More than 200 people have been arrested after anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown protesters gathered for a fifth consecutive day of chaos in Melbourne.
Anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown protesters have dispersed after a fifth day of turbulent demonstrations in Melbourne led to more than 200 people being arrested.
Riot police converged on the city’s inner north on Friday afternoon after a group of about 80 protesters stormed Northcote Plaza and a nearby park, shouting “power to the people” and “every day”, while attempting to dodge cops.
Crews descended on the park shortly after the group gathered, quickly forming a ring around protesters as choppers circled overhead.
Victoria Police said 31 people were arrested in Northcote and a total of 215 protesters – some of whom gathered in the city centre – will be issued with penalty notices for breaching the chief health officer’s directions.
A number of other people will be charged with criminal offences including deception, theft and drug offences, police said.
“Police are disappointed to see the number of people who are continuing to breach the CHO directions and remind those people that we will not tolerate their behaviour and will continue to arrest and fine them if they are found to be in breach of the CHO directions,” a police spokeswoman said.
Police have been out in force in the city after a week of chaotic protests, stopping citizens on the street to ask for their identification and what they were doing in the city.
Social media users described Melbourne as “a dystopian city” as people in their apartments on High St, Northcote were warned to stay indoors.
The protesters vowed to return to the CBD every day until their demands were met, but Friday’s rally largely failed to materialise as rioters stayed away from the city.
More than 600 people have been arrested at illegal protests across the city since Saturday.
Hundreds of protesters occupied the Shrine of Remembrance for several hours on Wednesday, while on Tuesday thousands wreaked havoc on the West Gate Bridge.
On Monday, the demonstrators trashed the CFMEU office in Elizabeth St following a march through Richmond and Kew last Saturday where they clashed with police.
Police had largely quashed the rallies by Friday with a splattering of people stopped by police and demonstrators unable to group together.
Health Minister Martin Foley gave thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets this week an extraordinary serve at the state’s daily Covid-19 update on Friday.
He called out their “poor, rude and offensive behaviour”.
Mr Foley said he was concerned the disgusting behaviour of the “so-called freedom fighters” could impact the state’s vaccine rollout, given some were targeting vaccination centres.
“Degenerate to the point they’re so brave and strong they abuse vaccine centre workers who are out there supporting the most vulnerable in our community,” he said.
“These same heroes of Australian culture urinate and smash up garbage all around the Shrine of Remembrance.
“These are not heroes. These people need to pull their heads in and get on with supporting the wider Victorian community, who they have especially slapped their faces with their denialism and their poor, rude, and offensive behaviour.”
Mr Foley said the group was “losing oxygen” every day because the Victorian community did not support their behaviour.
“The Victorian community want to get on to get over the other side of this by working on the road map, by getting to the levels of vaccinations as soon as we can,” he said.
“Vandalising centres, abusing healthcare workers, desecrating places of remembrance such as the Shrine, this is not what makes Australia and Victoria a special place.
“Those people are unrepresentative. The people who are representative of Australia and our best shared values are those people who are going out and getting vaccinated at record levels.”
Mr Foley also had a crack at the protester who became so ill with the virus that he ended up in hospital.
“To pretend that something doesn’t exist and then for that very thing to put you in hospital is a message loud and clear that protesting against Covid-19 is futile,” Mr Foley said.
“There’s a clear message to everyone who thinks this is not real. It’s real and it can put you in hospital, it can affect your family, it can affect your community, it can affect you.”
Mr Foley said he did not know how ill the protester was but the person would be treated with the same level of care as any other Victorian who enters the health system.
He said they were very concerned about the potential for the protest to become a superspreader event, not just for the “ill advised protesters” but for the police who had to put themselves in harms way.
Mr Foley said the full picture of the positive cases at Wednesday’s rally may not be known for weeks.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton also slammed the protesters, who he said were anti-vax, anti-lockdown, anti-masks, anti-social distancing and “anti-everything”.
“They’re literally in a fantasy world,” he said.
“They think that everything will be solved by taking a horse deworming tablet, Ivermectin, that gives you the runs, and puts some people in hospital.
“Let’s not pretend these are otherwise rational individuals. They’re absolutely wacky.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiuwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS9uZXdzL2hlYWx0aC1taW5pc3Rlci1tYXJ0aW4tZm9sZXktdW5sb2Fkcy1vbi1pbGxlZ2FsLXByb3Rlc3RlcnMtZGVzZWNyYXRpbmctdGhlLXNocmluZS1vZi1yZW1lbWJyYW5jZS9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzQyMTM1NTcwNjc0ZjMwYjU3NGY2MmI3MDQ2OTZiMWY10gEA?oc=5
2021-09-24 08:48:45Z
52781893824564
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Fifth day of Melbourne protests ends at Northcote Plaza, 200 arrested | news.com.au — Australia's leading news site - NEWS.com.au"
Post a Comment