The second most populous city in the country is experiencing its sixth blockade since the epidemic began.
Hundreds of protesters were arrested and police injured on Saturday, Sept. 18 in Melbourne, Australia, during violent clashes with protesters opposing the blockade.
Police used pepper spray and made more than 200 arrests in the country’s second most populous city, where hundreds of people violated their obligation to stay home to demonstrate. Melbourne is going through its sixth blockade since the start of the pandemic, and the state of Victoria, where it is located, recorded more than 500 Covid-19 cases on Saturday.
Police said six police officers were hospitalized after being shot and trampled during clashes with about 700 protesters.
“What we’ve seen today is a group that came together, not to demand more freedoms, but to face and fight the police.”Victoria Police Commander Mark Galliott told reporters.
Police tried to prevent protesters from entering the city center by blocking roads and stopping public transport in order to prevent a repeat of the scenes of violence that marked the previous rally in August, which was attended by thousands of people. The protesters therefore met elsewhere. The footage shows a crowd running down a police cordon as a scuffle breaks out along a streetcar line.
Protesters break through the police line, a policeman is beaten and trampled by protesters, people scream and are covered in pepper spray. @the age pic.twitter.com/qXX9lIAZRJ
– David Estcourt (@davidestcourt) September 18, 2021