Rita Panahi: Black Lives Matter protest crowd was guaranteed by Victoria Police

What a wonderful message to send: Protesters likely to become violent will enjoy special treatment — even during a pandemic.

So, if you want the police to treat you with kid gloves, just threaten violence and mayhem.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton admitted to a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday that Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter protest should not have been allowed, but the march was “reluctantly” approved because police feared the protesters would riot.

Well that’s a wonderful message to send to the community; if you are likely to become violent and wreck the joint you’ll be afforded special treatment, even during a pandemic, but if you’re a mother organising a lockdown protest then expect to be put in handcuffs in front of your kids and taken to the police station.

The chief commissioner said police command had seen the violence, arson and looting overseas after the killing of George Floyd and did not want that to occur in Melbourne.

The Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne attracted 10,000 people. Picture: Alex Coppel

“We eventually made a decision to reluctantly allow the Black Lives Matters event to go ahead because of the emotion that was in the community and because of what we had seen in communities across the world,” Mr Patton said.

“We’d had arson, we’d seen looting, we had seen assaults … We’ve seen cities that were damaged.”

In the end, more than 10,000 people marched in Melbourne on June 6 thanks in part to the Dan Andrews government and Victoria Police declaring before the event that participants would not be fined.

No better way to ensure a bumper crowd than to guarantee those taking part would not face a crippling fine.

At the time, Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius went to great lengths to express solidarity with the protesters who were marching in the name of BLM, an organisation who want to defund the police.

A heavy police presence at an anti-lockdown “freedom walk” in Queen Victoria Market Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“We absolutely understand the sentiment and the anger that lies behind that and we are very keen to support the community in giving a voice to their concerns,” Cornelius said.

“We do respect the right everyone has to protest peacefully and lawfully.”

But Cornelius had a very different attitude to anti-lockdown protesters, including people who had lost their livelihoods, dismissing them as “batshit crazy” and members of the “tinfoil hat-wearing brigade”.

Cornelius deliberately conflated COVID-19 conspiracy theorists with those who had legitimate concerns about draconian lockdown measures such as mandatory curfews.

Victoria police command has become politicised to the point that it undermines the public’s trust and risks further demoralising rank and file members.

The law must be applied equally and there should be no special treatment for those who police fear will become violent if challenged.