Coronavirus: Melbourne police make arrests at anti-lockdown protest
An officer was taken to hospital and police made at least 10 arrests at an anti-lockdown protest on the steps of state parliament | PICTURES
A police officer has been taken to hospital with a rib injury and Victoria Police have arrested ten people at an anti-lockdown protest on the steps of state parliament.
While some among the several hundred people who gathered from midday simply wanted restrictions eased for the sake of their personal freedom, anti-vaccination placards were prominent, with many protesters bringing their children.
At one point protesters chanted “arrest Bill Gates” - an apparent reference to the Microsoft founder’s role in funding mass-vaccination programs and research.
Other protesters made reference to the 5G mobile phone network, amid a conspiracy theory about it being linked to the spread of COVID-19, while others still presented a dossier “proving” coronavirus is “fake news” concocted by “the government and the media”.
In a statement police said that while they respect the public’s right to protest, Victorians’ health and safety needs to be their top priority.
“Victoria Police made it very clear that if a planned protest was to proceed today, it would be in direct contravention of the Chief Health Officer’s current directives,” a police spokeswoman said.
“At the protest on Spring Street today, police arrested 10 people, including two organisers of the event. OC spray was deployed during an arrest of one individual.”
Police said the majority of arrests were for failing to comply with the Chief Health Officer’s directions.
“Three of the offenders will also be charged with assaulting a police officer, and another offender will be charged with discharging a missile after allegedly throwing a bottle at police,” the spokeswoman said.
“All offenders were released pending summons.
“As a result of the protest activity, a police officer who was in attendance has been taken to hospital for what is believed to be a rib injury.
“When attending the protest today, the priority for police was to quickly arrest those individuals who were acting unlawfully and inciting others to breach the Chief Health Officer’s directions.
“Once police made arrests, the crowd started to disperse.
“Police are continuing to investigate the events of today in order to identify other people who were in attendance.
“Once individuals are identified, we will be issuing them with fines and will consider any other enforcement options.”
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