An Australian man who insulted Chinese President Xi Jinping said the police told him he would be charged

An Australian man raises an insulting sign Chinese President Xi Jinping At a crowded Asian market in Sydney, he said authorities told him he could be charged with the incident despite being attacked by Chinese nationalists.

Drew Buffalo is pictured holding a sign that reads “F*** Xi Jinping” in Chinese on Saturday at Eastwood Plaza. The banners soon elicited an angry reaction from some shoppers, some of whom expressed their frustration, according to depictions of the incident on Buffalo’s Twitter account.

The video shows angry people confronting him.

And a video of the incident stated that “America has genocide.”

warning: graphic language

Another man snatches the sign and throws it on the ground. Someone said he “has no respect for the Chinese here”. During the encounter, Buffalo told the crowd that he was not violent.

He later tweeted that a file New South Wales Police Force I called him to inform him that investigators were investigating him and that he would likely be charged.

“New South Wales Police want to charge me for carrying a sign insulting Xi Jinping while campaigning in Sydney,” Lovelo wrote. “They won’t even tell me what I’m accused of. Tired of attacks on free speech, Australia desperately needs a bill of rights to protect free speech.”

He also tweeted about the Chinese government’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims who were arrested and detained in the camps.

A police spokesman declined to confirm the investigation into Buffalo but said they were investigating an alleged assault that occurred during a political protest at Eastwood Plaza.

“Following inquiries, investigators came to a home in Eastwood and spoke with a 48-year-old man at approximately 4:30 pm today,” a police statement said. “A summons has been issued for the public assault and he is due to appear in Hornsby District Court on Wednesday.”

In a tweet, Buffalo called threats to indict a “intimidation tactic.”

In a Facebook post, he said he was making a minor point.

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“I should be able to insult a dictator like Xi Jinping in my country without being physically assaulted and attacked. Australia is a democracy and we should be free to insult any leader no matter how cruel – that’s a simple principle of freedom of speech,” he wrote. “I would in no way surround 50 people and be physically assaulted if I held up a sign saying ‘F*** Scott Morrison’ in Sydney. Why would Chinese ultra-nationalists get a free pass to assault people in Australia if someone insulted Xi Jinping?”