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by flatline-84 1785 days ago
NSW also employed the Fixated Persons Unit (a terrorist task force) to arrest a journalist who was critical of John "Pork" Barilaro. So far, there's been no word from the "Law Enforcement Conduct Commission" on whether the arrest was lawful (hint: it wasn't) and nobody has been punished for it (yet - there is the defamation case on-going but the terrorist task force isn't involved in it)
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> NSW also employed the Fixated Persons Unit (a terrorist task force) to arrest a journalist who was critical of John "Pork" Barilaro

A guy who worked for a YouTube comedian as a producer, and who allegedly was following a politician to public events and harassing him there, was arrested and charged with stalking. The "Fixated Persons Unit" has a broader mandate than purely terrorism offences, its mandate also extends to stalking and harassment of a "public office holder or internationally protected person, or other person/s nominated by the commissioner of police"

> So far, there's been no word from the "Law Enforcement Conduct Commission" on whether the arrest was lawful (hint: it wasn't)

LECC is unlikely to investigate an arrest while there is a pending criminal prosecution. For them to do so might be seen as interfering with the Court process.

I don't know if the arrest was legal or not. But the police unit which carried out the arrest is irrelevant to the question of its legality.

For those interested, they captured footage of the arrest itself.

This is obviously only one side, but here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXtq4a8829g