Jackie ‘O’ Henderson DARES cops to arrest her over her COVID-19 views

Radio host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has dared Victoria Police to arrest her for ‘having her own opinion’ about Melbourne’s stage-four lockdown.

On Thursday, the 45-year-old interviewed a young pregnant mother who had been arrested at her home the previous afternoon for encouraging her friends on Facebook to take part in a ‘Freedom Day Ballarat’ protest.

After the segment, Henderson expressed her support for the woman and said that everyone should be entitled to their opinion without fear of arrest.  

‘You’ve got to have an opinion. If they [the police] are going to come into my room and arrest me for having an opinion on the air, then go for it,’ said Henderson, who is currently broadcasting from hotel quarantine in Melbourne. 

‘I’m not inciting protests, but I think we’re allowed to have an opinion,’ she added.

On Wednesday, 28-year-old Zoe Buhler was arrested in her own home over a Facebook post allegedly inciting an anti-lockdown protest in Victoria. 

Ms Buhler was handcuffed in her lounge room in front of her two children and partner and charged with incitement.

Several officers entered the house in Miners Rest, Ballarat, northwest of Melbourne, with a search warrant.

Ms Buhler’s alleged offending post linked to a since-deleted ‘Freedom Day Ballarat’ event she had created for 11am on Saturday on Sturt Street.

‘Anyone from Ballarat please join us in our fight for freedom and human rights!’ she wrote on Sunday with a link to the event page. 

Ms Buhler was later charged with incitement and released on bail to face Ballarat Magistrates Court on January 25, 2021.

Regional Victorian towns like Ballarat are spared the tough stage-four lockdown but are still in stage three, making it illegal for more than two people to gather.

Police consider any protests to be in breach of these rules and have proved willing to arrest anyone organising or encouraging any gatherings.