Flagwit Rally, June 25, 2017 : Recap

Above : A choice poster from the Carlton Gardens.

The Melton-based grouplet True Blue Crew (TBC) organised an ‘Australian Pride’ rally in Melbourne today; the Campaign Against Racism & Fascism in conjunction with No Room For Racism organised a counter-rally to oppose it.

In brief:

About 100 or so fascists (possibly fewer, and mostly familiar faces), assembled in Carlton Gardens at approximately 11am, near the corner of Victoria & Rathdowne streets, as did a larger counter-protest nearby (and closer to the intersection). Several hundred police were also present, separating the two groups and otherwise maintaining a presence in the Gardens. After half-an hour or so of milling about and shouting, the fascists made their way to the Gardens near the corner of Victoria & Nicholson streets. With several hundred police reinforcements, they then marched up Nicholson onto Spring street before assembling in front of the Parliament — the counter-rally tried to follow but was blocked by police and forced to approach Parliament up Bourke street, before again being blocked by a police line at the corner of Bourke & Spring streets.

For maybe 30 minutes or so the fascists chanted, sang an awful rendition of the STRAYAN anthem (stopping after the first verse — lol), while also being treated to some speechifying by United Patriots Front (UPF) fuehrer Blair ‘A picture of Adolf Hitler in every Australian classroom!’ Cottrell and his sidekick, Li’l Tommy Sewell. (On a brighter note, the patriotik dregs were also treated to ‘77%’ by The Herd, which was blasting from the counter-rally.) The fascists were then marched by police back the way they came, up Nicholson street and to the Gardens, at which point they dispersed. The counter-rally was blocked by police from returning to the Gardens and at some point police used pepper spray (near the corner of Russell & Lonsdale streets), which affected maybe 10 or more individuals.

Unbelievable protests in the city. Anti-racism left marching & running through city streets crippling traffic. @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/vqTBXhSWFN

— Laura Spurway (@laura_spurway) June 25, 2017

Spotted at the fascist rally were members of TBC and UPF, obviously, Soldiers of Odin, and a handful of members of neo-Nazi grouplet Right Wing Resistance Australia. (Most who sported merch were wearing TBC gear, although a handful had UPF.) Notable for their absence was the Kekistani Army, with just one yoof sporting the flag. Finally, rather than retire to The Pumphouse as on previous occasions, a small group of fascists was escorted by police to Fed Square, where they were welcomed by Transport Bar.

So:

Congratulations to police (I guess) on facilitating a fascist rally and march through Melbourne (and for pepper-spraying opponents — for medical advice, please see Black Cross Resilience); the size of the fascist crowd was approximately the same as it was 12 months ago, if not slightly smaller, with those present forming the core of extreme-right opinion in Melbourne. They were vocal, and cobbled together from every tinpot group in town and from further afield (principally Bendigo). Despite some frothing-at-the-mouth commentary by some TBC loons, there were no clashes between the two sides as far as I’m aware, with police being delegated the task of protecting the rally and march — which, with overwhelming force, they achieved. Finally, any possibility of halting a fascist march in future will likely depend on there being (many) more counter-protesters — a possibility, but one requiring a good deal of work.

In any case, mAd props to every one who came out today to oppose the flagwits!

See also : Knife, knuckleduster confiscated as right-wing, anti-racism protesters clash in city, Alexandra Laskie, The Age, June 25, 2017 | ‘Australian Pride’ protesters face anti-racism protesters in Melbourne, SBS (AAP), June 25, 2017. Note that police had declared the CBD a designated area between the hours of 8am and 8pm today, giving them carte blanche to conduct searches.

Above : As noted, a handful of members of neo-Nazi groupuscule ‘Right Wing Resistance Australia’ were present. From L to R : Cleve Pepprell (?); ‘Sammy Chelsea’; James Lawrence; unknown. Note that one member of RWRAU, Ricky White, was arrested in September last year and charged with the arson of a church in Taree: I’ve no idea what’s become of his case. Finally, note that most neo-Nazis have too many smarts to wear their swastikas in public and for today’s performance the Nazi flag was replaced by the Australian.

NB. NO BEER FOR YOU!

At around 3.30–4pm today, a small group of TBC gronks, including their lvl boss Kane Miller, attended The Curtin Hotel opposite Victorian Trades Hall Council.

Upon entering the premises they proceeded to the bar, but were denied service, and left. As they did so the boys shouted something about ‘slanty-eyed c*nts’, and otherwise entertained pub-goers and passersby with abuse (‘f*cking dirty lefties’ etc., etc., etc.).

Props to the staff at The Curtin for showing the boys the door.

Otherwise, while they remain a very small group of racist meatheads, the fact that the TBC receives the nurturance and support of VicPol means incidents like this will become more likely … and the situation end in tears.

Coburg 1 /// Fascists 0; Or: The neo-Nazi rally that brought anti-fascists to the streets of Coburg

Huh.

There’s been rather a lot of media attention paid to the events in Coburg on Saturday. Below are a few scattered thoughts and links to some reportage. I may add some more in the next few days …

• Most of the reportage has been poor, and frequently incorrect. Thus, in terms of chronology, several months ago Moreland City councillor Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance) organised a rally for May 28 titled ‘Moreland says NO to Racism’. It was to take place outside Coburg Library and then to march to Bridges Reserve for a picnic. Weeks later, members of the Melton and Bendigo-based ‘True Blue Crew’ (TBC) decided to organise a counter-rally at Bridges Reserve: the endpoint of the proposed march. They were soon joined by their comrades in the neo-Nazi grouplet ‘United Patriots Front’ (UPF).
• Bolton’s event proposed to gather support to ‘Stop the forced closure of Aboriginal communities – Treaty now’, to ‘Let the refugees in – Close Manus and Nauru’ and to say ‘No to Islamophobia’. The TBC (and UPF & Co.) intended to ‘Stop the Far Left!’, to ‘Support the Australian Government[‘]s Use of the Offshore Detention Centers That Protect Our Nation’ and to stop the Islamisation of Coburg (and presumably, by extension, Melbourne and Bendigo).
• The organisation by neo-Nazis, fascists and racists (ie, ‘ordinary mums and dads’) of a rally in a suburb like Coburg — one which also intended to shutdown a ‘left’ event — naturally drew the attention of local anti-fascists.

