Hannah Thomas Plans to Sue Police, Now That All Criminal Charges Have Been Withdrawn

The New South Wales Police Force has dropped the charges it laid against lawyer Hannah Thomas. So, the remaining scenario is, as her lawyers maintain, that Thomas was allegedly punched in the face by a police officer, whom she, as a legal observer at an antigenocide protest, was querying about the legitimacy of move-on order he’d issued. Thomas now plans to sue the NSW Police Force for malicious prosecution and also potentially sue police for assault over the brutality inflicted upon her and the baseless criminal charges that followed.

The former Greens candidate for Grayndler at the 2025 federal election, Thomas appeared at Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday, 9 September 2025, at which point the prosecution revealed it would be dropping the charges against the 35-year-old, following mid-July revelations from her lawyer, regarding footage from the 27 June incident, clearly showing a cop punching his client.

Thomas was arrested alongside four protesters early morning at a rally in front of the SEC Plating premises on Bidjigal land in the Sydney suburb of Belmore in late June, as she queried the authority of NSW police in having issued a move-on order. Several protesters vocally did the same. A scuffle between police and protesters ensued, and at some point, an officer forcefully assaulted Hannah.

Protesters, including the group Weapons Out of the West, were demonstrating outside of the local SEC Plating premises, as activists charge the Australian company with exporting plating that is part of the Lockheed Martin global supply chain to make F-35 fighter jets that are being used in the commission of genocide against the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.

Following the assault, NSW police officers charged Thomas with three criminal offences that suggest she had caused the issue. Indeed, charging a civilian with crimes after a police assault against them is the common practice of NSW police. And as it’s a rare occurrence for law enforcement to make such an about-face in respect of an incident, Thomas’ forthcoming civil proceedings will likely be fruitful.

Framed as assailant

“No cops have been held to account for their behaviour that day. The punch I sustained was just one example of police brutality that morning. The actions of every cop at that protest should be reviewed,” Thomas told reporters out the front of the courts in Bankstown on Tuesday.

“It took the police two days to charge me, but 73 days later the male police officer who punched me in the head with enough force to rip open my right eyeball has not been charged,” the member of the Australian Greens continued.

After an officer allegedly punched Thomas, police then laid two charges against her: resisting police and fail to comply with a direction given in accordance with this section. The latter charge is a rare “large-scale public disorder” offence, and when questions were raised about the application of this charge, it was changed to the regular offence of refuse to comply with a move-on order.

So, following the alleged punching of a legal observer, whom questioned whether the law was being misapplied, NSW police charged her in a false manner, which is an outcome that would be hard to produce accidentally, and after it declared the incident critical on 30 June, state police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (the LECC), has been oversighting the case.

NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson noted in a 9 September press release that the officer who took a swing at a legal observer remains out on the beat policing the public. And Thomas also made certain on Tuesday that the protest itself had been necessitated as weapons companies in suburban Australia continue to supply Israel with parts of lethal weapons used to murder Palestinians.

Emboldened with impunity

Multiple video clips of the 27 June 2025 SEC Plating demonstration show NSW police officers in a scuffle with protesters, which resulted in one demonstrator being tossed across the footpath, whilst another officer was seen pushing a woman up against a fence, and the person filming is heard to call out, “Oh my god, he’s grabbing her by the neck.”

Watching multiple pieces of footage reveals that a number of demonstrators had cried foul on the issuing of a move-on order, yet Thomas was the only participant who potentially lost an eye as a result. And the 35-year-old human rights advocate has since had two eye surgeries, and after a third upcoming operation, she’ll know how much sight she continues to have in her right eye.

“Thomas was arrested in Belmore simply for attending a peaceful community rally against genocide,” Higginson recalled. “She was treated brutally by police, sustained serious injury and was charged under antiprotest laws that were never meant to be used against people standing for justice and human rights. The withdrawal of these charges is very welcomed.”

The NSW Greens justice spokesperson deemed the reaction of NSW police officers at the protest as an exercise in “escalation, intolerance, unlawful exercise of force and powers and it was laced with impunity”. Higginson added that there is no doubt that this “emboldened excessive police attitude” has been fuelled by the ongoing demonisation of protesters by the NSW Labor government.

Protesters have increasingly become a police target, ever since the Coalition enacted the NSW antiprotest regime in April 2022, which provides that agitators participating in unauthorised actions that serve to obstruct major roads, bridges or tunnels in Greater Sydney, Wollongong or Newcastle, along with a list of major facilities, now face up to 2 years prison and/or a fine of $22,000.

The Minns Labor government has been building upon this. In February this year, state parliament enacted a new move-on power for NSW police, which provides that officers can direct people near a place of worship to leave. Apparently, the police issued the move-on order at the protest due to a nearby mosque. And this overly prohibitive law is now the subject of a Supreme Court challenge.

Higginson added that she considers this legislating act a “dangerous move”, as, “laws like these are unconstitutional and will result in police overstepping the line”, and, as for the court challenge, she added that the outcome will be delivered soon.

A plethora of injustices remain

Despite NSW police assistant commissioner Brett McFadden having announced early on after the incident that he’d watched the body-worn video and there was nothing to suggest any officer misconduct, Thomas’ lawyer outlined in mid-July that after he’d watched the footage, and it was clear to him that an officer had punched his client in the face.

Thomas told reporters out front of Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday that, while it’s a relief that her charges have been dropped, there were a number of other reasons why justice is yet to be served in regard to the SEC Plating protest, which include that at that time, four protesters remained illegitimately charged over a demonstration in which police became violent.

“The draconian antiprotest laws, which Chris Minns rushed through based on a hoax and false data remain intact,” said Thomas, as to further remaining injustices. “In fact, the premier has not ruled out further restrictions on our right to protest following the historic Harbour Bridge march.”

“Most importantly, weapons are still being made in suburbs across this country. Weapons that have been used to kill kids in Gaza every single day for more than 700 days,” the human rights advocate said in ending. “As long as the Albanese government maintains the two way arms trade, them and companies like SEC Plating, Bisalloy and EOS Systems, will continue to be the target of protesters.”

Main image is a screenshot taken from footage Hannah Thomas posted online