See the video that saw a Sydney man charged with intimidating the NSW Police Minister as the pair have a heated exchange over lockdown
- Sydney man, 35, charged with allegedly intimidating the NSW Police Minister
- The man recorded encounter over lockdown, in Sydney's north-west, on Friday
- Mr Elliott then told man he felt 'intimidated' - who was later charged by police
A man has been charged with intimidating NSW Police Minister David Elliott after footage showed him chasing the politician down the street and berating him about the city's lockdown.
Footage taken in Baulkham Hills, in Sydney's north-west, about 3pm on Friday afternoon showed the man, 35, following Mr Elliott as he went to buy flowers for his wife.
The video showed him telling the minister 'our tyrannical and treasonous government right now are taking away our freedoms unlawfully'.
After realising the exchange was being recorded on a mobile phone, NSW Police Minister David Elliott (pictured) looked to end a heated lockdown conversation with a man he didn't know
The video was widely shared on the encrypted messaging app Telegram to anti-lockdown groups, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The man claimed he was not abusing Mr Elliott, telling him firmly: 'I’m not f---ing yelling at you and abusing you, I’m expressing myself, as I have the right to do so'.
He later claimed south-west Sydney was being 'racially targeted' by tougher lockdowns, which the MP denied.
'It’s not. That’s exactly what they did in the northern beaches,' he said.
'Why didn’t they do it in Bondi when it first broke out?' the man replies.
Mr Elliott told the man 'it should have been done' before starting to walk away when he realised he was being filmed.
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The man was then seen following Mr Elliott down a footpath near a shopping centre, telling him he only wanted to be heard.
When another man tells him to leave the MP alone, he is bluntly told to ''f*** off and mind your own business'.
Police confirmed a man, 35, was later arrested at a unit on Old Northern Road in Baulkham Hills just after 5pm.
The NSW Minister said he felt 'intimidated' by the man - who was later charged by police and will appear in court next month
When reflecting on the incident, the NSW Police Minister later said there was 'a limit.. but I don't begrudge the bloke for his passion' (pictured, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian)
He was taken to Castle Hill Police Station and charged with two counts of stalking or intimidation intending fear of physical harm, and not complying with a noticed Covid-19 direction.
He was granted bail and is set to appear in Parramatta Local Court on August 31.
'The man questioned the MP, recording the interaction on his mobile phone and allegedly continued to verbally abuse and intimidate him as he followed him to a nearby shopping centre,' a police spokesman said.
'A 47-year-old man attempted to intervene and was also verbally abused. Officers from The Hills Police Area Command were notified and commenced an investigation.'
Mr Elliott said he was grateful to the other resident who stepped in.
'I understand emotions are high so I don’t begrudge the bloke for his passion, but there is a limit,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.
'He was the sort of bloke who thinks Star Wars was a documentary.'
