police – DISACCORDS

Sydney: Four arrested as protesters clash with police outside Villawood detention centre

25 March 2017 – Protesters have camped outside Villawood detention centre overnight despite the arrest of four people yesterday.

The riot squad was called in at 3.30pm after an initial group of 30 protesters grew to around 70 and began blocking traffic on Birmingham Road.

Police said the group, who were gathered at the detention centre to protest the deportation of a 60-year-old Iraqi man identified only as Saeed, began to impede traffic in and out of the facility.

“This is kind the kind of horrible rise of racism we’re trying to fight here,” Josh Lees, a protester from the Refugee Action Coalition, said.

“We want to see a world of equality and justice not a world of division and hatred and racism.”

Protesters allegedly ignored several move-on directions from police and tried to break a police line, which was formed to allow traffic flow into the facility, just before 7.30pm.

Two men and two women were subsequently arrested.

The protesters allegedly tried to break the police line.

The two women, aged 25 and 29, were later released for breaching the peace.

An 18-year-old man, who was chased down a storm drain before being arrested, was charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest. He was granted bail and is expected to front court on April 12.

A 25-year-old man was issued with a Field Court Attendance Notice for assaulting police.

A police officer suffered minor injuries during the protest.

A small group of demonstrators camped out overnight at the detention centre to continue the protest.

One protester said they were “physically” trying to stop the deportation of the man.

“We’re trying to physically prevent a deportation of man who, if he is deported, his life is at risk,” she said.

“We’re not protesting, we’re actually trying to stop our government from violating international law.”

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection today confirmed Saeed will be deported.

PNG: Police, students clash; 23 injured

8 June – Police in Papua New Guinea fired gunshots Wednesday to quell a student protest demanding the prime minister’s resignation, the government said. The country’s police commissioner said nearly two dozen people were injured, but denied reports that as many as four people were killed.

Students in the South Pacific nation have been demanding for weeks that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill resign because of alleged corruption and mismanagement.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had been advised by the Australian embassy that police shot students in Port Moresby, the capital, as hundreds prepared to march from the University of Papua New Guinea to Parliament.

“I know that students have been shot, but we’re still trying to determine whether there have been deaths and how many have been injured,” Bishop told reporters. “We call on all sides to be calm and to de-escalate the tension and certainly call on all sides to respect the peaceful and lawful right to protest.”

Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that a Papua New Guinea lawmaker told Parliament that four students had been killed and seven wounded.

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Sydney: Man to be charged over vandalism of Police Wall of Remembrance

25 May – A man is expected to be charged over the vandalism of the police memorial in Sydney’s Domain that has been defaced twice in four days.

The wall displays the names of dozens of New South Wales police officers who lost their lives on the job, and is the site of the state’s annual National Police Remembrance Day service in September.

On Friday the NSW Police Wall of Remembrance was marked with scratches and abusive messages.

About 11.15pm, officers found the wall had been desecrated further, with black graffiti on the panels and the ground in front of the memorial.

Police believe both incidents are linked.

Earlier in the evening, the 30-year-old man believed to be responsible was arrested near the pedestrian overpass at The Domain following information from the public.

Police said the man resisted arrest and smashed the rear window of a police car as he was being taken to Day Street Police Station.

He was then taken to St Vincent’s Hospital to be treated for a possible medical condition about 11:00pm.

Officers said they expected to charge the man over both incidents once the 30-year-old was released from hospital.

On Saturday, police said the panels would need to be deconstructed and be professionally cleaned.

Sydney: Top cop demands ‘justice’ after police memorial vandalism

21 May – A ‘sacred’ memorial honouring NSW police who died on the job may have to be removed after a senseless and insulting desecration, police say.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has made a personal plea seeking justice over the vandalism of the Wall of Remembrance in Sydney’s Domain after it was scratched with glass or a rock by a man on Friday night.

‘There is no more important or sacred place in the country to the NSW Police Force, than this memorial,’ he said on Saturday, joining police and community members in expressing their disgust.

