2 days ago
'Can't ignore the irony': Anti-lockdown protest organiser points out 'double standard' after Australian journalist shot by rubber bullets in US previously celebrated his jailing
Anti-lockdown figurehead Anthony Khallouf has accused Nine News US correspondent Lauren Tomasi of applying a "double standard'' on protest reporting after she previously celebrated his jailing during the Covid pandemic.
Ms Tomasi was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet on Monday while covering the immigration riots in Los Angeles, in an incident which has sparked concern at the highest levels for the Australian government.
During the incident a law enforcement officer appeared to line his weapon up and fire directly at Ms Tomasi while she was reporting.
The Australian journalist was seen grabbing her leg and yelling in pain before running away and telling her cameraman she was ok.
However, her reporting has now been critcised by Mr Khallouf after she previously described his jailing as a 'good result' and a "warning" to others who chose to protest the government's lockdown laws during the pandemic.
In a 2021 tweet that has now resurfaced Ms Tomasi wrote: 'This is a good result. And hopefully a warning to any other 'freedom rally' protesters who want to attend tomorrow".
The Nine journalist was responding to a breaking news report of Mr Khallouf being sentenced to a maximum of eight months in prison – with a non-parole period of three months – for his involvement in organising an anti-lockdown protest in Sydney, and for breaching public health orders by travelling to Sydney from Queensland.
Following the news of Ms Tomasi being struck in the LA riots, Mr Khallouf told the journalist applauded state force when it "suited her", and now she has been "hit by the same system she defended".
"There's a clear double standard in how protests are treated—ours were criminalised, others were celebrated," he said.
"I can't ignore the irony.
"She once said my sentence should be a warning, now the warning's come full circle."
Mr Khallouf also called out other journalists and how they reported on his jailing, and told anti-lockdown supporters they could be tracked down by police.
"The media acted like government enforcers during COVID—vilifying dissent and silencing debate," he said.
"They helped normalise authoritarianism, and people aren't forgetting that."
Australian anti-lockdown protests were met with extreme force during the Covid pandemic, including the use of rubber bullets.
