Melbourne Invasion Day protest: man draped in Australian flag dragged away by a dozen police
There have been dramatic scenes as a man draped in the Australian flag was dragged away by a dozen cops in Melbourne.
An Invasion Day protest in Melbourne on Tuesday was crashed by a counter-protester draped in an Australian flag who was forcibly removed from the scene by more than a dozen police.
The man was dragged out of the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets before being taken away by police.
He was wearing a shirt that said ‘Proud Boys’ – a Neo-Fascist, male-only organisation from the US often linked to white nationalism.
An Australian flag was draped around his shoulders and he was carrying an Australian flag beachball.
The man walked provocatively into the centre of the intersection, the end point of the Invasion Day march, and appeared to be alone.
He was approached by protesters before police rushed into the scene and dragged the man away from the protest as the crowd broke into a chant of “fascists, f**k off”.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said he was released a short time later without charge.
It came after thousands of protesters gathered peacefully with a heavy police presence in the CBD from Parliament House down to Flinders Street Station.
A line of police in front of a line of police horses blocked protesters from the Parliament House steps when the rally began about 10am.
Almost all protesters were wearing masks but were packed in along the footpaths on both sides of Spring Street.
Protesters carried placards bearing signs like ‘Lest We Forget – Unless They Were Black’ and ‘Let’s Have A Day For Everyone’ but the street was quiet as of 10.45am on Tuesday.
A speaker opened proceedings by telling people to obey marshals and the COVID-safe plan.
By 11.05am the protest, due to begin at 10.30am, had not started as organisers implored the crowd to follow instructions and stay in groups of 100.
“I know it’s painful, I want to get going too,” the crowd was told.
“Find your group of 100. This is for the safety of our community.”
The first speaker at the rally called on the crowd to “fight for self-determination”.
Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Bill Nicholson said Australia needs to “wake up”.
He said Captain Cook called the arrival of Europeans an invasion, which “I wonder if Scotty Morrison up in Canberra knows”.
“If it comes from the Prime Minister, you can see how it filters down through the rest of society,” he said.
“Captain Cook – this is something he said: ‘In what other light can they look upon us than as invaders of the country.’
“Cook saw it from the day he got here.
“The British tried everything to eradicate us after their invasion.
“It didn’t work.”
He said the country was “feeling pain today”.
“I want to welcome you all to this healing ceremony,” he said.
“They brought an economy here, and they took ours – the environment.
“To the mob out there, keep fighting for self-determination. Come on Australia, wake up. We want you to listen to our voice.”
Later a Greens senator slammed Australian parliament as “racist” while giving a speech at the event.
Lidia Thorpe said there was a “far-right rot” in federal parliament that was “stoking the fire” of racism.
“I see that racism when I’m in that place,” Victoria’s first Indigenous senator said.
“There is a far-right rot in this country’s parliament. They are stoking the fire of the far-right racism in this country.”
She said the “war had not ended” and called for a treaty between the Australian government and Aboriginal people.
“Our babies are still being stolen,” she said.
“Our babies are still being locked up and incarcerated. Ten-year-old babies are being locked up in this country.”
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