The Queensland Police Service is investigating a video appearing to show an officer hitting an man from behind at a refugee rights rally at Brisbane’s Kangaroo Point Central Hotel.
Video uploaded to social media by Refugee Solidarity Meanjin on Sunday night shows the man - reportedly in his 50s - standing alone next to a fence before an officer runs up and strikes him in the head.
The man then falls to the ground and protesters nearby start accosting the officer.
A police spokesperson told SBS News on Monday they were looking into the incident.
“Police are aware of the video and the interaction is currently being reviewed,” they said.
The Refugee Solidarity Meanjin group said the man was taken away in an ambulance.
Refugee rights protesters have this year repeatedly demonstrated outside the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel, where more than 100 asylum seekers are being detained.
Muslim detainees at the hotel earlier this year filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission .
The Refugee Action Coalition on Sunday said a Somali refugee detained at the hotel had attempted suicide the day before.
“Kangaroo Point has become nationally known for the daily refugee protests on the balcony of the hotel, but many in the hotel-prison are too traumatised to even come out of their rooms. All of them urgently need to be released,” RAC spokesperson Ian Rintoul said.
“The government’s ‘factories of mental illness’ are relentlessly crushing the minds and bodies of people they should be protecting. It needs to stop.”
The Department of Home Affairs has been contacted for comment.
Data obtained by SBS News earlier this year revealed self-harm incidents inside several Australian detention facilities than the yearly average between 2016 and 2019.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). More information is available at and . supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
