Violence erupts as right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos arrives in Melbourne
MILO Yiannopoulos has warned Australia could turn into a divisive US-style society if it allows violent protesters to hijack its streets. It comes as logistics company Toll claims protesters are wearing its uniforms to damage the brand.
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LATEST: MILO Yiannopoulos has warned Australia could turn into a divisive US-style society if it allows violent protesters to hijack its streets.
Police say protesters at last night’s wild riot outside a Melbourne hall where the conservative commentator was speaking were engaging in “Kardashian-style politics”.
Terrified residents have recounted the wild scenes that turned their Kensington neighbourhood into a violent and hate-filled nightmare.
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A police officer was injured after protesters and residents threw bottles, pelted rocks and ignited fireworks.
Talking at Parliament House in Canberra today, Yiannopoulos said he liked attracting crowds to his talks, but didn’t like when it ended in violence.
“I love it when protesters turn up to my shows, I want everybody to have their say,” he said.
“When people are yelling in the streets, it gets me off.”
“When they start to throw punches, that’s when I have a problem, that’s when I don’t like it.
“It’s always the left who starts it and the conservatives who finish it.”
“I don’t like it when either side do it. My preferred future is zero tolerance to violent protests”
“If show up to a protest and you have brass knuckles in your pocket, you should go to jail.”
“If you show up with the clear intent to hurt somebody because they have a different set of political opinions to you, they should go to jail.”
“Don’t let these people roam the streets punching and kicking and scratching and pepper spraying people in the face, that’s happened at UC Berkeley, because if you allow it and turn a blind to it, it will grow and Australia will become just as bad as America and you don’t want that.”
Yiannopoulos said those outraged by the content of his talks should be equally outraged by the violence of protesters trying to silence him.
“I see a lot of people complaining about my jokes about aboriginal art, my jokes about feminists, my jokes about Muslim commentators on Channel 10,” he said.
“I don’t see a lot of outrage from the left about these feral protesters attacking law enforcement, attacking journalists and attacking innocent law abiding citizens.
“So forgive me if I don’t have too much patience for people virtue signalling and clutching their pearls about jokes I make that are supposedly so offensive when they are silent on the subject of the rocks being thrown in the faces of police officers.”
Toll claims protesters trying to damage brand
A Toll spokeswoman said the man in the Toll clothing pictured fighting at the protests was not an employee of the company.
“We are aware of an event that occurred in Melbourne yesterday, leading to an altercation that involved a man wearing a Toll-branded polo shirt,” the spokeswoman said.
“This individual has never worked for Toll and has never been issued with a Toll uniform. “Based on recent similar incidents involving the individual and his associates, we believe that a deliberate effort has been made to damage our brand and reputation as a result of actions that Toll undertook against one of his associates who no longer works for us.
“We have attempted to recover the uniforms on several occasions without success. Toll has sought police assistance and we are taking the appropriate legal steps to protect our reputation.
“Toll is proudly a global company that supports a diverse and inclusive society, and we do not condone the behaviour of these people falsely purporting to represent us.”
Riot was ‘Kardashian-style politics’
Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said police were unaware the Melbourne Pavilion would be the venue for Yiannopoulos’ talk until just hours before the event.
He confirmed some violent rioters were known to police.
“Both sides need to have a good hard look in the mirror at themselves,” he said.
“The Right side came in smaller numbers and there was a group of them who we’ve known for some time.
“They decided to come and disrupt the counter protest and set about early to agitate the Left protesters.”
Mr Leane said there was 300-500 Left socialist protesters compared to 30-50 Right wing rioters.
“Some of the Right protesters tried to create as much drama as they could with the Left socialist group,” he said.
“But they were certainly outnumbered.”
Police confirmed there was two arrests already but expect more to be made.
“One was from the Left and the other arrest was from the Right group,” Mr Leane said.
“Over the years you get to know many of these protesters so we will see if we can identify some people.”
Mr Leane said police will be reviewing pictures, video and CCTV captured by witnesses, including media.
“There’s plenty of footage both on social media, as well as media footage and our cameras we had in place.”
The rowdy crowd dispersed just before midnight after five hours of mayhem, with riot police charging upon the rampaging rioters and forcing them to leave.
Mr Leane accused protesters of using the riots to get their five minute of fame.
“We’ve always got Kardashian-style politics now and these people know that you have to do something outrageous in order to get it on to YouTube and seen across the world,” he told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.
“I’ve got no doubt part of their motivation last night was to get as much as they could splashed around the world and feel famous for five minutes.”
But Left-wing protester Ezekiel Ox blamed police for the trouble.
“We protested in a peaceful fashion,” he 3AW.
“The police behaved in a way which was hostile, violent and intimidating and they have been doing it to (the Flemington) community for a number of years.”
Police have rejected the claims.
One officer sustained minor injuries to the lower body after being hit by a rock.
Shadow Attorney-General John Pesutto called for the state government to reinstate move on laws scrapped in 2015.
“Last night’s protests in Melbourne are another sign we have a culture of protest violence in Victoria,” he said.
“They are effectively violent gangs who go around from protest to protest, putting innocent bystanders in harm’s way, Victoria Police in harm’s way and in directly in harm’s way because so many police are drawn away from their duties.