• On the day, the police strategy was to facilitate both rallies and to keep participants from clashing. In practice, this meant attempting to confine ‘anti-racists’ to the Coburg Mall and ‘patriots’ inside Bridges Reserve. Media report that something like 500 police were mobilised/available for the occasion.
• The ‘Moreland says NO to Racism’ rally proceeded but organisers did not join with others who marched from the Library up Sydney Road to Bell Street. On Bell Street, outside the Reserve, the ‘patriots’ assembled on the road but were prevented from marching up it, and then down Sydney Road, by two lines of police and a crowd of anti-fascists.
• Something in the order of 50-100 people rallied with the TBC and the UPF. A large number of these rally-goers were from Bendigo and Melton and travelled from Bendigo on a bus specially hired for the occasion.

• The last time the UPF organised a rally in Melbourne was about six months ago, in late November. See : #UnitedPatriotsFront fails to rise in #Melbourne. Again., November 28, 2015. Around 40 or so attended. This suggests that there’s been little if any growth in the UPF’s ability to attract a crowd, at least in Melbourne. The UPF has, however, established a small base in Bendigo and a smaller one in Perth. NB. As elsewhere in the country, the UPF has attracted the support of neo-Nazis in Perth. Several of them, belonging to neo-Nazi grouplet ‘Aryan Nations’, were recently arrested and charged with murder; the Aryans in Perth played host to the UPF when they travelled to that city to attend the Reclaim Australia rally last year. See : Murder shines spotlight on Australia’s white supremacist subculture, news.com.au, May 23, 2016.
• The UPF’s first rally in Richmond was rather similar to this, their latest public outing. Like the May 28, 2016 rally, the May 31, 2015 rally was directed at a socialist councillor (Stephen Jolly). See : #UnitedPatriotsFront sent packing in Richmond, May 31, 2015. It failed to unseat him, triggered a bizarre UPF letter-writing campaign to the Governor-General — His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) — demanding that he remove Jolly from office, and witnessed clashes as the UPF (with police assistance) tried and failed to occupy the Town Hall steps.
• A small number of neo-Nazis known to have attended previous ‘patriotic’ rallies were out and about on Saturday. These apparently (according to ex-UPF member Neil Erikson) included Mark Hootsen (Nationalist Alternative), Joey Edwards and Dan Newman (Combat 18). Toby Cook (Party for Freedom, Sydney) waved a silly sign and wore Golden Dawn merch, while former UPF lackey Linden Watson also made an appearance. Oddly, UPF supporter Warren Broadhead waved an Israeli flag, while a neo-Nazi (name unknown), who’s previously served as a minder to young bonehead James Lawrence, was also present. Visible neo-Nazi markings were relatively rare, though three or four men sported Nazi Werwolf insignia.

• Speaking of flags, the UPF left a number of theirs behind.

• Despite some media reportage to the contrary, the anti-fascist action on Saturday witnessed the participation of a relatively high proportion of locals.
• Melbourne Antifascist Info provides the following account of events:

The United Patriots Front (stealing the thunder of the True Blue Crew, who were happy to ride their big brothers’ coat tails) assembled a fascist gathering of about 150 in Bridges Reserve Coburg around 10am (some in Nazi regalia), making to march down and disrupt Moreland Says No to Racism. A small contingent of antifascists comprising a large nunber of locals managed to head them off on Bell Street and disrupt their progress. In the ensuing mayhem, notorious methgoblin Zane Chapman and True Blue Crew leader Kane Miller were arrested and OC sprayed respectively. Both ended the day in tears (see photos).

Police officers on the scene found the love in the air too much to handle, and had a bit of a weep themselves. Officers deployed OC foam repeatedly against antifascists and fascists, and many unlucky Nazis went home with untreated chemical burns. At least four non-hostile photojournalists were directly capsicum sprayed by officers, one in the lens of his camera.

For the next couple hours, the UPF and TBC failed spectacularly to mobilise on multiple occasions, and were moved in a kettle back and forth until they unceremoniously gave up. Their every move, and indeed their tail-between-the-legs extraction, was carefully facilitated and managed by hundreds of police, without whose indulgence they wouldn’t have been able to leave the carpark, but even with whose concerted support they were still unable to march. Meanwhile, Moreland Says No to Racism’s rally proceeded unopposed and was a roaring success, moving freely through the streets and celebrating Coburg’s unity and diversity in the face of racist fearmongering. The TBC’s stated aim, of making the No to Racism rally unviable, was not only not achieved, it didn’t even barely get off the ground. Fascist symbols were seized, chucked in the bin and used as doormats by enthusiastic Coburgers.

On a sadder note, the Melbourne Street Medics Collective was left to fend for themselves as Nazis charged their triage area, beat up casualties and Medics and unbelievably attacked the ambulance and paramedics attempting to evacuate a severely injured protestor. As comrades, we are sorry that the Medics were not better protected and we implore all activists to place these invaluable people highest on their list of solidarity priorities.

Mad props to all involved, you’ll always lose in Coburg.

In which context: both fascists and police have targeted MSMC previously, most notoriously at the joint Reclaim Australia/UPF rally in Melbourne on July 18. Future events will obviously require a more concerted effort on the part of anti-fascists to protect the MSMC from attack. By the same token, legal monitoring and support for the arrested as well as the injured will likely be a priority.

• In general, given the circumstances, the day went about as well as could be expected. Importantly, and despite fascist, police and media agitation in favour of its cancellation, the ‘Moreland Says NO to Racism’ rally was neither stopped nor attacked. Further, the TBC, UPF & Co were prevented from marching through Coburg. This was only as the result of the determined action of the hundreds who gathered on Bell Street to stop it.
• Media report that 7 (seven) people were arrested on the day: ‘Police said two people were arrested for riotous behaviour, one for assaulting police and one for hindering police. Another was arrested for robbery. Two people were arrested before the rally for weapons offences.’ It seems likely that these will not be the only people to be arrested and charged in connection to Saturday’s events.
• Capsicum foam has again been confirmed as a now-routine part of policing ‘public order’ situations.
• Predictably, media and police have seized on the fact that some people wore masks to the protests. Apart from anything else, there are actually laws on the books which police can utilise if they feel the need. As lawyer Rob Stary has pointed out, s49c of the Summary Offences Act makes ‘Being disguised with unlawful intent’ a crime. Otherwise, see : Masks up (Andy Fleming, Overland, December 15, 2015); Why Masks? (Melbourne Antifascists, September 8, 2015); Why Wear Masks? (Nerve Magazine, May 10, 2016).

