A Victorian police officer who said “don’t fuck with us any more” after he deployed capsicum spray at climate protesters has acknowledged he made “unprofessional” comments in a “hot debrief” with colleagues.
The first class action against Victoria police in relation to alleged excessive use of oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray began in the state’s supreme court last week.
On Wednesday, Sgt Nicholas Bolzonello gave evidence in the trial and was questioned about comments he made minutes after spraying protesters, captured in body-worn camera footage.
Bolzonello told the court “tensions were high” and that he and his colleagues had just emerged from a “hostile environment”.
The court was played footage where Bolzonello was heard saying to colleagues “don’t fuck with us any more” and “we’ve had enough of this shit”. He described the comments as part of a “hot debrief”.
Stella Gold, the barrister representing the lead plaintiff, suggested to Bolzonello that the comments showed disregard for the protesters he had just sprayed and were an expression of his frustration towards the activists. Bolzonello rejected both assertions.
Pressed about the comments, he said: “Take the uniform off and you’re just having a chat with your friends.”
He apologised that “the court had to hear that” and said he took “full responsibility” for the comments.
Earlier, Bolzonello told the court he deployed OC spray because he and colleagues were in a “stalemate” with protesters and were unable to move through the crowd to arrest a protester who was climbing a pole.
But Gold said nothing in Victoria police’s OC manual described OC spray as a crowd dispersal tool.
Bolzonello said it was “unrealistic” to go into the crowd and provide aftercare – as outlined in the internal police manual – and that there were medical staff in the protester crowd.
He told the court if an opportunity had arisen to give aftercare he would have, in accordance with his training.
The class action is being led by the protester Jordan Brown, who was hit with OC spray while protesting outside an international mining and resources conference in October 2019.
Police and protesters clashed outside the conference on 30 October, with officers using OC spray as they attempted to arrest two activists who scaled the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, the court heard previously.
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Fiona Forsyth KC, representing Brown, last week argued the use of OC spray was “entirely unjustified” and “unlawful”, and had left the lead plaintiff with physical and psychological injuries.
Forsyth told the court that Brown was unarmed when he was sprayed twice by two police officers on 30 October 2019. Brown was attempting to run away when he was sprayed by the second officer, the court heard.
She said the “intense pain, burning sensation and bodily reaction” was the intended result of OC spray.
Forsyth said it appeared police used OC spray as a means to disperse protesters and there was no justification for it.
Brown was under a pole that had been scaled by a protester when police entered the crowd, the court heard.
Sam Hay KC, counsel for the state, last week said Brown was part of a group of protesters who piled into the area outside the centre, locked arms and stayed there.
He argued the protesters “knew what police were doing” and attempted to resist attempts to apprehend the climber. He used the example of another activist – who scaled a second pole and ran away from the event along the Yarra River – as evidence the protesters knew police would seek to make arrests at the time.
Brown’s legal team have argued the spraying was in breach of Victoria police’s internal policies and procedures, Victoria’s Crimes Act and the state’s charter of human rights.
The trial before Justice Claire Harris continues.
