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Wrongfully arrested after standing up for a Jewish friend, Christian author and apologist Steve Forkin has won his appeal in the NSW District Court against Covid-era tyranny. He now plans to sue for damages.

Steve Forkin, the Christian author from Coffs Harbour convicted for “attending an illegal gathering” during the NSW lockdowns, has won his appeal in the state’s District Court, marking a significant if belated win against Covid-era human rights violations.

Mr Forkin’s conviction was overturned on Wednesday after NSW Police previously dropped a “hindering” charge stemming from his August 21, 2021 violent arrest in Brelsford Park near Coffs Harbour town centre.

“Please mention to people how grateful I am for their prayerful support,” he said in exclusive comments to The Daily Declaration.

Mr Forkin now plans to initiate a civil lawsuit for assault, false arrest and false imprisonment, in hopes of recovering the tens of thousands of dollars in court fees he incurred as a result of his wrongful conviction.

“The arrest was totally over the top,” he told The Daily Declaration. “They were all armed to their teeth, while I was ‘armed’ with words and a coffee cup lid, and at no point was I rude or did I use bad language.”

The Wrongful Arrest of Steve Forkin

On that day, Mr Forkin was taking a routine walk well within the five-kilometre radius allowed under the restrictions. He inquired with officers about the heavy police presence in the park, which escalated into an ID check and a confrontation about why he was outside his home.

Concerned by their excessive zeal, Mr Forkin cautioned the officers about the dangers of law enforcement yielding to tyranny, alluding to the loss of his grandmother’s entire family in Nazi death camps.

Apparently agitated by the advice, police officers violently arrested Mr Forkin around twenty minutes later, after he stood up for a Jewish friend facing a similar police interrogation.

When Mr Forkin asked if the woman was okay and returned her dropped keep cup lid, officers aggressively tackled him to the ground, knelt on his back, and locked him in a paddy wagon.

Significantly, the arresting officer did not forewarn Mr Forkin of the arrest, as is required under the state’s police powers act.

And in bodycam footage that Mr Forkin’s legal team fought hard to obtain, officers were seen outside the paddy wagon appearing to assemble charges after the fact. At the station, they threatened him with up to ten charges and told Mr Forkin to “be grateful it’s only going to be two”.

“The police knew they were wrong to arrest and assault me in the first place and had to build a case,” Mr Forkin explained.

“They knew full well they had nothing on me, as I had neither attended a gathering — there wasn’t one; just a handful of people exercising in the park — nor broken any rules,” he added.

“The real issue lay with my ‘reprimanding’ them for their poor bullying behaviour.”

Apparent Misconduct in Steve Forkin’s Case

The questionable conduct of NSW authorities went further than just the wrongful arrest, disproportionate use of force, and concocted charges in Steve Forkin’s case.

According to Mr Forkin, NSW Police’s decision to withhold footage he was legally entitled to access, coupled with the public prosecutor’s argument that its release wasn’t in the public’s interest, denied him access to crucial exonerating evidence.

“Thankfully, my legal team persisted and subpoenaed the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions multiple times,” he told The Daily Declaration.

“After nearly one and a half years, we finally received the first lot of videos, and once they were shown in court, I passed them on to Avi [Yemeni, of Rebel News].”

“The initial ‘hinder’ charge was then dropped by the prosecution,” Mr Forkin said, adding sarcastically, “I wonder why?”

“The police officer in charge suddenly went on sick leave and never appeared in court again.”

Reflecting on the initial proceedings, Mr Forkin also alleged that false testimony was presented against him in court.

“Several police witnesses were called [who] said things about me that were quite obviously false — like they witnessed me arrive in a car, and they witnessed me filming them from my car in preparation to attack them,” he told The Daily Declaration.

“Whereas the truth is that I walked from home into town,” Mr Forkin explained, leaving the sole vehicle he and his wife owned at home that day.

The arrest record indicated that Mr Forkin surrendered no car keys, only his phone and wallet. Moreover, when he was released, “their records show my wife coming to pick me up with our only car,” he added.

“All of this factual evidence was apparently insufficient to prove [my innocence] to the magistrate who preferred to believe the false testimony of the police officers,” said Mr Forkin.

“In her final judgment, the magistrate who convicted me said she believes all this police witness testimony to be true and that she had to protect society by convicting me in order to ensure I don’t re-offend.”

“All this was to ‘fabricate’ a picture of a dangerous protestor,” he said.

However, with that wrongful conviction overturned, the path is now cleared for Mr Forkin to pursue legal action for malicious prosecution, assault and damages, among other claims. As a result, he hopes to recover some of the heavy financial losses he incurred during the drawn-out saga.

The Regrettable Stance of Mr Forkin’s Church

While further legal action may address some issues, the mistreatment Steve Forkin received from his church still deeply affects him.

“What made matters worse for me was the way the local church I attended reacted,” he told The Daily Declaration.

“Prior to [my arrest], I had already sent lots of emails to local and state parliamentarians, pleading for some sanity concerning all the heavy-handed Covid measures,” he said. “I also sent emails out to the Elders at my church.”

“As a long-standing member involved in several ministries, many people within the congregation confided with me about how sad they were by the way the Australian church, broadly speaking, ‘capitulated’ to government edicts.”

“Once I was arrested, I felt it was the right thing to do to inform the Elders myself, rather than have them hear it from someone else,” Mr Forkin explained.

“I initially met with the senior pastor, who was friendly and said that he would inform the Elders. A few weeks later, I received an email informing me… that I would be removed from all volunteering [roles]. I was not even allowed to ‘pray’ in church from then on.”

“At no point did they sit down to chat with me or even ask my view… [they] believed what I did was wrong [and] clearly sided with the police.”

“The worst of this was the silence,” Mr Forkin continued. “At no point was I asked to share my side or given a chance to explain, and no one even bothered to follow up as to how I felt about the whole thing.”

‘I Continue To Believe in The Church’

Steve Forkin’s experience underscores a blind spot among many Christian leaders, who, at the time, cited Romans 13 to argue that believers must “be subject to the governing authorities” without qualification.

Ironically, now that the final verdict of the authorities has cleared Mr Forkin’s name and suggested police misconduct, the real test for his local church’s leaders lies in whether they will continue to side with the authorities’ original, unjust stance. The biblical path, by contrast, would be to submit to the governing authorities by acknowledging the miscarriage of justice and recanting their previous position.

Mr Forkin’s church eventually lifted the ban on his ministry involvement. And while he has not yet received an apology, he’s chosen to remain at the church, encouraged by his relationship with one of the younger, more libertarian-minded pastors, and the support of many friends urging him to stay.

“I continue to believe in the church,” he told The Daily Declaration. “It is full of broken people [but] first and foremost, I go to worship Christ.”

“Good things come in time,” he added. “God is sovereign over all our circumstances and He uses the bad things and the errors people make to achieve His ultimate goals.”

“In the end, I see this as just a tiny victory in the whole battle we conservative, Christian folk are [waging] for the soul of the nation. We must keep on fighting and we must push back no matter how dark things get.”

It may be more than mere coincidence that Steve Forkin chose Romans 13 as the focus of his seminary master’s thesis — a work he has since expanded into a book with the gracious approval of Columbia Seminary.

One way you can support Steve is by purchasing a copy of that book, ‘Slaying The Dragon: Resistance to Tyranny is Obedience to God’, and leaving a review to get it out to a wider audience.