• Socialist media coverage: Moreland says NO to Racism rally succeeds in peaceful rally against racism, Green Left Weekly (Socialist Alliance), May 28, 2016; Fascists driven out of Coburg, Corey Oakley, Red Flag (Socialist Alternative), May 28, 2016.

• Other media: Anti-Islam protests descend into violence in Melbourne, Krystal Johnson and AAP, Yahoo7 and Agencies, May 28, 2016 | Police launch task force to investigate violent anti-racism and anti-Islam rally in Melbourne, 9NEWS, May 29, 2016 | Coburg rallies: Seven arrested as police separate anti-racism, anti-immigration protesters, ABC, May 28, 2016 | Australia immigration: Rival Melbourne rallies spark clashes, BBC, May 28, 2016 | Violence erupts at Australia immigration rallies, Deutsche Welle, May 28, 2016 | Coburg rally: Police out in force as anti-Islam, anti-racist groups face off, Wes Hosking, James Dowling, Herald Sun, May 28, 2016 | Cowards blamed for violent Melbourne rally, SBS (AAP), May 28, 2016 | The anti-racism rally that brought Nazis to the streets of Coburg, Bianca Hall, The Age, May 29, 2016 | Melbourne protests: seven arrested as clashes erupt between opposing rallies, Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian, May 28, 2016.

See also : Outlawing anti-fascism, Corey Oakley, Red Flag, May 31, 2016 | Fascism, Anti-fascism, and a coffee shop full of white liberals, George K, Secretagoo, June 2, 2016.

Bonus!

MSMC STATEMENT ‪#‎Coburg‬, May 28 – “Solidarity is not just a word”

Many of our comrades have provided thorough and well-articulated accounts of what transpired and how events unfolded in Coburg on Saturday, when due to being left without the support of the bulk of people who were initially on Bell Street, our medics and the casualties they were attending ended up behind police lines, open to not one but two attacks by the racists and fascists. For those wanting a detailed chronology and report, we would direct you to Slackbastard’s rundown as well as this timeline outlined by Melbourne Antifascist Info.

As many of our supporters will be aware, there has been much coverage and debate already about the unfortunate situation that the Melbourne Street Medic Collective (MSMC) found itself in, when our triage space on Bell Street was left inadequately protected and was subsequently charged and attacked by members of the far-right. It is true that both casualties and those of us who support the injured were attacked. To this we would like to point out the nauseating cowardice of those members of the True Blue Crew, United Patriots Front and the affiliated crew of motley thugs and neo-Nazis who seized the ‘opportunity’ to attack those most vulnerable on Saturday and ask all readers to consider this as part of a mounting case of evidence that the far right were doing anything but merely defending the supposed instigation of violence from antifa, despite their bleating insistence to that effect.

At the heart of Street Medicine is an appreciation of the systems of domination & oppression that make us and our communities sick. Capitalism and its symptoms are indeed destroying our communities and laying waste to the health of generations. This could not have been clearer on Saturday and provided a timely reminder for us all to reject the scapegoats thrust forward by politicians and abetted by the mainstream media – refugees, queers, feminists and Muslims are truly distractions put forward to divert us from the true oppression of capitalism and its ability to isolate, disenfranchise and divide us.

So while we see the need to oppose fascist bullying and intimidation – especially in thriving multicultural centres like Coburg – the need to dismantle a system that turns disenfranchised working-class people against one another must be replaced.

Further, MSMC would like to take a moment to reflect on suggestions made that the matters of hate-speech and fascism are best handled by the influence of police. On Saturday Victoria Police, while exercising extreme force with an apparent lack of discrimination or mercy, showed no consideration to the injured and hurt. To this we call shame on Victoria Police and assert that we unequivocally cannot surrender responsibility for the defence and protection of our communities to their authority.

In contrast MSMC stands in solidarity with the brave paramedics who attended and were besieged and intimidated in their ambulance by aforementioned fascists, neo-Nazis and thugs. These individuals acted courageously in the face of utterly unreasonable circumstances.

Specifically, there are a number of things that we strongly encourage. We would encourage a respectful and open dialogue prior to actions. We acknowledge the differences in many groups’ political analysis and tactics, and on this basis we encourage more thorough, widespread and representative communication-sharing between groups and individuals during the course of rallies, in the spirit of comradely collaboration and to enable individuals and groups to make informed decisions about their actions and movements. We would encourage a respect for some baseline levels of safety, such as the needs of the Street Medics not being dismissed when we communicate these at actions – requesting extra people to provide support, or safety in numbers, and things as simple as helping to form privacy circles. We encourage people to buddy up, and not leave their friends and individual members of their groups and organisations behind if they require assistance with getting home due to OC spray exposure – particularly with roaming groups of racists and fascists around. We also encourage people at actions to be aware of those around them, and that for example things such as OC spray are imprecise weapons that are designed to spread to a radius of people. We have absolutely no desire to police people’s behaviour, but rather to provide support for our communities and to promote sustainable activism that works against burnout and trauma from police violence.

Finally, whilst we are still gathering our thoughts on all that transpired, we do look forward to the opportunity to engage in a continuing dialogue with various organisers and groups around solidarity and adequate support of all factions at future demonstrations. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better and we’re keen to now look towards an immediate future where mutual aid, care and respect get rapidly much better. Solidarity is action, not just a word.

#Reclaim Australia : November 22, 2015 : Post-match

Above : A protest sign in Melton featuring the neo-Nazi leader of the UPF, Blair Cotrell, and one of his quotes on skool curricula. For more see : Quotations From Chairman Blair Cottrell (July 27, 2015).

‘Reclaim Australia’ (RA) held a series of anti-Muslim rallies across the country on Sunday, November 22. These were the third series of such rallies to have taken place this year, previous rallies having been held on April 4 and July 18/19. This post contains links to reportage on the rallies (and counter-rallies) as well as a few additional notes.

In general, this third round seems to have witnessed slightly smaller numbers of Reclaimers assemble than did previously (Newcastle seems to have been the sole exception). Events in major cities — especially in Melbourne and Sydney — were heavily policed, and police adopted the basic strategy of attempting to keep the two sides widely separated via the use of mobile barriers, regular police and riot squads, and through the use of mounted police (in the cases of Adelaide and Melton). In this task they were largely successful.

