Community-Led Safety Is Needed, Not Racist Policing, Says Pride in Protest’s Harpreet Kaur

A Chinese woman was violently attacked by a group of seven non-Asian teenagers, aged between 11 and 16, on Gadigal land in the Sydney eastern suburb of Eastgardens within the grounds of her apartment block on 21 May 2025. And the woman’s Chinese husband and another woman passing by attempted to intervene.

The incident led locals to run an online petition calling on NSW politicians to enact tougher youth crime laws, which has since garnered over 40,000 signatures.

“This was not an isolated incident,” the petition reads. “In the days before the assault, several other Asian individuals were reportedly harassed by the same or similar teens in nearby Green Square — including acts of spitting, mocking and intimidation.” And it adds that many more Chinese victims had posted about similar experiences on social media platforms.

The Chinese Consulate General in Sydney released a statement warning Chinese residents and students to remain vigilant and reiterated that the recent attack in Eastgardens was not an isolated incident, while the ABC further reports an Asian food delivery rider was recently attacked in Waterloo, and another young Asian man was set upon at a bus stop in Kingsford.

However, NSW police has declined to confirm whether the Eastgardens attack was racially motivated.

Abolishing the police

On the recommendation of the NSW Advocate for Children and Young People Zoe Robinson, City of Sydney deputy mayor Zann Maxwell hosted the Green Square/Zetland Community Safety Forum at a hall in Alexandria on 10 June2025, which too featured Robinson, a representative of South Sydney Police Area Command and Chinese Australian Services Society spokesperson Tony Pang.

A contingent from Pride in Protest attended the community forum on the Tuesday night, as those from the LGBTIQA+ social justice advocacy group have long been active in the space dealing with discrimination against minority groups, whether that be racially-motivated hatred or violence or that triggered by homophobia or transphobia.

But being an abolitionist-minded organisation, PiP attendees were neither going to be keen on suggestions regarding toughening youth crime laws, and nor were they too pleased to hear from the representative of NSW police, as they consider law enforcement to be part of the problem, as members of the advocacy group are well-versed in being profiled and harassed by cops themselves.

Pride in Protest attendees were keen to raise the fact that not only have Asian people been targeted by violence, but Asian migrants sex workers are currently being profiled at the border and deported on attempting to enter the country, and they were further there to raise racist policing against First Nations people on Gadigal land, especially in light of recent deaths in custody in the NT.

“Cops do not keep us safe, community does”

On making their displeasure with the heavy police presence at the community safety event known, a number of Asian Pride in Protest members were forcibly removed from the hall by NSW police officers, which was an incident that then went viral, as PiP member Harpreet Kaur captured NSW police officers chasing her down on her phone’s camera, after she’d left the premises as ordered.

Sydney Criminal Lawyers spoke to Pride in Protest member Harpreet Kaur-Dhillon about why a strong police presence at the community safety forum was problematic, how minority groups targeted by police are keenly aware that safety lies with the community itself and not state law enforcement agents, and what happened to her as she was being chased down by NSW police officers.

On Tuesday, 10 June, the Green Square/Zetland Community Safety Forum took place at the Alexandria Park Community School Hall in regard to incidents of violence against the local Asian community.

During the meeting, some Pride in Protest attendees raised concerns about the number of NSW police officers in attendance. This led City of Sydney deputy mayor Zann Maxwell and his Labor staffers to order the law enforcement to forcibly remove a number of Asian attendees at the event.

Maxwell had supported the holding of this community safety forum after the NSW Advocate for Children and Young People raised the need for such a meeting.

So, Harpreet, you were in attendance at the forum regarding racist violence towards Asian people, and you were one of the attendees ejected from it. So, can you give us a bit more of a rundown on what happened on Tuesday night last week?

I attended the community safety forum in Alexandria expecting an honest conversation about violence against the Asian community.

Instead, it felt like a photo-op for the police to present themselves as protectors – when in reality, they’re often the perpetrators of violence against the community.

A police officer present at the event – a superintendent – shamefully claimed that the recent violent attacks against Asian migrants weren’t racist.

When he began speaking, we stood up and voiced our opposition. This included statements like:

“Shame. Police don’t belong here – your institution has a long history of racially targeting Asian migrants.”

“You bring harm to women, to queer folks, to First Nations people – you murdered two just last week.”

“Migrants are deported at the border. That’s not safety.”

But instead of listening, the police said we were causing fear. But the truth is – they cause fear every single day. They feared us because we were speaking the truth.

We refused to leave when asked and were then forcibly removed. I was grabbed by the arm and dragged out.

As I was walking away – having never been given a move-on order or asked for my details – I was grabbed from behind by my jacket.