“I would like to see the laws restored.”
But Attorney-General Martin Pakula said the move on laws were designed to deal with industrial disputes, not violent protests.
“I know the scenes were disturbing,” he said.
“But I think the police actually quelled it pretty quickly.
“The move on laws were never about public protests, they were never used for those purposes.
“That idea that Mr Pesutto wants to suggest that these two violent protest groups would have simply moved if they had been asked is nonsense.”
Mr Pakula said the government’s new public order law were tougher than the previous move on laws and had stopped protesters donning masks at the protest.
He slammed Yiannopoulos as a “ridiculous individual”.
“There’s no particular brilliance in coming out to Australia and saying offensive and outrageous things,” he said.
“My personal view of him is that he should be denied what he so desperately craves, which is attention.
“He’s clearly someone who has a deep fear that he’s not particularly interesting so he’s going out of his way to attract attention.”
Thugs cause a night of mayhem
Nearby housing commission residents told of their terror as the riot unfolded.
Kerren Clark said it made her feel unsafe.
“I don’t want racist bigots coming into my neighbourhood,” she said.
Muslim schoolgirl Fatma, who did not provide a surname, said she was alarmed to find so many hate preachers at her doorstep.
“I came downstairs and I could see all these anti-Islam, anti-refugee and Trump supporters,” she said.
“I saw people spraying everyone. It was wild.
“I was confused how people like that are in the world.”
During the protest right-wing groups United Patriots Front, True Blue Crew and Soldiers of Odin were outnumbered and surrounded by left-wing groups and residents from a nearby housing commission as they brawled in the street.
A fresh wave of left-wing supporters arrived at 9pm, shouting “no racism, no fear, refugees are welcome here” and “f--- Donald Trump”.
Right-wing groups that had previously flown pro-Trump flags on Stubbs St appeared to have left.
Some used sticks as weapons, others punched and kicked each other.
After one protester clashed with a man who had bought a ticket to the speech, heated words turned to violence.
Fists flew before police intervened, dousing the men in pepper spray and then arresting them.
Later, a teenage boy, unrelated to the event, sported a bloodied head after trying to walk through the fray with a friend.
Up to 100 police were outside the pavilion when about 200 socialist protesters confronted Yiannopoulos supporters, brandishing pro-Donald Trump paraphernalia, including Make America Great Again hats, about 6pm.
Racecourse Rd was reopened to traffic but riotand uniform police remained at the scene at 10.30pm.
The fracas didn’t stop an estimated 2500 from attending Yiannopoulos’ talk, the last rescheduled from 10.15 to 10.45pm.
The controversial speakers’ supporters were waiting to see him speak after a third Melbourne show was added to his national tour tonight, beginning with a 6.30pm event.
Organisers had kept the location secret under wraps until just before the first show.
But protesters from both groups managed to find the venue, and descended en masse.
Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF) had vowed to protest outside his Melbourne shows, while the True Blue Crew warned it would rally “to protect and defend” Yiannopoulos.
Penthouse publisher Damien Costas, who bankrolled the speaking tour, said before the protests that Yiannopoulos, a self-described sexual abuse victim, had a right to “free speech”.
“He’s got something to say, let him say it,” Mr Costas said.
“This is what we have been reduced to. What you are seeing here is the cost of free speech.’’
Mr Costas would not be drawn on the exact cost of bankrolling the event.
Left-wing protesters were closely watched by police as they held anti-Nazi and Alt-Right signs while chanting “Milo is a w ---ker” and “go home, Nazis’’.
Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said conflict such as last night’s was an increasingly frequent drain on the force.
“Demonstrations by violent extremists have, sadly, become commonplace in Victoria,” Mr Gatt said.
“Far too much police time and resources are spent protecting warring factions from themselves.
“Fortunately, the behaviour we’ve been witnessing is not reflective of the vast majority of Victorians who would never descend to injure police or others to further any agenda.”
Last month, Greens senators attempted to ban the self-described “one man wrecking crew” and “internet supervillain” from speaking at Parliament given his views on women, transgender people and Muslims.
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Liberal Party member Ross Cameron, who reportedly said the NSW division of the Liberal Party was “basically a gay club” and later said his comment was not anti-gay, will host the Melbourne shows.
His tour started in Adelaide before hitting Perth on Saturday.
He’ll speak in Sydney and the Gold Coast later this week.
A riot broke out at the University of California in February while Yiannopoulos was touring his Dangerous Faggot show.
If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
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The disturbance prompted a tweet from US President Donald Trump, who suggested he could pull funds from the university.
Yiannopoulos resigned as senior editor from Breitbart News in February after his comment at the Conservative Political Action Conference suggested “coming of age” relationships between older men and young boys helped them discover who they were.
The commentator was slammed for apparently condoning paedophilia.
Yiannopoulos said his poor choice of words did not reflect his true views and he did not condone such behaviour. He even made a rare apology.
Australia is understood to have the second-largest supporter base for the commentator outside of America.
Yiannopoulos has reportedly sold more than 10,000 tickets for his national tour here, with prices ranging from $49 to $995.
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