Regarding Melton/Melbourne, the conviction and sentencing of Braybrook Reclaimer Phill Galea for weapons offences on Friday, while seemingly prompting the Bendigo-based groupsucule ‘The Resistance Victoria’ to abandon attendance, doesn’t seem to have had much impact on other Reclaimers in Melton, with local far-right networks organised around the ‘Patriots Defence League of Australia’ (PDLA) and racist yoof gang ‘True Blue Crew’ (TBC) being prominent.

I’ll be adding more details to the accounts below as the week progresses.

This account by Rachel Baxendale in The Australian (Reclaim Australia rallies: Two sides go to war in towns, cities, November 23, 2015) provides a general overview of events:

Hundreds of Reclaim Australia protesters and their opponents have held rallies in cities and towns across Australia, with riot police using capsicum spray to subdue violent members of both groups.

Rallies were held in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and Alice Springs, as well as at Townsville [at which Pauline Hanson spoke] and Cairns in north Queensland, Mildura in northwestern Victoria and Esperance in Western Australia.

At Melton in Melbourne’s outer northwest, there were six arrests as hundreds of police, including members of the air-wing, mounted branch and dog squad, maintained a barrier between about 500 protesters from each group.

A 29-year-old man who punched a police horse was subdued with capsicum spray and charged with animal cruelty, while three men were charged over possession of knives and another two with riotous behaviour.

Victoria Police Acting Commander Alan Byrnes said three members of the public were hurt, but the protest was largely peaceful. “It’s always a bit disappointing to see people turn up with masks,” he said. “You wonder what their motives are for doing that.”

A coalition of socialist, anarchist and unionist groups calling themselves No Room for Racism chanted “Nazi scum off our streets”, “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land” and “Shame, shame, Victoria Police”.

On the other side of the police line, Australian flag-clad youths screamed “you are a f..kwit” at a Syrian woman addressing the No Room for Racism group.

Melton father Luke Mackie said he had joined the Reclaim Australia protest because he opposed an Islamic school being built in the area.

“How can they be calling us Nazis when they’re the ones discriminating against us?” he said. “My kids aren’t Catholic, but they go to a Catholic school. They won’t be allowed to go to this Muslim school.”

In Sydney, police arrested two people as up to 1000 packed parts of Martin Place, with police lines again separating the demonstrations. About 300 people associated with the Refugee Action Coalition and the Socialist Alliance pushed up against police along Macquarie Street. A 36-year-old man was arrested for allegedly damaging a memorial while a 16-year-old boy was issued a “move on” direction for allegedly breaching the peace.

Speaking to several hundred anti-Islam protesters, the founder of Reclaim Australia, Catherine Brennan [Liz Shepherd], said recent events in Paris had worried many Australians. “I think there were a lot more people than we were originally expecting,” she said. “Because of the Paris attacks — unfortunately.”

Additional Reporting: AAP.

See also : Ugly clashes at anti-Islam rallies in Australia, BBC, November 23, 2015 | Eight charged after Reclaim Australia rallies turn violent, SBS, November 23, 2015 | Anti-Racist Activists Drown out Reclaim Australia Rallies, El Sur TV, November 22, 2015.

Otherwise …

ADELAIDE

Attracting relatively strong crowds on April 4 and July 18, Adelaide saw several hundred join the RA rally on November 22. Those who organised in opposition appear to have been successful in attracting the greatest support. Grace Hill writes:

In Adelaide, Reclaim had to meet at an alternate location to parliament to try and get away from us, a victory from the outset. We marched to meet them, and it was immediately apparent that we outnumbered them. Their planned march was cancelled due to us blocking the entrance to the square. Congratulations to everyone who attended the counter-rally!

See : Police separate opposing protesters at Reclaim Australia rally in Adelaide, Meagan Dillon, The Advertiser, November 23, 2015.

BRISBANE

Sadly for Reclaimers, the Brisbane rally appears to have suffered from some serious PA problems, which have been the subject of many complaints online from the 1-200 or so who rocked up. The presence of several CFMEU flags at the counter-rally irked others.

Among those who did join the Reclaimers was an Adolf Hitler impersonator (!) and a handful of boneheads belonging to tiny neo-Nazi groupscule ‘Right Wing Resistance Australia’, the local branch of the New Zealand organisation. (See : Right Wing Resistance New Zealand.) On July 18, members of RWR, PDLA and other nazis acted as marshals at the event.

A comrade from Brisbane writes:

In total, there were maybe 250 on our side & 100 on theirs. It was scheduled to start @ Emma Miller Place @ noon. I got to the Roma Street station @ 11.30am & was kinda surprised that I had to walk past the RA area to get to where around 100 ‘Say No To Racism’ folk were already pressed against police barriers & in full voice.

Noticing a way to get past police into their area I went in & ripped out anything I could see plugged in before some RA & cops came to stop me. The cops were a wee bit unsure what to do with me as I looked like ‘commie scum’ but needed a walking stick. I made a bit of a fuss & the RA wanted me arrested but cops just took me to our side haha.

Apparently each mob ended up where they did because our mob pushed through initial police lines while they were still setting up. Highlights: their PA not working; seeing Hitler, more than a few boneheads. Swastika & SS tatts got a guernsey & we genuinely made them really fucking mad. Catching a cop tapping his foot to “FUCK OFF NAZI FUCK OFF! FUCK OFF NAZI FUCK OFF!” was great. There was one arrest when a RA supporter tried to get over the police barrier: an exercise in futility as they had a line of cops stopping them & we had PSRT (Public Safety Response Team) riot cops stopping us.

The energy this time was amazing. It was an almost celebratory mood on our side, despite their increase in numbers & increase in bonehead presence.

An hour earlier out at Logan the PDLA held an anti immigration rally, so if they’d been there there may have been even more aggression from them as they seem to have some proper psychos in their ranks. Fuck knows why they did their own thing Sunday but aside from a small group of bikies turning up to the RA rally late I don’t think many from their rally rocked up.

Kim Vuga was at the RA rally but we could hear & see fuck all as when they had speakers they were forced to huddle together in the back of their area to hear anything. PA probs apparently. As I say it was a real party atmosphere on our side.

