“Our movement should not just rest on its laurels because there is a LECC investigation. We should be pushing against the police and all forms of war and genocide both on this continent and across the globe,” the Watch the Cops representative said in conclusion.

Main image features a screenshot of the viral video, and the Watch the Cops logo, which was supplied.

Watch the Cops is holding a rally outside Surry Hills police station at 3.30 pm on 13 September 2026, to call for police accountability on this matter and further to highlight the expansion of powers that allow for the scanning of constituent mobile phones under certain circumstances.