Counterterror Police Are Increasingly Dawn Raiding Pro-Palestinian Activists

Victoria police have conducted a third raiding episode that appears to be related to nonviolent protest, as other recent police raids have been. Except this time, Alex, a well-known activist, had her home raided by about eight officers from VicPol’s Security Investigation Unit (SIU), whilst she was in the toilet, and the cops bashed open the door and grabbed her phone right out of her hand.

Alex had also been arrested at a recent rally against the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, and was hospitalised as a result, and she often attends trans rights actions. This recent raid of her home involved police entering the premises with a warrant that focused on seizing electronic devices capable of accessing Instagram, as well as any recording devices or notes corroborating offending.

The SIU are Victoria police officers that specialise in counterterrorism, and the other two recent episodes targeting pro-Palestinian activists in Naarm-Melbourne have involved terrorism-related officers conducting raids over disruptive but nonviolent protests. And this most recent third round, which involved only one warrant being executed, has left Alex with a lot of unanswered questions.

The raid upon Alex’s home occurred at around 7.30 am on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, and it involved officers busting open her bathroom door to leave a hole in the wall, but it wasn’t about arresting her, as the cops were only interested in seizing her devices. But there were some serious charges that appeared on the warrant, which were said to justifying the intrusion and the seizure of devices.

And all three sets of raids by Victoria police counterterrorism officers that have targeted antigenocide and antiwar protesters do have an air about them, especially amongst the broader political climate of the moment, of an emerging attempt to frame pro-Palestinian activism as some sort of national security threat.

Casting political dissent as terrorism

“The door was slammed open, and my phone was confiscated out of my hand, which was quite violating, while I was sitting there half naked,” Alex told Sydney Criminal Lawyers. “The SIU is a counterterrorism unit. One of their specialities is disruption. They want to disrupt people perceived as political enemies of the state. They’re also involved in preemptive policing and surveillance.”

“SIU seems to be conducting more preventive policing recently. They were involved in the heavy policing of the Miznon protest a year ago. One of those protesters was imprisoned,” the activist continued. “But what was new about this raid is that last September, they enhanced hate crime laws, with all these protected attributes, and some of these criminal offences were on the warrant.”

Three offences were on the warrant executed at Alex’s house. These included two hate crimes: incitement on ground of protected attribute, under section 195N of the Crimes Act 1958 (VIC) and threaten physical harm or property damage on ground of protected attribute, contrary to section 195O of the Act. And the third was incitement to commit offence under section 321G of the Act.

Alex had the SUI unit enter her premises via a backdoor that was unlocked, and then storm into the bathroom, apparently, due to the urgency of seizing her phone. Then they searched her house and confiscated other electronic devices. But they did not inform her of what any of it was in relation to.

“The only thing I know is that the first part of the warrant says, ‘any phone, computer or device capable of accessing Instagram’. I don’t know what this is about. There was a direction given to me to hand over my passcodes, but I did not comment. So, they said they would charge me, but I haven’t been,” Alex continued.

“So, tactically, they’re not putting to me what this is about and they haven’t charged me.”

Nonviolent protest is the new terrorism

This is the third raid that Victorian terror police have carried out in recent months in circumstances that don’t quite add up. The first involved the Zelda8, a group of women protesting next to the iconic statute of Zelda D’Apron at Victorian Trades Hall. These women draped the statue in an apron, wore “Difficult Woman” t-shirts, and it was alluding to attacks on Grace Tame’s pro-Palestinian stance.

Eight women were raided. Seven raids were conducted early morning on 27 March 2026, which was three weeks after the humorous rally. These raids all occurred at the same time. The women were handcuffed, whilst officers searched their houses for devices, clothing and red liquid chalk pens. And as for the eighth, she was raided at a later date, as the cops initially went to the wrong address.

Further counterterrorism raids took place three weeks later. These involved a group of activists, dressed as satirical characters – Gina Minehard, Moregun Chase and Peta Philewrangler – turning up at the US consulate on 26 March 2026, bearing gifts of blood and oil for Donald Trump. But as the US president was not there, they poured the liquids on the floor at the office entrance to greet him.

These four activists were then raided at 7 am on 17 April. These operations were again significant as officers specialising in terrorism raided these antiwar/pro-Palestinian activists, who’d undertaken a bit of guerilla theatre, and at least one of these raids, officers were using a sniffer dog trained to specifically locate tech, and the canine was extremely precise in ferreting out all electronic devices.

So, now with this third raid, there appears to be a pattern forming. And it doesn’t seem to be just down south either, as New South Wales police has executed at least 17 warrants against civilians who took part in the 9 February rally against president Herzog, and at least one of these raids involved officers dressed in riot gear using a battering ram to enter a woman’s home while she was sleeping.

Adapt and continue to resist

In terms of her case, Alex explained that whilst she has no idea what may have been posted on Instagram that spurred such charges as cited on the warrant, she outlined that in the current political climate it does appear that pro-Palestinian supporters and their mobilisations are increasingly being falsely framed as amounting to antisemitism or prejudice against Jewish people.

The anti-Herzog protest that occurred on Gadigal land in Sydney in early February saw NSW police unleash brute force upon the pro-Palestinian crowd, seeking to march from Sydney Town Hall to NSW parliament in defiance of a protest ban that had been imposed on the Sydney CBD. Yet, this law was then struck down by the NSW Supreme Court as unconstitutional two months later.

Alex further explained that there was an anti-Herzog rally in Naarm-Melbourne, and on that occasion, she’d been arrested under suspect circumstances, as VicPol officers told her she’d been detained over ‘association with criminal damage’, which isn’t a real crime. And she considers this occurred as she’d been in the vicinity of an Israeli flag burning, and officers were after her details.

As for why the police are conducting these early morning raids in relation to nonviolent protests, Alex considers its about creating fear, in an attempt to crush dissent, and in particular, pro-Palestinian protest and support. Alex further explained that “projection of force and violence” is a basic law enforcement function, which aims to see the wider community succumbing to its will.

“When police are going harder in some areas, such as these new hate crime laws they’re applying here, activists have to adapt,” Alex said, in respect of the way forward in the current climate. “If we want to create political change, then we need to adapt to these changing circumstances. So, it’s just about adapting to the heightened repressive environment – it’s about adaptation and learning.”

“And even if the police are becoming more violent, that just exposes a core contradiction in the system,” she said in conclusion. “This violence is experienced by First Nations people and unhoused people every day. So, the more the violence of the system is exposed, this opens up more resistance as well, because people organically resist the system all the time.”