A man who was stopped for an alleged traffic offense told a police officer the law did not apply to him because he is Aboriginal.
Paul Silva was arrested in South Kempsey on the New South Wales north coast for allegedly using his mobile phone while driving on March 30.
After being detained, he confronted the police officer, with an audio recording of their argument obtained by Ben Fordham from Sydney’s 2GB Breakfast show.
“So you’re from the North Coast Police Station, right?” she told the police officer.
The officer is heard asking Silva twice for his driver’s license.
Silva replied: ‘Don’t raise your voice, sir. Activate your body camera, please.
Paul Silva (pictured), stopped for an alleged traffic offence, told a police officer the law did not apply to him because he is Aboriginal.
When the officer told him his body camera was already on, Silva again said, “Well, don’t raise your voice at me.”
The officer told him that all Silva had to do was “simply follow instructions,” but he again refused to comply.
‘No, no, no, no, no, I’m not following your instructions. His law does not apply to me as an Aboriginal person,” she said.
“I stopped you for a reason,” the officer responded, frustrated by Silva’s behavior.
He then asked the activist not to yell at him.
“If you (don’t) want to be yelled at, stop yelling at me, I’ll yell at you,” Silva responded.
Silva was uncooperative and belligerent, saying he would not follow the officer’s instructions. File image: A New South Wales police vehicle
The officer then said, ‘Mate, you’re so close to being arrested.’
When he asked for his name and address, which is standard at any police stop, Silva ignored him and instead counted from one to 10 and then told the officer that his name and address were written on his license.
New South Wales Police confirmed to 2GB that a The 26-year-old driver was spoken to before leaving the scene and allegedly honked the vehicle’s horn excessively as he drove away.
Silva received two traffic violation notices: the driver used the mobile phone when it was not permitted and used the horn or a similar device unnecessarily.
Silva made headlines for holding Black Lives Matter protests during the pandemic.