Dramatic footage of a female protestor being arrested and pulled away from her screaming son has gone viral on social media.
As reported by news.com.au, Renee Altakrity was part of a group of around 40 people protesting the coronavirus lockdown near Parliament of New South Wales in Sydney's CBD at around 3:50 pm on Saturday.
She was part of the Exercising My Rights group, and could be seen wearing a yellow sign that read: "If you don't know your rights, you don't have any. Magna Carta."
However, as she was issued with an infringement notice for failing to comply with direction relating to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, officers then placed her under arrest.
Altakrity can then be seen being dragged into a police van by several officers, as her young son clung to her body.
The first video can be seen below:Footage of the disturbing arrest was uploaded to Facebook by Rena Iliades, who captioned the videos: "Urgent!!! Please share this. I can't believe what I just saw and how some police are behaving in NSW.
"The arrest and the manner in which it was conducted is a disgrace and created more harm than whatever the original 'crime' was. This is an outright abuse of position and the trauma to the child in utterly unforgivable."
She concluded the caption writing: "We cannot let this behaviour go under the radar."
The second video can be seen below:Since being uploaded to Facebook 21 hours ago (at the time of this writing), the videos have been shared over 3,500 times.
Ms Altakrity has also shared the video to her Facebook page, writing alongside it: "Unlawful, inhumane - shame on you all! I held my i integrity even when your ripped my son from my arms."
The mother was later issued with a $1000 fine for breaching the strict COVID-19 lockdown rules.
After being criticized for taking her four-year-old son to the protest, Altakrity told the Daily Mail: "My son wanted to come with me.
"My children are very opinionated, they probably get that from me, but he had every right to be there."
Per news.com.au, a statement issued by NSW police in relation to the woman’s arrest read:
"About 2pm yesterday (Saturday 9 May 2020), officers from Sydney City Police Area Command attended Macquarie Street and monitored a group of people who were conducting an unauthorised protest.
"By 3pm, the group had grown to about 40 people and were not exercising adequate social distancing, so officer soon began speaking with members of the group explaining they were not authorised to protest and were also not complying with current Ministerial Directions under the Public Health Act, with many being issued warnings and move-on directions.
"About 3.50pm, police again spoke with a woman, in company of a child, who told officers she was ‘exercising’.
"After she refused to give officers her details and would not comply with their direction to move on, police arrested the woman; however, she resisted, and a struggle ensued.
"During the struggle, the 36-year-old woman picked up her young son and continued to argue and resist police.
"The child was removed from the woman’s hold and she was taken to Surry Hills Police Station, where her identity was established, and she was issued an infringement notice for fail to comply with noticed direction in relation to COVID-19.
"The child was placed in the care of a relative and the Department of Family and Community Services were notified."