Breach of the Peace

Sunday, 11 Oct 2026 – 3 years of Genocide and Resistance National Day of Action. Queens Gardens, Magan-djiin (Brisbane), Queensland, Australia.

Editors Note
All the incidents described below occurred with the blanket approval of the Police Commissioner, despite the rally being protected under the Peaceful Assembly Act 1992. The organisers had submitted a notice of intention to hold the assembly and complied with all the requirements of the Act.

Justice for Palestine consistently informs participants in advance about the likelihood of police intervention and whether it is safe to bring children, older people and others who may be particularly vulnerable to police action.

On this occasion, however, the police appeared to have other intentions. They brought large horses to intimidate participants and conducted themselves in the manner documented below, further intimidating the crowd.

My argument is that people assaulted by police could not lawfully have been treated as committing a breach of the peace in circumstances protected by the Peaceful Assembly Act. I make this argument for two reasons.

First, speaking words of protest or acting as a legal observer does not, in itself, constitute a breach of the peace. Second, the Act provides immunity in relation to certain offences connected with participation in a protected assembly. Importantly, the protections afforded by the Act also bear directly on the police power to issue lawful directions.

The mounted police were not there to facilitate crowd control. That is a lie. Their presence, and the manner in which they were deployed, served to intimidate those participating in the rally.

Justice for Palestine provides marshals to help participants take part safely in the march and to prevent provocateurs from entering the assembly.

The photographic record below documents what happened. We thank Tanya Love Creative for their work in documenting these events. Ian Curr, 18 October 2026

Incident 1 (of 2)- “Breach of the peace” arrest of young person

In the interests of journalistic integrity, I will refrain from posting commentary or personal opinion with this set of images, except to state relevant information. I am sharing this series of images to inform and educate.

Given the limitations of the situation at the time, this set is (obviously) not my best work. Captured in quick succession, in an awkward position that limited my ability to reframe or adjust camera settings, there are focus errors, and important details are obscured by surrounding people.

Within this post are two complete sequences of images as follows:

1. Sequence 1 (images  2-5) was captured between 4:37:38pm and 4:37:49pm (so all within 10 seconds).

2. Sequence 2 (images 6-16) was captured 17 minutes after Sequence 1, between 4:54:39pm and 4:54:52pm (so all within 13 seconds).

3. I have included B&W versions of 4 key images because removing colour can sometimes assist in noticing details that colour can distract from.

4. All colour images are straight out of camera, with no editing except to adjust exposure and colour balance.

5. Every image (except for the first BW, which I have included to draw attention) is posted in the sequential order they were captured.  Every frame captured within the times listed above has been included.

6. Whilst shooting Sequence 2, I was forcefully shoved with two hands to my shoulders by a “Constable Harry Wacker”, who yelled at me to “Get the fuck back!” and caused me to stumble backwards. When I regained my footing, he spread both arms out in front of me, blocking me from following the detainee.

. In my peripheral vision, I noticed a police officer doing something similar to a legal observer who also fell, and her fall is recorded in image 14. If you zoom in, although obstructed by the police officer in the foreground to the right of the frame, you can see parts of her red clothing and leg as she stumbled. I can’t say that I recall the exact circumstances because I was focused on shooting; however, I do know that she was prevented from performing duties as a legal observer.

8. In the next and final frame (images 15/16), you can see her attempting to pursue and record the detainee whilst being prevented from doing so by a police officer, who is pointing with his right hand, commanding her to turn back.
9. Although my visual observation was restricted to whatever was visible within my viewfinder, and short moments whilst I moved my face to reframe, I also heard:

• a loud “bang” as the detainee’s head was pushed against the fence
• a police officer yell “You were warned earlier!”, “Stop resisting!” and “This is what happens when you try to obstruct!” directed at the detainee.

10. At no time did I witness the detainee acting aggressively towards or antagonising the police officers as they restrained and removed him from the scene.
11. There was one other photographer on scene at the time. He was positioned to my left. He showed me the images he captured, but like me, his efforts were mostly obscured by the surrounding police officers.

…I think that about covers all of the facts as I observed them. I will leave it up to you guys to form your own interpretation of them.