The mother of an Aboriginal man ‘manhandled’ by NSW police on the South Coast said she was ‘traumatised’ by the incident.
Video footage shows 20-year-old Ethan Dowell-Grant approached by police in the town of Batemans Bay while walking along Golf Links Drive with his friends on 12 November.
Officers arrived and both the parties had words, with police alleging they attempted to handcuff Mr Dowell-Grant after he failed to produce identification.
Mr Dowell-Grant was then physically taken to the ground by one of the officers who pinned him in place with a knee on his back. He can be heard in the vision screaming out “he just kneed me in the f***ing ribs”!
As the incident was unfolding, Ethan’s mother Debbie arrived on the scene.
“I pull up and I'm seeing an officer, a good solid man, on top of my son with his knee into his back,” Ms Grant told NITV News.
“It was extremely frightening and scary.”
Mr Dowell-Grant was taken to Batemans Bay Police Station and charged with using offensive language, resisting and assaulting an officer on duty.
Police allege Mr Dowell-Grant kicked an officer during the altercation.
Debbie Grant said her son was taken for medical treatment the following day.
“He appears to be okay… in my experience, sometimes these things have a delayed reaction,” she said.
“He had some lash lacerations on him, his neck and back aching quite badly... and a bit of tingling in his fingers as well.”
Ms Grant is working to get her son’s charges dropped before he’s due to appear in court on December 6.
NSW/ACT Aboriginal Legal Service lawyer James Clifford said Mr Grant’s charges of offensive language, resist and assault, commonly known as “the trifecta”, have been an ongoing issue in the policing of Aboriginal people across the NSW.
“It's a common trend we've seen for many years, going all the way back to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody,” he told NITV News.
“There have been recommendations around offensive language provisions and the way that they're used to police, arrest and incarcerate Aboriginal people.”
A parliamentary inquiry into the Trifecta phenomenon recommended the laws be appealed, but was rejected by the state government this year.
Debbie Grant says the family has been feeling on edge since the incident.
“My anxiety levels have gone to a really extreme level that if my son's out walking around, this is going to happen again. His father is also feeling the same way,” she said.
“All this for offensive language.”