‘The person who has done this knows who they are. I am appalled and saddened that the names of our state’s heroes have been desecrated,’ Commissioner Scipione said.

Earlier, Sydney City Local Area Commander David Donohue said the memorial would likely need to be deconstructed and professionally polished, and that police were considering installing security cameras at the site to protect it in future.

They’ve already released CCTV footage of the man they believe was involved, and have collected fingerprint evidence.

Footage shows a man who ‘walked with a distinctive swagger’ who was also seen falling off his skateboard into oncoming traffic the same afternoon, Supt Donohue said.

‘It’s only a matter of time until we apprehend this person,’ he said.

‘This is a senseless act and an insult to all serving police officers in the state of NSW.’

The man faces a malignant damage charge and up to 15 years in jail.

Syndey: Cops Injured In Clash With Youths At Wild Bash In Abandoned Sydney Home

7 May – Police have clashed with revellers at a wild house party in Sydney’s south overnight.

A police officer was hospitalised and a teenager has been charged following the out-of-control party in a vacant house at Gymea on Friday night.

Shortly before 8pm officers attached to Sutherland Local Area Command were called to the property on View Street after complaints about the party, police said.

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Melbourne: Police and Protesters Clash Outside Liberal Party Dinner

8 April – Police have used capsicum spray on protesters outside a Liberal Party dinner to mark the 20th anniversary of the election of John Howard’s government.

However, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is suspected to have avoided the skirmish in Melbourne’s Docklands by arriving by boat and entering the back of Shed 14 behind a police line.

About 150 people gathered outside the Central Pier function venue about 6pm on Friday to protest the federal government’s changes to higher education and the treatment of asylum seekers.

Students, unionists and refugee activists held placards and chanted slogans such as “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts.”

The demonstrators scuffled with police, including about 50 uniformed officers, as well as five mounted police and some Australian Federal Police.

The protesters yelled “scum” and “shame” at guests and jostled them as they arrived at the venue and were ushered around the rear of the venue by security guards.

Some of the building’s windows were broken, with officers using pepper spray on about 20 people, including an ABC cameraman.

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‘Free Transport, Full Communism’: vandals encourage attacks on rail staff

CCTV footage of an assault against a ticket inspector

NOTE FROM DISACCORDS: Funnily enough, we actually don’t know have anything to do with these posters in Sydney, but we are glad to have fans in the city promoting the website.

18 March – Police are hunting a ‘deranged group of thugs’ who are inciting members of the public to physically attack transport officers, ticket inspectors and council rangers.

The cowardly vandals are also urging people to destroy train and bus ticket machines, Opal card readers and parking meters.

Going by the name Free Transport, Full Communism, the anarchist group also encourages public transport passengers to refuse to pay fares.

The group, which police have yet to track down or identify, has been plastering anti-establishment posters near train stations throughout the inner city.

Under the heading “Transport Officers Are Scum” and an image depicting two ticket inspectors with telescopic rifle sights on their faces, the poster refers to an anarchist website called “disaccords” which uploads articles about people rebelling against government.

“Spit venom and throw bricks at Transport Officers, Police, Rangers and every other stooge physically enforcing capitalist law,” it says.

The posters, which have been shared by thousands of Facebook users, have caused alarm among police, state and local government and transport and police unions, who fear people’s lives are at risk.

Rail staff have already been suffering a high rate of violent attacks. About 80 per cent of train guards on Sydney stations have experienced confrontations with violent or aggressive customers, according to a rail union survey.

Head of the Police Transport Command Max Mitchell confirmed rail officials and police in the Joint Transport Intelligence Group were searching for the anarchists.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance was appalled by the posters: “It’s disgusting to see material like this distributed in our community.”

Rail Tram & Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens described those behind the poster campaign as “grubs”.

Police Association president Scott Weber described the use of violence as cowardly. Police have asked the public for help in finding the group.