
Brooke Boney has spoken about her fear during an incident where her grandfather was taken away by police at a football game.
Today show entertainment reporter and Gamilaroi/Gomeroi woman Boney, and Nine News sports reporter and Kamilaroi man Jake Duke, appeared on the Today show to discuss the footage of a NSW police officer kicking the feet out from under an Indigenous teenager during an arrest on Monday.
It comes as Australians rally against racial injustice and police brutality, following week-long protests and riots across the United States in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer held a knee to his neck while Floyd called out for breath.
Brooke Boney recalls her fear during an experience with police on the Today show. Post continue below video.
Video of the Sydney teen’s arrest shows the teen telling a police officer; “I’ll crack you in the f***ing jaw bro” before he is thrown to the ground.
The officer can be seen kicking his feet out from under him, with the teenager falling face first onto the ground, where he is knelt on and handcuffed.
A bystander can be heard yelling, “You just slammed him on his face. He’s in pain”.
NSW Police are investigating the incident.
Boney said watching the footage made her “feel sick”.
“It made me feel absolutely awful. I grew up in Housing Commission so I have seen it all my life. I think Will Smith put it excellently the other day, that racism isn’t getting worse, now it is just getting filmed. What we’re seeing there is the lived experience of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There wouldn’t be an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person who hasn’t been affected in some way or another by this sort of violence, deaths in custody and been deeply affected by the pictures coming out of the US.”
Listen: Mia Freedman interviews Brooke Boney on No Filter. Post continues after audio.
Boney, whose cousin is a police officer, recalled her own experiences with the authorities, who she said “do an incredible job in some communities”, but “there are other communities where they can do a much better job”.
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