Australian anti-lockdown protesters clash with police at illegal rally in Melbourne
- More than 200 arrests were made at the illegal gathering as the city endures its sixth lockdown since the pandemic started
- Six officers were taken to hospital after they were pelted with projectiles and trampled in clashes with the crowd of about 700 people
Several police officers were wounded and hundreds of protesters were arrested in Australia’s second-largest city Saturday in violent clashes at an anti-lockdown march.
Officers used pepper spray and made more than 200 arrests in Melbourne as several hundred attendees flouted stay-at-home orders and marched through an inner-city suburb.
The illegal gathering took place as the city endures its sixth lockdown since the pandemic started, with the wider state of Victoria reporting over 500 cases of Covid-19 on Saturday.
Police said six officers were taken to hospital after they were pelted with projectiles and trampled in clashes with the crowd of about 700 people.
“What we saw today was a group of protesters that came together, not to protest freedoms, but simply to take on and have a fight with the police,” Victoria Police Commander Mark Galliott told media.
Police attempted to reduce access to the centre of the city, blocking roads and stopping public transport in a bid to avoid a repeat of violent scenes at a rally that drew thousands last month.
