Police trampled, hundreds arrested in Melbourne anti-lockdown protest
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20...ockdown-protest
Issued on: 18/09/2021 - 10:32


Officers used pepper spray and made over 200 arrests in Melbourne as several hundred attendees flouted stay-at-home orders and marched through an inner-city suburb
Melbourne (AFP)

Several police officers were wounded and hundreds of protesters were arrested in Australia's second-most-populous city Saturday in violent clashes at an anti-lockdown march.

Officers used pepper spray and made over 200 arrests in Melbourne as several hundred attendees flouted stay-at-home orders and marched through an inner-city suburb.

The illegal gathering comes as the city goes through its sixth lockdown since the pandemic started, with the wider state of Victoria reporting over 500 cases of Covid-19 on Saturday.

Police said six officers were taken to hospital after they were pelted with projectiles and trampled in clashes with the crowd of around 700 people.

"What we saw today was a group of protesters that came together, not to protest freedoms, but simply to take on and have a fight with the police," Victoria Police Commander Mark Galliott told media.

Police attempted to reduce access to the centre of the city, blocking roads and stopping public transport in a bid to avoid a repeat of violent scenes at a rally that drew thousands last month.

But marchers then relocated, with footage from one incident showing a crowd charging through a police line as scuffles erupted along a tram route.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Tim Pool@Timcast

holy shit

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Avi Yemini 🇦🇺🇮🇱@OzraeliAvi
· 6h

Chaos on the streets of Melbourne.

CFMEU members turned on their union over Coronavirus restrictions, including mandated vaccinations.

Things escalated quickly.


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