Milo Yiannopoulos: Police clash with protestors outside Sydney event
MORE than 100 police, including riot squad members and officers on horseback were deployed to Sydney’s inner west last night in a bid to contain violence by protesters against right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.
NSW
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MORE than 100 police, including riot squad members and officers on horseback were deployed to Sydney’s inner west last night in a bid to contain violence by protesters against right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.
The controversial US-based, British writer was due to speak at Lilyfield wedding venue Le Montage. Several men were arrested hours before Yiannopoulos even arrived after wrestling with police who attempted to keep the swelling crowd of activists off the road.
The protesters waved red flags and hurled abuse, chanting “racist, sexist, anti-queer, Milo is not welcome here” at those who paid up to $995 to attend the talk as riot squads holding shields kept the mob at bay.
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Four people were arrested for breaching the peace, one for assaulting a police officer, one for affray and one for not complying with direction
Yiannopoulos has courted controversy with virulent views about feminism, Islam, progressive politics and political correctness.
Activist Susan Price, 51, from Parramatta, attended the protest saying Milo had no right to spread “hate speech”.
“I’m here because I disagree with Milo’s hate speech,” she said.
“We’ve come out to raise our voices to say this is not the kind of country we want to live in,” Ms Price said. “His hateful, misogynistic ideas are given a platform and should be answered by the people.”
The rally was organised in part by the Anti-Islamophobia Collective from the University of Technology Sydney, which was among those furious at Yiannopoulos’ comments during an interview last week that Muslims should be deported from Australia.
However, the protesters dispersed shortly after the talk commenced at 8pm.
The flamboyant self-professed “provocateur” marched on to the stage wearing a leopard print fur coat and waved to onlookers as Vogue by Madonna played in the background.
The predominantly male crowd wore T-shirts emblazoned with Yiannopoulos’ face and they roared in agreement as he made crude jokes about feminists and heaped praise on One Nation’s Pauline Hanson.
Yiannopoulos stood at the lectern as if he was giving a formal address and told the audience Ms Hanson reminded him of US President Donald Trump.
They were comments similar to those made a day earlier in Melbourne which sparked ugly scenes when far-left and far-right groups battled in a mass brawl that saw about five police officers injured and hundreds more brought in to restore peace.
At a speech in Parliament House in Canberra yesterday Yiannopoulos said he was against violent protests.
“I love it when protesters turn up to my shows, I want everybody to have their say,” he said.
“When they start to throw punches, that’s when I have a problem, that’s when I don’t like it.”