Sat 18 September 2021:
Hundreds of protestors were arrested and several police officers were injured in violent clashes at an anti-lockdown march in Australia’s second-largest city on Saturday.
In Melbourne, officers used pepper spray and made over 200 arrests as hundreds of people defied stay-at-home orders and marched through an inner-city area.
The illegal gathering occurs as the city enters its sixth lockdown since the pandemic began, with over 500 cases of Covid-19 reported around Victoria on Saturday.
Six cops were brought to the hospital after being assaulted with objects and trampled after conflicts with the mob of roughly 700 individuals, according to police.
“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.
To avoid a repetition of the violent scenes at a rally that drew thousands last month, police attempted to restrict access to the city center by blocking roads and suspending public transportation.
However, the protesters dispersed, with footage from one incident showing a throng storming over a police line as scuffles broke out along a tram route.
A similar rally in Sydney was thwarted by a large police presence, with policemen surrounding a park where the protest was scheduled to take place.
Police in New South Wales claimed they detained roughly 20 people in the city, mostly on public transportation, and several others in smaller groups across the state.
Both cities are enduring lengthy lockdowns as authorities race to vaccinate a way out of restrictions amid growing outbreaks.
For the most of the pandemic, Australia was able to achieve “Covid-zero” thanks to closed international borders and mobility restrictions.
However, the appearance of the Delta variety reintroduced stay-at-home orders in the country’s two major cities early this year, and authorities are now aiming for a 70 percent vaccination rate before lifting lockdowns further.
(Input with agency)
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