I told the officer, “Don’t touch me. You don’t have the right.” Another officer approached holding a taser—until he noticed I was recording and then he, quietly put it away.

I was then dragged across the street by one cop, with three more surrounding me. Eventually, I gave my details and was told I could not re-enter the area.

A number of issues led the NSW children’s advocate to suggest a meeting on anti-Asian hate and racist actions fuelled by this, and the forum was to also touch upon youth crime issues, with the Sydney deputy mayor having agreed to the meeting, which he was hosting.

So, what has been going on to warrant such a forum?

The NSW children’s advocate called for this forum in response to rising anti-Asian hate and youth-targeted violence.

But holding such a forum with a heavy police presence is counterproductive. It’s well-documented that police target and racially profile Asian migrants.

We saw that in real time – when four of us were ejected for simply speaking the truth about that ongoing history.

Pride in Protest notes that due to further confrontations that occurred during the forum in response to anti-Asian hate, Sydney deputy mayor Maxwell has made clear that he’d agreed to stage the event with the NSW children’s advocate without the presence of NSW police, and that the event should be codesigned with the Asian Migrant Sex Worker Advisory Group (AMSWAG).

So, what is the issue with NSW police officers being in attendance at such a forum?

The issue is this: when police are invited to a “community safety” forum, it’s not really a safe space.

Their presence ensures surveillance and control, not dialogue or change. The moment we challenged them, we were physically removed. That’s not a forum. That’s a performance.

Police aren’t agents of safety – they’re the colonial arm of the state. While they claim to protect, they also kill Indigenous people in supermarkets, deport migrants and surveil communities of colour. That contradiction can’t be ignored.

In fact, a police spokesperson at the event even denied that recent attacks against Asian people were racially motivated. That’s erasure and revisionism – right in the middle of a forum about racial violence. It proves they shouldn’t be there.

NSW police superintendent Garner said, “Police can’t create all the safe spaces.” We say, then don’t try, step back and let the community lead.

Many members of our community don’t feel safe attending events with a heavy police presence – particularly migrants, sex workers, queer and trans people, and those with precarious visa status.

So, the forum, while claiming to represent the community, actually excluded large sections of it by default. A space built around safety must begin by listening to the people most impacted by state violence.

While the deputy mayor later claimed he hadn’t wanted them there, their default inclusion shows how deeply embedded police are in every so-called “solution.” That has to change.

News of the forum resulting in police forcibly removing some Asian attendees went viral after you posted footage on social media, which saw you being pursued by some police officers, as you were exiting the vicinity of the forum that you’d just been ejected from.

The footage of your being hunted down by officers, also saw you pointing out that police had taken several other Asian attendees into custody.

Further, the video clip was quite impressive for the fact of the way that you handled the cops as they were trying to take hold of you.

So, what happened after some attendees were thrown out of the forum? Why were the police chasing you down and attempting to take you into custody? And once they had you surrounded, what happened next?

After we were dragged out, we peacefully left the venue. I wasn’t resisting. But while leaving, I was grabbed again – unprovoked and without warning – even though I’d already complied.

A cop reached for me, and another held a taser. When he saw I was recording, he backed off.

Still, they surrounded me, grabbed my arm and forcibly removed me from the area. They were trying to intimidate me – to silence dissent.

What people saw on social media wasn’t just a confrontation – it was a clear example of how police respond to dissent with aggression, particularly when that dissent comes from migrant, queer and BIPOC voices.

Lastly, Harpreet, calling out NSW police for overpolicing a community safety forum regarding anti-Asian hate suggests that law enforcement is part of the problem.

Pride in Protest wants to press ahead in dealing with the matters regarding anti-Asian violence were supposed to be addressed during the forum, and it’s calling on the assistance of City of Sydney councillors to do this.

So, what does Pride in Protest want the Sydney council to do in regard to this? And further what sort of solutions are you hoping to facilitate, via these discussions in the longer-term?

First and foremost, we want the City of Sydney Council to commit to holding future forums and safety discussions without police present.

That includes ensuring events are codesigned by grassroots migrant groups, like AMSWAG – so they’re not just consulted after the fact but lead the conversation from the start.

In the long term, Pride in Protest is pushing for police abolition, starting with the removal of police from spaces that claim to be about safety or healing.

We want investment in community-led solutions like housing, mental health services, harm reduction and peer-based safety networks.

PiP wants recognition that safety doesn’t come from surveillance or punishment, but from care, resources and collective accountability.

And we want the elevating of the voices of migrant, sex worker, queer, and First Nations communities, who already know what real safety requires.

We need to stop giving police the power to shape what safety looks like. That power should be in the hands of communities who have survived in spite of – not because of – policing.