After a few hours RA organisers started rounding up their mob & they drifted off with police protection as usual (we weren’t able to leave our area) to the sounds of “YOU’LL ALWAYS LOSE IN BRISBANE” & “FUCK OFF NAZI FUCK OFF”. Our mob, when able to leave (about 30 mins after the fash) spontaneously took to the streets & marched to King George Square where people milled around before drifting off. We should’ve done a march through the city or had a street sit-in but hey …

Finally, another highlight was a number of new faces on our side who had attended as a direct result of Paris. It was the most anarchist comrades I’ve seen in one place for a while too and it was nice to catch up with people. Ummm … the cops even seemed to be a bit more receptive to our presence & a bit put out by RA causing them to use up so many resources this time. Their whole demeanour when dealing with us was quite reasonable. Police negotiators didn’t even bother with us either, just went straight to their mob. Anyway that’s about it … aside from some positive talk among anarchists about doing stuff out my way. Yay!

See : The face-tattooed protesters and Adolf Hitler lookalikes whose appearance at a Reclaim Australia rally mocks the group’s claim that it stands for ‘ordinary’ people, Lucy Mae Beers, Daily Mail (Australia), November 23/4, 2015.

CAIRNS

In Cairns, around 300 or so people attended the RA rally, and just a handful were present to express disagreement.

CANBERRA

A small number of Reclaimers — perhaps 100 or so — attended the Canberra leg of the event. A crowd roughly similar in size counter-protested. Among those who spoke at the RA rally were Shermon Burgess (‘The Great Aussie Patriot’) and close ally Ralph Cerminara (above) of the ‘Australian Defence League’. A month or so prior to his address outside Parliament House, and in the wake of the Parramatta shooting, Cerminara called upon his 5,000 or so followers on Facebook to launch “lone wolf” attacks upon mosques and imams. His Facebook page was subsequently closed, though he remains very active on another page called ‘Left Wings Bigots & Extremists Exposed’, which identifies alleged ‘extremists’ and documents some of his encounters with them. His most recent focus has been upon Black Rose infoshop in Newtown. Joining him in his crusade is Nick Folkes of the ‘Party for Freedom’. Folkes along with Burgess are currently organising and promoting a Cronulla riot re-enactment, scheduled to take place on December 12.

Roxley Foley writes:

Unreported by any news outlet was the amazing rejection of the theatre of hate and division seen across the nation. Amongst the anti racism protesters arrived a delegation of first nations representatives from all corners of the country. The delegation had taken time out of a week long series of meetings at the tent embassy to make a unified denouncement of Reclaim Australia but also to teach the anti racism protesters that hate cannot be beaten by hate. Warriors and healers lit a sacred fire and spoke of the need to confront the wound and legacies of racism to which Reclaim are just a modern symptom and were urged not to fall into the trap of fueling the energy of the opposing side. Unfortunately the initial arrival of howling Reclaimers was too much and anti racism organisers urged the crowd to yell and scream at Reclaim. The resulting spectacle was predictable and depressing. At the peak of sides hurling abuse the warriors made the call to the crowd to turn their backs and walk away back to the circle. The change in energy was almost immediate and without a source to reflect their outrage Reclaimers taunts were pitiful and almost humorous, provoking laughter as we sat in a circle together. Within a very short amount of time Reclaim lost its steam and faces of regret, shame and humiliation amongst their side could be seen. Federal police officers approached us after Reclaim had left, amazed at how we had deescalated the situation and sincerely thanked us. Hate and anger are vicious circles that can only be beaten by compassion, understanding and a little bit of laughter. The true spirit of this land and people shined that day and the media chose to report a story of a nation tearing itself apart, but those who were there experienced something special.

See : Reclaim Australia and Canberra Anti-Racism Network members face-off outside Parliament House, ABC, November 22, 2015 | Protesters face-off in Canberra: Reclaim Australia and ‘anti-racism’ rallies at Parliament House, Christopher Knaus, The Canberra Times, November 22, 2015.

HOBART

Around 50 or 60 people attended the RA rally in Hobart with well over twice as many assembling to oppose them.

An anti-fascist in Hobart writes:

On 22 November approximately 40-50 racists, bigots and assorted potatriots assembled in the car park of Franklin Square. (Franklin Square was closed for renovations so they had to make do with the car park.) Anti-racists and anti-fascists had booked Parliament lawn to hold a counter rally in the knowledge that Franklin Square was closed and to disallow the bigots use of the space.

The counter rally attracted between 200-250 people from a broad range of society and had a local band performing. Speeches were given by a local Indigenous representative, a spokesperson from Tasmania Welcomes Diversity and several refugees.

There was about 20 police in attendance and the bigots, headed by Danny Bell (former admin of UPF-Tasmania) were told to disperse from the car park. They then attempted to rally at Parliament lawns but were held back by a line of police. Rally organisers and attendees made the collective decision to continue listening to speeches and let the bigots make themselves look stupid, which they happily obliged in doing.

Yelling ‘paedophile lovers’, ‘traitors’ and ‘flag burning scum’ through a single megaphone, the UPF drew the ire of passers by and laughter from the anti-racism rally. Locals in the area were also overheard voicing their disgust at the sad spectacle.

The UPF continued their rally from behind police lines for another 20 or so minutes before dispersing and heading to one of the few local bars that will have them.

It’s worth noting that their numbers were considerably larger than at their previous event, but that is most likely owing to Reclaim Australia’s involvement and the events in Paris. Reclaim Australia had pulled out of organising the event just days prior, and the UPF had stepped up. UPF involvement caused considerable angst amongst some RA supporters, and the turn-out reflected this.

The decision by counter protesters not to physically or verbally engage with the UPF was a tactical one, and done in the knowledge that the Tasmanian UPF and RA have very little capacity for organisation or ability to have a broad impact. In this circumstance, the tactic worked well, and the UPF showed themselves to be a small group of sad, incoherent fools with very little support in the broader Tasmanian community. That said, we stand firmly in solidarity with all anti-fascist and anti-racist groups who mobilised around Australia on the day and do so with an appreciation that fighting fascism requires a number of tactics across many fronts.

See : Police keep the peace between United Patriot Front, Reclaim Australia and rival protesters in Hobart, Lucy Shannon, ABC, November 23, 2015.

MELBOURNE (MELTON)

Farmer John, from United Patriots [Front], spoke to the crowd while it chanted “No Muslims in Melton”, and threatened more violent action.

“We’re going to burn every mosque down if they build them … Let’s stick it up them,” he said.

~ Anti-Islam, anti-racism protesters clash at violent Melton rallies, Cassie Zervos, Andrew Jefferson, Kara Irving, Herald Sun, November 23, 2015.

