EXCLUSIVE: Distressing scenes as Sydney street icon, 79, is rushed to hospital after a tense confrontation with a security guard: ‘His whole body was shaking’
- Danny Lim is known for his political messages
- Says he was threatened by security guard
- Lim previously injured in train station arrest
Iconic Sydney street activist Danny Lim has been taken by ambulance to hospital after an encounter with a security guard at Barangaroo on Wednesday morning.
Lim, who is famous for travelling around the city wearing sandwich boards with peaceful political slogans, became distressed when he was approached by the security officer.
The 79-year-old claimed the guard threatened him as he stood at the bottom of escalators near the former David Jones department store in the harbourside shopping entertainment district.
He was wearing a sandwich board stating ‘Peace love, think love love love, smile 4 peace’ and carrying a sign which read ‘Be happy, be horny, more love not war.’
Lim told Daily Mail Australia he was distressed by the encounter, which came five months after he was hospitalised when police attempted to arrest him at Town Hall train station.
Iconic Sydney identity Danny Lim is in hospital after an encounter with a security guard at Barangaroo on Wednesday morning. Lim is pictured with the sign he was wearing
On that occasion, Lim cracked his head on the station’s tiled floor and he suffered a brain injury which left him temporarily unable to speak properly.
Lim said he was approached by a Barangaroo security guard who wanted him to leave the precinct and threatened to call police shortly before 8am.
‘He say if I don’t go he’ll call the police,’ Lim said. ‘He say I cannot be there.
‘He told me they’re coming to get me. I say, “You just leave me alone”. A stranger came up and say, “Why you pick on Danny?”
‘I have had enough of all this s*** after what happened last time. I’m a bit shaken now because it brings back so much memory.’
Two other security guards then arrived and tried to calm the situation.
Bystander Gemma said when she arrived on the scene Lim was clearly in distress.
Danny Lim says this security guard threatened to call police when he approached him at the bottom of the escalators near a former David Jones department store at Barrangaroo
‘When I was coming down the escalators and saw Danny at the bottom I saw that there were two security people talking to him,’ Gemma said.
‘Initially I was worried and thought they might be confronting him so I went down to see if I could help or intervene.
‘They were talking to him kindly. I’m not quite sure what their involvement is but the other security guard that had the altercation was no longer there.’
Gemma waited with Lim after an ambulance was called to take him to hospital.
‘Danny was very shaken, particularly from past altercations,’ she said. ‘He’s in quite a panic, his whole body is shaking. Obviously he’s very upset.’
Two witnesses who saw what happened with the first security guard gave Lim their details and offered support for his version of events.
‘I saw the Barangaroo security guard aggressively come at you and know he’s calling someone right now about your presence at the bottom of the escalators,’ one wrote in a text message immediately after the incident.
Lim was released from hospital shortly before midday.
A spokesman for Placemaking NSW, which was formerly Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, said the incident was being investigated.
‘We are aware of the issue and we are very sorry to hear about any distress caused to Mr Lim,’ the spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We are investigating the matter thoroughly and expect that our security team maintains the highest level of integrity in their interactions with the public.
‘We can confirm there was no physical interaction between Mr Lim and the security team.’
Two witnesses who saw what happened with the first security guard gave Lim their details and offered support for his version of events. The security guard is pictured