Greens candidate runs workshop for climate activists on how to counter police equipment – from handcuffs to tear gas

Greens candidate Tom Raue is set to host a workshop designed to teach climate activists how to counter police equipment when they come into conflict with the authorities.

The workshop, ‘Countering Police Equipment – from Handcuffs to Tear Gas’,  is part of a weeklong event for ‘Students of Sustainability 2020‘ (SoS) which is being held at the University of Sydney from January 12.

SoS describes itself as an “annual grassroots convergence and critical education space that empowers new and diverse generations of people to participate in the climate justice movement.”

A Facebook event advertising Raue’s workshop states: “As climate change accelerates and inequality grows, activists will necessarily come into conflict with the police who protect the establishment.

“Police have access to a variety of tools and weapons ranging from old fashioned batons to futuristic sound cannons. In this workshop, you’ll learn about police equipment, how police use it and practical measures to counter it.”

In 2014, Raue was reportedly banned from the University of Sydney for a month after being involved in a protest at the campus which targeted then-Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.

Raue made headlines again in 2018 when it was revealed he wrote a piece in a student newspaper calling for sex with corpses to be made legal in Australia. He later told the Daily Mail the piece was only a joke. However, according to the report, Raue had penned a similar piece in 2012 campaigning to change the law to allow bestiality.

Last year, just days after Daniel Christie’s family turned off his life support following a brutal coward punch attack that left him brain dead, Raue reportedly said: “Going to punch somebody out of the blue is stupid and awful but it takes a lot of guts. I’d call it a brave punch.”

Days later, News.com.au reported that they had obtained a number of social media posts from Raue in which he expressed anti-government, anti-police and anti-property ownership sentiments, including a tweet in which he wrote, “there are no good cops.”

The University of Sydney said although the ‘Students of Sustainability 2020’ event is being held at their campus, it is not a University event.