Hannah Thomas, who challenged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the federal seat of Grayndler<\/a> at the May election, was among protesters outside a manufacturing facility in Sydney’s south-west on Friday morning.<\/p>\n The protesters allege SEC Plating supplies components used in the manufacture of F-35 jets, the class of jets flown by the Israel Defense Forces \u2014 an allegation the company has denied.<\/p>\n NSW Police said officers attempted to move the group of protesters on, claiming that the action was unauthorised.<\/p>\n Videos showed a woman being dragged away from a group of protesters before falling to the ground with a police officer.<\/p>\n Police can be heard saying “Get up now,” with the woman replying “I’m trying.”<\/p>\n Ms Thomas, who took this flipped image using her phone’s front-facing camera, could lose her eye, her lawyer says. (Supplied)<\/p>\n Ms Thomas, 35, remains in hospital with significant facial injuries<\/a>, and her lawyer, Peter O’Brien, has warned she could lose her eye after the incident.<\/p>\n “My understanding is that the injury to her eye is very serious and there is a real chance, regrettably and gravely, that she is going to lose an eye,” Mr O’Brien said on Saturday.<\/p>\n Ms Thomas posted a video to Instagram on Sunday night, thanking people for their support.<\/p>\n “I don’t want to get into too much detail about the traumatic events on Friday, but I’m 5’1″, I weigh about 45 kilos,” Ms Thomas said.<\/p>\n “I was engaged in peaceful protests, and my interactions with NSW Police have left me potentially without vision in my right eye permanently.”<\/p>\n Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n She described recently introduced anti-protest laws as “draconian” and said the government was warned the laws would “lead to this outcome”.<\/p>\n However, she said what she was going through was “obviously nothing compared to what people in Gaza are going through because of Israel”.<\/p>\n “That’s why we protested on Friday, and that’s why we’ll keep protesting,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n she said.<\/p>\n Ms Thomas has been issued a Future Court Attendance Notice for allegedly hindering or resisting a police officer and refusing to comply with a direction to disperse.<\/p>\n She’s scheduled to appear at Bankstown Local Court on August 12.<\/p>\n Greens call for investigation<\/p>\n Federal and NSW Greens members are calling for accountability over the incident, including NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson, who called for it to be declared a critical incident.<\/p>\n A critical incident would require police to investigate an incident involving a NSW police officer that has resulted in the death or serious injury of a person.<\/p>\n NSW Police said it is not formally investigating the matter as a critical incident, and that if an incident is declared, it will be “a decision of the Region Commander”.<\/p>\n “The incident remains under investigation and police continue to seek further information,” NSW Police said on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n Ms Thomas waits near police after her arrest on Friday. (Supplied)<\/p>\n Police said four others were arrested at the protest, including a 24-year-old man who they allege temporarily stole a police body-worn camera.<\/p>\n They were charged with a range of offences and granted conditional bail, due to front Bankstown Local Court on July 15.<\/p>\n Questions over ‘place of worship’ powers<\/p>\n Arrest documents for one of the five people charged, which were obtained by ABC News, included a reference to a protester being outside a “place of worship”.<\/p>\n SEC Plating is across the road from Teebah Islamic Association Mosque.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Minns government broadened anti-protest laws to include places of worship, as part of a suite of laws passed to crack down on “hate speech”.<\/p>\n A Supreme Court challenge was launched, arguing the laws are unconstitutional, and a NSW parliamentary inquiry is examining whether the parliament was misled<\/a> in order to pass them.<\/p>\n The legislation was passed soon after a caravan was found with power gel explosives at Dural in January \u2014 later confirmed to have no detonator.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n