The RA rally in Melton — ostensibly called in order to protest the construction of a mosque and an Islamic skool in the area — witnessed a number of scuffles between Reclaimers and counter-protesters, and a handful of arrests. Media scrutiny was intensive and the conflicts occupied center-stage in media reportage, though there were no serious injuries.

It’s widely estimated that around 3-500 people attended both the rally and counter-rally (though some reportage claims up to 1,000 attended the counter-rally, which I think is an over-estimation). A handful of boneheads — including James Lawrence (see below) — attended the event, as did naughty boys Zane Chapman and Corey Hadow.

Speakers at the RA event included John Bolton of Adelaide and ‘Aunty Marj’, the UPF’s ‘Farma john’ and ‘Hugh Pearson’/’John Sobieski’/’Koala732’ — real name: Julian De Ross — while ‘Rise Up Australia Party’ (RUAP) deputy leader and Casey councillor Rosalie Crestani acted as MC. Another RUAP candidate, Jonathan Willy Eli, sang the national anthem at the rally. Reclaim rally ends in racist scuffles, Lachlan Moorhead, Berwick Star, November 24, 2015:

Cr Crestani said she was a member of Reclaim Australia and not a member of the far-right group United Patriots Act [sic], whose members also attended Sunday’s rally, but she said the UPF had a “pure motive”.

“We can all criticise different parts of their approach … but they have a pure motive,” she said.

“It doesn’t come across as pleasant to some, sometimes it’s a cold-hard truth.

“It’s something we have to be careful of but I meet many of these men and women and they have Australia’s best interests at heart.”

The open embrace of neo-Nazis and fascists belonging to the UPF by Christian fundamentalists such as Crestani and RUAP suggests that my initial feeling — that a coalition of fundamentalist Christians and fascists may prove untenable — was possibly mistaken: fear, hatred and contempt for Muslims — combined with both group’s marginal political status — appears able to trump any wider political disagreements.

The presence of one particular group of anti-fascists, ‘Brigada Anti-Fascista’, has caused a good deal of consternation on the part of ‘patriots’/fascists. Here they are spreading love and good cheer:

An anti-fascist writes:

So this is the Antifascist Fighting Brigade. They were awesome. They had our backs all day and helped protect the triage area from frequent attempts by hatriots to harass and perpetrate violence against medical staff — thank you guys!

It was another tense day but not nearly as tense or threatening as Bendigo. A few people did dumb things like not just getting out of the way of police horses but overall it was pretty sensible. The antifa guys (and one girl — yay!) were pretty focused on just keeping people safe and ejecting the hatriots who tried to get among the counter protesters. There was one incident where the riot squad pepper sprayed their way into our counter protest and dragged out some guy I’ve not seen before … I have no idea what that was about but a dozen people just standing peacefully paid the price and were treated by the legendary angels from Melbourne Street Medics.

There were some funny chants, I had a long exchange with some demented ranter across the line who didn’t take to kindly to being told I was having trouble understanding him ‘cos I don’t speak bogan. He was even more feral when I asked if his Mum knew he was at a bigot protest and he mortally wounded me by calling me a “fairy” (WTF?) when I told him he could tell his Mum when he got home to the basement tonight. It was funny but I guess you had to be there.

So we had some speeches, a bit of chanting at bigots, Ezekiel Ox beat-boxing for everyone and then doing a pretty fair John Farnham rendition (if you’re into that sort of thing). Then we waved goodbye to the hatriots as they packed up and wandered off to a local park to presumably smear themselves in pig fat and eat some non-halal babies or something. Sadly, Sparkles The Unicorn couldn’t come and Anarcho-Panda didn’t feel she was safe enough to attend either, but we blew them away with energy wit, and compassion, so until next time antifascista siempre!

Another account, paying particular attention to the police deployment of chemical weaponry on the counter-protest:

I attended the Melton counter-protest and my observations were that the police were way too eager to deploy cap spray every chance they got, so much so that they inadvertently sprayed their own horses. It was secondary mist but the horses were distressed and it was fucking disgusting. All instances of capsicum spray were due to flagwits infiltrating the counter-protest and becoming violent … The suffering I witnessed at the hands of the police was awful. One woman was capsicum sprayed in the face for no apparent reason and spent around an hour at the triage area in unrelenting agony. There was a man who was affected so badly by the capsicum spray that he was shaking uncontrollably. Another woman was taken away in a wheelchair with a broken foot. There was much disappointment to say the least but we at least succeeded in countering the proto-Nazi nationalist dickheads and we will do it again and again.

At their BBQ picnic — conducted in a local park following a march after the end of the hate rally — some Reclaimers squabbled among themselves (see : Police separate Reclaim Australia protesters during infighting at barbecue, Jason Young, Herald Sun, November 23, 2015).

Finally, upon leaving the ‪counter-protest in ‪‎Melton‬, a number of anti-fascists/anti-racists were escorted by police to a bus station. They were followed and harassed at the station by Reclaimers/local racists. Among those who assembled were bonehead James Lawrence (also prominent at the May 31 ‪UPF anti-socialist demonstration in Richmond) and Damian Kourevellis — friend of Phill Galea and ‘President’ of the ‘Patriots Defence League of Australia’ Eastern Victoria chapter.

Allegedly, one Reclaimer was arrested, but on being called out Damian and James preferred to hide behind riot police.

At Melton station, anti-fascists/anti-racists were greeted by a contingent of fascists emerging from their cars. One sported WP and Nazi tattoos (including swastikas on his shoulder blades). He did a “sieg heil!” salute in response to being called out.

Local racists were happy to roll with the nazis on both occasions (just like the Diggers did in WWII).

See : Melton: A Firsthand Account, angryrecluse, November 24, 2015 | Mixed Agendas and Dumb Fights: Reclaim Australia Held a Classic Protest in Melton, Julian Morgans, VICE, November 23, 2015 | Reclaim Australia, No Room For Racism rallies clash in Melton, ABC, November 22, 2015 | At least seven arrested in anti-Islam and anti-racism protests, 9 News, November 22, 2015 | Arrests as violent clashes break out at Reclaim Australia rallies, Michael Safi, The Guardian, November 22, 2015.

MILDURA

A small RA rally consisting of about 70 people was held in Mildura on Sunday, at which local members of the Australia First Party were prominent. See : Rally takes to streets: Reclaim Australia protesters voice concerns, Toni Brient, November 22, 2015.

