Horror footage of police, anti-lockdown protesters clashing in Richmond
Bungling online thugs have been menacing a police officer in the mistaken belief he worked at a wild weekend anti-lockdown protest.
Victoria
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Bungling online thugs have been menacing a policeman in the mistaken belief he worked at a wild weekend anti-lockdown protest.
He is the latest to be targeted as figures linked to the protests move to zero in on individual officers, via social media and encrypted apps.
The officer was singled out on Twitter by people who believed he was involved in an incident captured by the media, which is now the subject of an internal investigation.
But Victoria Police says the member has been on leave and had nothing to do with the demonstrations.
“These posts are incorrect. The member named was not on duty on Saturday and had nothing to do with the incident which has been referred to professional standards command for investigation,” a force spokesman said.
That incident involved a woman being knocked to the ground and capsicum sprayed as police moved in on demonstrators.
Police are expected to be looking for any more threats and intimidation against members arising from the weekend’s operation.
Eight people were arrested earlier this month over allegations they used encrypted apps to intimidate police in the aftermath of a rally last month.
Encrypted groups have kicked into overdrive since Saturday’s violent anti-lockdown protest, with agitated members already planning their next demonstration.
Protesters’ correspondence, seen by the Herald Sun on Telegram, suggests the next locations be “kept secret” in the future, to prohibit police from planning weeks in advance.
“Drop location one hour before meet up on the designated day as to not give cops time to prepare,” one message read.
Another suggests the organisers should continue to announce the protest location as the CBD but announce a “completely different” location an hour prior.
“Footscray. Dandenong. Highpoint Shopping Centre. Chadstone Shopping Centre. Whatever. We will be heard wherever we go,” they said.
One member of the group agreed, telling their fellow 8000 members to “never actually go to the CBD” again, after police proved they were willing to shut the city down to foil further protests.
The organisers are yet to update their official channels with a new protest date.
It comes ater anti-lockdown protesters threw a female police officer to the ground and pelted police with water bottles in clashes in Kew on Saturday.
Footage filmed by the Herald Sun captured the moment the rally erupted when more aggressive protesters charged at police blockades.
The numbers at Saturday’s rally were down on the almost 10,000-strong crowd seen at last month’s protest that saw nine police officers hospitalised.
But the 700 people estimated to have marched on Saturday resulted in the mobilisation of hundreds of police officers from at least 20 police stations.
Early on, protesters had tried to rattle police officers who had set up a wall of blue but the lines were eventually broken in brawls that led to at least one female officer being pushed to the ground and trampled.
The majority of protesters did not wear masks and were doused with pepper spray and held at bay with batons as the brawling escalated. Profanities were hurled at police all afternoon and one protester even used an umbrella to protect the unruly mob from the pepper spray.
Several marchers also tried to scale the gorge on Barkers Rd in a bid to escape arrest in a pinch-point between two walls of on-foot officers. Tensions between officers and marchers boiled over at the gorge about 1.30pm, after crowds splintered off Church St and Bridge Rd in an attempt to evade police.
Police were also observed wrestling people to the ground as the smell of pepper spray filled the air, leaving several protesters incapacitated and begging those around them for water.
The sea of police officers collectively yelled “move” and “forward” in a final warning to the straggling demonstrators before marching forward and deploying the pepper spray.
Opposition leader Matthew Guy slammed the behavior of protestors as “ridiculous” and unhelpful.
“I understand there’s a lot of frustration. Take your frustration out at the ballot box at the next state election. Throwing up to throw witches hats and bins at police … that’s not helpful to anyone,” Mr Guy said.
“The behaviour we’ve seen was ridiculous, and I think most Victorians would just shake their head in shock that this occurred in our city.”
Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt defended the use of force and said the union would discuss new protocols for future protests after the injuries to officers.
“It’s utterly disgraceful. What we saw yesterday were just acts from criminals. They weren’t protest activities, they were criminal acts,” Mr Gatt said.
“We can’t stand for that, we can’t tolerate that and it’s got to stop.”
Meanwhile, news photographers covering fiery weekend anti-lockdown protests have criticised their treatment by police.
HOW DAY OF VIOLENCE UNFOLDED
An angry and volatile mob clashed with police – injuring 10 officers – during a violent anti-lockdown protest that shut down Melbourne’s CBD, Richmond and parts of Kew for several hours on Saturday.
Rocks, bottles and traffic cones were hurled at frontline police while other officers were assaulted and trampled on as tempers boiled over in Richmond.
Police estimate 700 anti-lockdown protesters gathered on Bridge Rd as part of a worldwide “freedom” rally on Saturday from noon until late afternoon.
Of those, 235 were arrested and slapped with $5452 fines for breaching chief health officer directives – a total of $1.2m for government coffers.
Some face jail time, with others being charged for assaulting police and riotous behaviour, as well as weapons and drugs offences.
Of the 10 officers injured, six required hospital treatment for injuries including a broken nose, broken elbow, broken finger and torn muscles.
Commander Mark Galliott said most of the protesters were angry young men who turned up to take on officers.
“What we saw was a group of protesters that came together not to protest freedoms but simply to take on police,” he said. “We saw angry, aggressive young males there to fight the police.
“In some instances we saw police getting trampled, which they don’t come to work for.
“We don’t come to work to get assaulted and end up going home with broken bones.”
Commander Galliott defended the move to shut down Melbourne’s public transport network, saying police estimated 6000 people were planning to gather in the CBD before the unprecedented action was taken.
“It was a great preventive measure,” he said.
“By shutting down the public transport system as we did, it kept all those people out of the city.
“If we hadn’t done that, we could’ve had thousands in the city. We appreciate it was a great disruption.”
Commander Galliott said 2000 police officers were deployed throughout the day, costing the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A police car was also damaged in the chaos.
The demonstration lasted several hours and drew significant attention from curious onlookers.
Police will now trawl through thousands of hours of footage from officers’ body cameras to intensify the hunt for those protesters who have not yet been arrested or fined for illegal behaviour.
NOTHING BUT ‘MOB MENTALITY’
Richmond would usually be a bustling retail and footy hub in late September, but on Saturday it became a battleground for thugs who hurled glass bottles at police.
As police enforced a ring of steel to protect Melbourne’s CBD, hundreds of anti-social louts avoided the city and gathered outside Richmond Town Hall.
In running battles under overcast skies, the mob chipped away at a wall of blue that finally buckled and broke in the face of mindless violence and lawlessness.
Two years ago Bridge Rd was abuzz with Melburnians visiting cafes, bars and enjoying retail therapy in happier pre-Covid times ahead of the AFL grand final, but with no footy in town, Richmond became a stamping ground for maskless thugs – mostly men – who sought out conflict with police.
“They’re just crooks who want to take us on,” one police source said.
“It’s absolute mob mentality.”
One male officer was pushed with force on to the tram tracks by a charging crowd.
The crowd scattered only when back-up police arrived.
The protesters faced off with police on Burnley St and Bridge Rd, with capsicum spray needed to quell the crowd.
Several groups of protesters had also emerged throughout the morning but were unable to link up due to the significant police presence.
The biggest group of protesters made it as far as Burnley before crowds were dispersed late on Saturday afternoon.
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