An iconic Sydney activist who performed the terrible act of walking around the city with a sandwich board telling people to “smile” was arrested by police, but not before being forced to the ground, receiving brain trauma. I suppose that 78-year-old smilers are a terrible threat to public order, and the police knew what they were doing to protect the public from what might well be … if we were in America, urban terrorism! Smiling today, and who know what tomorrow?
“An iconic Sydney activist has been left unable to speak properly after a violent 'unprovoked' arrest left him with a brain injury.
Danny Lim, 78 - famous for walking around Sydney wearing sandwich style boards telling people to 'smile' - was forced to the ground by two NSW Police officers in the city's Queen Victoria Building shortly before 11am on Tuesday.
The incident was captured on camera by a shocked bystander. Police 'discontinued' their arrest after Mr Lim's head cracked against the tiled floors, leaving him with a blackeye and a bloody cheek.
Mr Lim, who weighs just 50kgs, was then rushed to St Vincent's Hospital. Daily Mail Australia can reveal he has not been able to communicate properly - a common symptom of serious brain traumas - since the injury.
Mr Lim has been diagnosed with a 'subdural haematoma' - a bruise between the surface of the brain and the skull.
High-profile defence lawyer Chris Murphy is supporting Mr Lim and said he was in a 'very poor state' and 'unable to communicate clearly'.
Mr Murphy said Mr Lim was walking along a corridor connecting the QVB to Town Hall train station when the arrest unfolded.
'You can see his Opal (transport) card next to him. He was walking to Town Hall station, on his way home, but paused at a telephone shop because he knew the owner,' Mr Murphy told Daily Mail Australia.
'He's a chatter, he wanted to have a chat!
'The owner was serving a customer so Mr Lim was waiting outside when police arrived.'
Mr Murphy said several shop owners witnessed the incident and told lawyers Mr Lim was never asked to leave by anyone around the phone shop.
'One woman was very distressed and filmed it,' he said.
'They all say the way police were harassing him was unnecessary. He was on his way home, he was harmless.'
Mr Lim has become a beloved figure in the city and is famous for wearing signs proclaiming peace, love and happiness with the support of his 17-year-old pet chihuahua-pomeranian, Smarty.
He's held a unique presence in the city for several years and is often greeted with high-fives and selfies wherever he goes.
An expert who analysed the footage of Mr Lim's arrest claims it shows one of the officers deliberately moved their leg and caused the elder to fall.”