NEWCASTLE (CESSNOCK)

Newcastle witnessed a large contingent of many hundreds of Reclaimers take to the streets, including sometime PDLA leader John Oliver (above, holding megaphone). You may remember John from when he posed as a ‘Concerned Dad’ on the 7 Network’s Sunday program, or perhaps as the man who attempted to bring a gun to the July 18 joint RA/UPF rally in Melbourne — or as I do, which is as the man responsible for establishing a fund to d0x me and who opined that I should be hunted down and beaten and further that I should have my testicles removed and attached to my forehead(!). Oliver spoke alongside a nazi from the Australia First Party.

See : Nathan Paterson, the man behind the Cessnock Reclaim Australia photo, Michael McGowan, The Newcastle Herald, November 24, 2015.

PERTH

The RA rally in Perth was significant if for no other reason than that RA splinter group the ‘United Patriots Front’ had declared it would be travelling to Perth to join with the rally (previously, the focus of the UPF was in Bendigo, where they organised rallies on August 29 and October 10). Among those UPF members who travelled to the event were UPF fuehrer Blair Cottrell, convicted anti-Semite Neil Erikson and Christian fundamentalist Chris Shortis. They were joined by local boy Dennis Huts, now the UPF’s spokesperson in Perth.

Cottrell gave his usual Hitleresque performance, which was very warmly received by the small crowd of around 300 who gathered to see him perform. The UPF also took the opportunity of their Perth visit to announce that they would be forming a political party to contest elections. See : Far-right United Patriots Front to form political party ahead of federal election, Michael Safi, The Guardian, November 24, 2015 | United Patriots Front to start political party called Fortitude, Joseph Young, Rebekah Cavanagh, Herald Sun, November 24, 2015.

An anti-fascist reports:

It was very good. We had a crankin’ PA system. Didn’t quite outnumber them by my count, but looked fairly equal. I went down to the RA/UPF side, and the PA was completely drowning them out, Victoria’s voice thundering out across the oval. Blair Cottrell ended up having to give his Hitleresque speech to the backing of ‘it’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under.’ I’m not sure if he meant it, but to me it sounded like he was talking to the beat. Quite a surreal sound, and made his entire rant seem [even more] absurd.

Another anti-fascist writes:

The Reclaimers advertised their rally as starting at 12 noon, at Parliament Place, where all prior rallies had taken place. The began assembling very early, as did the police.

Indeed, one of the most striking things at this event was the extensive police presence. They cordoned off not just the park where RA assembled, but the adjoining street was closed off to traffic – and to all of us passing through. With the exception of those attending the RA rally. Effectively (and unsurprisingly), the cops shielded and protected the Reclaimers.

By noon, their presence had grown to about 400, as people continued to arrive. I would estimate their crowd at 4-500.

We assembled on the hill overlooking the park – about 200 of us. This is Perth, and it is unlikely that we will ever outnumber the RA. But we were loud and better-looking.

Their rally opened with the national anthem, and of course, no welcome to country (unlike us). Blair spoke several times, and on one occasion (the only one I wished I had earplugs) read his ‘poetry’. His followers had prominent presence with several UPF flags flying, AND a ‘Blair Cottrell’ flag that has now become a bit of a joke in the anti-RA crowd …

See : Perth’s Anti-Islam Protest Was Really Weird, Royce Kurmelovs, VICE, November 23, 2015 | Large police presence at Reclaim Australia rally near Perth Parliament, Briana Shepherd, ABC, November 22, 2015 | Heavy police presence at Reclaim Australia rally at Parliament House in Perth, Brendan Foster, WA Today, November 22, 2015 | Hundreds at WA Reclaim Australia rally, SKY News (AAP), November 22, 2015.

SYDNEY

The Sydney rally attracted relatively fewer participants than previously, and appears to have been easily outnumbered by opponents. The event ended in some controversy, however, one account of which appears in this ‘Open letter to the organising committee of [the] Sydney rally against Reclaim Australia on November 22’.

COMMENTARY

On Sunday, Radio National’s ‘Background Briefing’ broadcast an episode on the anti-Muslim movement in Australia. Anti-Muslim extremists: how far will they go? by Christine El-Khoury (ABC’s The Drum, November 24, 2015) further reflects on the development of the movement and argues that it should be viewed with some concern. Max Chalmers in New Matilda writes Comic And Terrifying In Equal Measure: What We Learned From The Reclaim Australia Rallies, November 23, 2015. Previously, Jeff Sparrow wrote Members Of The Far Right Are Threatening Political Violence. Whatever Happened To Those Anti-Terror Laws? (New Matilda, November 21, 2015). See also : Reclaim Australia: Government accused of failing to condemn violence from anti-Islam extremists, Stephanie Anderson, ABC, November 23, 2015 | Melbourne rally violence: Is the worst yet to come?, news.com.au, November 24, 2015.

See also : Believe in Bendigo : Businesswoman Margot Spalding leads campaign to fight anti-mosque ‘hate’, Janine Cohen, Australian Story (ABC), November 23, 2015.

Further notes on #ReclaimAustralia/#UnitedPatriotsFront rallies (July 18/19)

UPDATE : On tomorrow’s The SUWA Show (5.30-6.30pm /// Friday, July 24 /// 3CR 855AM) Dr Cam & I yarn w John Safran about his experiences on July 18 and review the protest that was/n’t.

See also : Gun found in bag of NSW protester, 9news (AAP), July 23, 2015 | Revealed: Firearm seized from busload of protesters heading to anti-Islam rally, 3AW, July 23, 2015 | Firearm found on Reclaim Australia rally bus bound for Melbourne from Sydney, Bianca Hall, The Age, July 23, 2015.

A few more notes re the Reclaim Australia/United Patriots Front mobilisations on the weekend.

