Anti-Lockdown Protester Fends Off A Police Horse

• Photographer
  Steven Saphore
• Agency / Studio
  Agence France-Presse
• Prizes
  Bronze in Editorial/Political

A protester wearing a shirt bearing the words ‘Free Speech’, allegedly strikes a mounted police horse in the head during a deeply controversial anti-lockdown protest, where many unmasked protesters gathered to oppose NSW’s coronavirus health orders, in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, July 24, 2021. The following morning, NSW Police revealed the 33-year-old man was charged for allegedly striking a police horse during unauthorised protest activity. The viral image of the interaction caused mass outrage and also spurred debate about media manipulation and animal cruelty.

Steven Saphore is a freelance photojournalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is a contributor to Australian Associated Press, AFP, Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, and others.