An Australian man whose violent arrest during Melbourne’s COVID lockdowns drew international outrage has died—years after suffering traumatic injuries when police slammed his head into the pavement because he wasn’t wearing a mask.
Daniel Peterson-English was thrown headfirst into the ground by a police officer at Flinders Street Station in 2021—an incident caught on video that sparked international outrage.
The disturbing footage showed Acting Sergeant Beau Barrett approaching Peterson-English from behind and slamming him to the pavement with brutal force.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
Melbourne 🇦🇺 This can only be described as Police brutality…An individual talking calmly to Police is approached from behind at Flinders St Station.The Officer gives no warning and body slams him to the floor from behind. It's simple, if he hits his head his dead….👊 pic.twitter.com/0kfPCrsuOt
— Veritas Vox (@veritas__vox) September 22, 2021
Acting Sergeant Beau Barrett was charged with recklessly causing injury and assault following the 2021 incident, which occurred on the same day as a large anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne’s CBD. Despite the graphic nature of the footage, the case against Barrett was ultimately dismissed.
Celebrities Call for ‘Total Hollywood Strike’ To ‘Punish America’ Until Diddy Is Set Free
Now, three and a half years later, the man at the centre of that disturbing arrest—32-year-old Daniel Peterson-English—has died.
According to Sydney-based lawyer and filmmaker Mark Tarrant, Daniel’s mother, Margaret, confirmed her son passed away on March 15. She described him as a “fragile young man totally abused by the state,” whose life was irreversibly altered by the trauma he endured.
A coroner’s report will be released in June.
News.com.au report: In the disturbing footage of Mr Peterson-English’s arrest, the 32-year-old’s head could be heard hitting the hard floor and a pair of headphones were knocked off.
According to a caption written by the woman who initially posted the video, the man was knocked unconscious and there was “blood and urine everywhere”.
“This poor guy was calm, he was just talking to the police,” the caption said.
“You can see it in the video then he gets thrown to the ground. You can hear his face hit the tiles.”
The woman later told news.com.au the man was unconscious “for a while” and when he woke up was calling for his mother.
“We are all very disturbed by this and I’ve been inundated with people worldwide wanting to know if this man is all right,” she said.
“We understand the paramedics looked at him but not sure what happened after that.”
Before he was tackled to the ground, Mr Peterson-English was arrested, fined for not wearing a mask, and released, The Age reported. The tackle occurred after he returned to the area,the publication reported.
Mr Peterson-English’s lawyer, Kim Bainbridge said the incident was followed by a “severe psychiatric reaction”.
“He had pre-existing mental health issues which have been exacerbated by the trauma that he suffered at the hands of this police officer,” Mr Bainbridge said in 2022.
Mr Peterson-English later told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court he lived with post-traumatic stress disorder.
‘Like a piece of meat’
Mr Tarrant, who featured Mr Peterson-English’s arrest in his documentary ‘Covid Safe – Domestic Violence By The State’ said the 32-year-old was a “kind hearted” person who was friends with Melbourne’s homeless.
“His mother said if he had any money, he would hand it out to the homeless. He was generous and kind hearted. He didn’t mean any harm to anyone,” said Mr Tarrant.
He said the 32-year-old was very close with Margaret, who had to celebrate her first Mother’s Day on Sunday without him.
“Margaret’s very much down about what’s happened to her son, and it’s not easy for Margaret.”
Mr Tarrant said the September 2021 arrest “traumatised” Mr Peterson-English, who he said had a face mask exemption and “wasn’t part of any protest”.
“If you’re in a fragile state, being smashed to the ground like a piece of meat isn’t going to help is it? I mean, why would you, as a human being (doing that?)” Mr Tarrant questioned.
“Daniel came back home totally distressed and in a real mess, so nobody knew what had happened to him, and then somebody saw that footage.”
There are hopes the coroner’s report will provide more detail into the cause of his death.
“The trauma that happened to him was horrific. I mean just watching it, imagine going through what happened to him,” he said.