Police are “actively” searching for a man who was seen at an anti-immigration rally in Adelaide holding a sign depicting alleged killer and wanted man Dezi Freeman.
SA Police Acting Commissioner Linda Williams strongly condemned the placard, describing it as “offensive”, “disgraceful” and “outrageous”.Â
She said police believed they had identified the man in question and were still attempting to locate him. They are now investigating whether the placard breached the law.
“I think that that would have disturbed any right-minded person, including our members who saw the sign yesterday,” Acting Commissioner Williams said.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has urged the man who was carrying the sign to follow police requests to turn himself in, and Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines also condemned the placard.
“People will make their assessments but clearly this is the sort of behaviour that we see from those who attended the rallies yesterday,” he said.
“It’s despicable and disgusting and it’s very hard to find the words for it really.”
About 15,000 attended the rally and counter-rally in in Adelaide’s CBD on Sunday.
The “March for Australia” concluded in Adelaide’s parklands when a man who identified himself as a member of the National Socialist Network took to the stage and a scuffle ensued.
An estimated 15,000 attended the rally and counter-rally. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
Three people were arrested — one of them for allegedly assaulting police, and two for allegedly “wearing articles of disguise” and failing to state personal details — but police said the event was mostly peaceful.
But SA Police is now searching for the man who was carrying the placard which was captioned with the words “Free Man” and emblazoned with the face of Dezi Freeman, who allegedly shot dead police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart in regional Victoria last week.
Acting Commissioner Williams said police believe they know who was holding the sign, and said “if he’s watching this right now come forward, present yourself at a police station, let’s have a conversation with you about what occurred and wrap this up”.
“We do believe that we have identified him and we have been trying to locate him this morning,” she said.
“No doubt in my mind that every reasonable person who saw that image would be absolutely disgusted by what they saw.
“[Dezi Freeman] is wanted by Victoria Police for the shooting of two police officers.
“Families would no doubt have seen this image and would be likely distraught by what they have seen.”
She earlier told ABC Radio Adelaide the sign was highly offensive.Â
“To hold the sign like that, in a way that may be seen by some to be glorifying him, is absolutely outrageous,” Acting Commissioner Williams told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“On the face of it, it’s offensive, it’s disgraceful, it’s outrageous and it shouldn’t be tolerated, and it needs to be called out.”
The rally came to an end following a scuffle. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
The man with the sign was clearly visible at the rally’s starting point in Rundle Park and was captured on camera during the march.
“We became aware of the man holding the sign via CCTV in the CBD,” Acting Commissioner Williams said.
“Police were deployed into the crowd into the hope of finding him. He had disappeared by the time police arrived on the scene.”
SA Police appealed to the public for help, urging anyone with “any knowledge of him” to contact Crime Stoppers.
Asked whether there was anything illegal about his action, Acting Commissioner Williams said police were “certainly investigating it from that perspective”.
“We think that it might fit within the category of offensive behaviour at its very least,” she said.
“We are actively looking for the man so that we can interview him in regards to that.
“We’re confident from the image that we have that we will be able to identify him and, in fact, I would urge him to hand himself in to a police station so that we can speak to him.”
Three people were arrested but police said the crowd was generally peaceful. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
The South Australian Premier echoed that sentiment and said the man “should turn himself in”.
“You’ve got to ask yourself the question what sort of protest is this if there are National Socialists, that is Nazis, present?” he said.
“National Socialism, the celebration of cop killers, is not who we are as a state and it needs to be rejected and it needs to be done firmly.
“We’re better than that, and I think it’s important that we’re firm in our resolve.”