Hedland councillor Camilo Blanco released without charge after arrest for alleged election campaign sign theft

Port Hedland councillor Camilo Blanco has accused WA Police of political interference after being arrested and released without charge over the alleged theft of an election campaign sign. Cr Blanco was asked to go to the South Hedland police station on Tuesday, March 18, for what he described as an “informal chat” but was arrested around 11am over claims he had allegedly stolen a Kevin Michel campaign sign on March 9 — the day after the State election. He said he exercised his right to silence during questioning and was released at 12.15pm without charge after the complainant reportedly chose not to pursue the matter. In a video posted to Facebook, Cr Blanco admitted to taking the sign and dumping it at the tip, but claimed it had been left on the ground and was “rubbish.” “They left that sign on the ground as discarded rubbish, as I showed you in the video, for someone else to pick up. That’s my position. I was taking him to the tip where he belonged, because he was rubbish. I said that quite clearly in the video,” he said. Cr Blanco said he would file a formal complaint against police, claiming the arrest was politically motivated due to his vocal anti-Labor stance and “Sack Labor” campaign. “This is a political set-up. This is deprivation of liberty, unlawful use of statutory powers to detain,” he said. “This is another attempt at a political hit job by Labor because of the 2025 WA Sack Labor campaign I ran on the radio for four months and social media videos that I did that had over 400,000 views. “This is how communist socialist countries treat their people through their police force. This should not be happening in Australia.” He said he would pursue Freedom of Information requests and take his complaints “to the Crime and Corruption Commission, the Ombudsman, the Parliamentary Inspector — the Pope, if I have to”. Cr Blanco alleged, without evidence, that police were acting on behalf of the Labor Party. “To me, this is a political weaponisation of the police powers and process. I think the powers of the police department can easily be exploited and used for political benefit,” he said. “What needs looking into is the possibility that police are now taking instruction from the Labor Party.” A WA Police spokesperson said the matter was subject to a police complaint and as such no information would be provided or discussed.