Police Blanket Sydney For New Year’s Eve After Bondi Beach Terror Response Draws Scrutiny

Australia’s largest city, Sydney, was swarmed with thousands of police on New Year’s Eve after a botched response to an Islamic terror attack that cost 15 people their lives.

New South Wales police headquarters said there would be 2,500 officers on duty for the festivities, according to the BBC. The significant ramp-up in security for the major public event comes after the Bondi Beach terror attack that killed 15 and injured 40 more. Authorities have faced widespread criticism for the handling of the attack, with multiple accounts of a botched responses and poor decisions stirring international controversy.

Some survivors of the terror attack allege that police were slow to intervene and prevented bystanders from helping. One woman said she was stopped from fighting back, and accused officers of “just standing there, listening and watching this all happen, holding me back.” Despite such actions, unarmed bystanders were able to help stop the attack anyway, with one man literally wrestling a gun