Vocal Council critic and longtime activist, John Anderson, aka Fast Buck$, was arrested last Friday night for allegedly breaching his Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) by an Echo ad from the June 2 edition (page 17).
The AVO was requested by police on behalf of Councillor Sarah Ndiaye, who says she fears for her safety and is intimidated by Mr Anderson.
Mr Anderson denies having a history of violence, says he will fight the AVO and instead claims Cr Ndiaye is ‘intimidated by the truth’.
Mr Anderson told The Echo he was woken at 9.30pm last Friday night by police with body cams, who were aggressive towards him.
‘I was handcuffed, photographed, my wallet and address book searched, and taken to the Byron Bay police station. I was told that I had to sign a document. I asked if this was considered coercion, and the cop admitted that it was’.
Yet Detective Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe told The Echo, ‘Mr Anderson was not coerced into signing any documents. Without all of the facts, I can advise that several forms are signed as part of a person’s custody and/or charge. He was afforded “Conditional Bail”, and, as per the The Bail Act 2013, the accused, if they agree to comply with such conditions, would naturally sign the Bail forms’.
Mr Anderson continued, ‘I asked if the complaint came from Cr Sarah Ndiaye, and the police said “Yes”. I eventually got out at around 1am and had to catch a taxi home’.
He says the AVO arrest was prompted by his paid Echo ad, in which he said the police officer serving the AVO couldn’t pronounce ‘Ndiaye’.
He wrote, ‘There you go Sarah; another male deliberately mispronouncing your name in order to harrass and intimidate you. PS Sub judice cuts both ways’.
Mr Anderson says the case will be heard at the Mullum Courthouse in early July.
Cr Ndiaye told The Echo she reported the ‘breach’ to police. ‘The police make a decision as to how they respond to a breach’, she said.
The Council General Manager Mark Arnold confirms that there is no regulations against swearing or approaching Councilors at a Council Meeting, and that the actions taken by acting Mayor Lyons was purely down to the acting Mayors discretion (which in this case is an acting Mayor that has been pilloried in the press by Fast Buck$). There are also no regulations about mispronouncing a Councillors name or mocking a Councillor (it was a Green Party member that first used the moniker “Councilor Sara No idea” to me). Subsequent to Buck$ removal, for on one incident where he swore, Cr Ndiaye said Bullshit in a Meeting, but the acting Mayor did nothing about her swearing.
The police will quite rightly remove anyone a Mayor wants removed, presuming the Mayor has real reason for doing so, so careful what you say when addressing Council if this acting mayors has a prejudiced opinion of you or your opinions, or has an overreaction to you letting out a swear word, as it could precipitate events that may escalate to a late night visit by the police where you are taken away in handcuffs.
Not commenting on whether Cr Ndiaye had become fearful of violence, but just on Lyons incongruent management of Councils code of Meeting Practice (which has the process for dealing with disturbances – you shut the Meeting down for 15 minutes and then move on), and raising the issue that should be considered on his capacity as the elected Mayor that he is standing for in the coming election, now we’ve now seen how he incongruently welds his new found power.
I will always remember what the Staff Sargent at Byron Bay told me.”I take the phone call and i take the $20 Bucks”.Police Corruption has never been dealt with in the Byron region.
I overheard a daughter asking her older Goddess mother, “But Mum, you said the police are fascist pigs?”. The mother replied, “Yes, but now they are OUR fascist pigs!”