• Barnesy has come out swinging against the use of his music to promote RA, causing Reclaimers to shed White hot tears. See : Reclaim Australia ‘deeply saddened’ by Jimmy Barnes’ request to not use songs at future rallies, ABC, July 22, 2015.
• … and Barnesy has now been joined by Farnesy! See : John Farnham Has Also Banned Reclaim Australia From Using His Music Because FUCK YES, STRAYA, Meg Watson, Junkee, July 22, 2015.
• One person extremely happy to join Reclaim Australia in kicking Muslim Australians is the extremely well-paid LNP troll and Federal MP George Christensen. Blogger Andrew Elder has opinions on Curious George and you can read them here.
• Jeff Sparrow had an article in yesterday’s edition of The Guardian, reminding folks that, despite the often comically grotesque nature of their activities, RA/UPF stands in a much longer and dangerous tradition of fascist and proto-fascist movements. See : If you oppose Reclaim Australia, remember fascism wasn’t always a freakshow, July 22, 2015.
• In Melbourne, it was mildly amusing to witness the UPF — who assembled at the Melbourne Museum in Carlton Gardens before a brief march — join with the RA rally, especially given the acrimonious nature of their split and the ritual denunciations of RA by the UPF as leftist traitors and weaklings. Numbers for both rallies — which police managed as the one event — were very low, with a combined total of around 150, a product both of the successful counter-mobilisation and the seemingly decreasing appeal of such displays of public idiocy. Indeed, across the country RA numbers were down while counter-protests attracted a larger number of participants than on April 4. As for the UPF, despite reinforcements from Sydney — a bus organised by Ralph Cerminara and the Australian Defence League — their numbers were roughly equivalent to those present on May 31. Note: Shermon Burgess’s seemingly defunct studio project ‘Eureka Brigade’ dedicated a song, titled ‘Ralph Cerminara ADL Leader’, to Mr Cerminara.
• The policing of the event in Melbourne (see below) has been widely applauded by Reclaimers/UPFers, who’ve taken great delight in the use of pepper spray upon the counter-protesters.

• A number of overly-enthusiastic patriots tried to make trouble for the counter-rally on Saturday, including the very patriotik yoof Corey Hadow and Zane ‘Chappo’ Chapman. The naughty boys weren’t xacly intimidated by the slap on the wrist they received from police …

Corey and Zane had a number of feels following their funs on Saturday too:

Note that supporters of the fascist bully-boys have established a Fundrazr campaign to help them pay their fines for being naughty and attacking the anti-fascist picket. (Currently, the campaign has been suspended.) Here they are having fun and throwing bottles at antifa (behind whom are located the street medics — see below).

Finally, a photo of two of the boys being detained by police.

• A local metalhead was keen to let the counter-protest know what he thought of them:

• There were a small number of known faces present on July 18, folks who’d previously attended on May 31 and April 4. One martial artist, Kyokushin practitioner Dane Carroll — whom I don’t know was present on previous occasions — is here seen in confrontation with a young woman:

• A handful of boneheads belonging to the ‘Patriots Defence League Australia’ (PDLA) were present early on in the day. They were told to shoo and did, it seems. Note that: a) The PDLA fraudulently registered as an incorporated association in Queensland; b) It seems likely that the PDLA boys present in Melbourne on the day have a very close affinity to neo-Nazism; c) They were allegedly working in close cooperation with Monika Evers’ sidekick Julie Kendall, who allegedly defended the participation of neo-Nazi skinhead Glenn Anderson/Androvski in the RA/UPF rally.

::: Above img via Wardenclyffe Photography :::

• Local right-winger — Codename: ‘Squeaky’ — was one of a few dozen unhappy campers to have attempted to break the picket in Melbourne. ‘Squeaky’ was also present on May 31 filming antifa. As ‘Squeaky’ is known to be hostile, it would make sense not to allow him to freely mingle with and to film antifa/antira protests in future I believe.

• Blair Cottrell, AKA ‘National Democratic Party of Australia’ and UPF leader, was of course present on July 18 and was very chummy with Christian Identity neo-Nazi James Lawrence. In the early part of this year — ie, slightly prior to his emergence as a political activist on April 4 — Cottrell made a series of comments on Facebook and YouTube denying the Holocaust, iterating a pathological hatred for Jews and a certain fondness for some bloke called Adolf Hitler. When I could be bothered I’ll transcribe these comments as a blogpost.

• On policing of the July 18 rally:

First, the police line: ‘Looking for confrontation’: Police decry aggressive Melbourne protesters, 3AW, July 20, 2015; secondly, Reclaim Australia rally: Victoria police defend officer pictured with anti-Islamic protester, Melissa Davey, The Guardian, July 20, 2015.

Andy Fleming, who monitors extreme-right movements and chronicles them on his website, said it was unclear whether police had sprayed the volunteer medics deliberately, but said it was unlikely.

“Police use the spray to disperse a crowd, and it disperses indiscriminately,” he said.

“However, the police did not warn anyone they were about to use it, which is a problem because it can cause severe respiratory problems in some people and it can be lethal.”

The medics did not have the status or recognition of paramedics, Fleming said, so it was likely police acted without regard for their role.

Fleming said it was difficult to say what the motivation was of the officer who locked hands with the protester, but said it may have been a gesture to thank the United Patriots Front demonstrators for following police orders outside parliament house during their rally.

“They didn’t make a fuss like the rest of the crowd did, so I think it might have been a simple acknowledgement, a thanks,” Fleming said.

For the sake of clarity I would add the following remarks:

I don’t know if police deliberately targeted the medics qua medics — they obviously knew that, when the capsicum spray was deployed as it was, the medics (and the people under their care) would be affected;
It seems highly likely that, based on the frequency of its use and the fact that they had a plentiful supply, in planning for the event police decided that spray was a useful weapon to employ. Further, the use of snatch squads was sporadic and arrests relatively few — the crowd was suppressed through the use of a chemical agent;
In the normal course of events, medical attention at protests is provided by paramedics, whose status is recognised by police. Based on their tactics on the day, police viewed all counter-protesters as one mass, subject to the same treatment and without regard for their role. This includes both street medics and legal observers (see below);
Whatever thoughts happened to be in Sergeant X’s head when he clasped the hand of the UPFer are unknown and will remain so. The action derives its meaning from its context, which in the narrow sense was the departure of the UPF from Parliament and in the broader sense the police action in repressing the counter-protest, especially thru the use of capsicum spray;
Police are naturally inclined to be well-disposed to obedient subjects, which is what the UPF was. As subsequent reportage has made clear, police have concluded that the real ‘troublemakers’ on the day were the counter-protesters — the sergeant’s action provides vivid confirmation of this fact.

Select media reportage : John Safran reports from the Reclaim Australia rally, where things were even scarier than he expected, PerthNow, July 21, 2015 | POV: A Photographer Captures the ‘Reclaim Australia’ Protests in Sydney, Michael Zhang, petapixel, July 20, 2015 | Drone footage captures clashes between anti-Islamic and anti-racism protesters in Australia, Ryan Ramgobin, The Independent, July 20, 2015 | Junk Explained: What Exactly Went Down At The ‘Reclaim Australia’ Protests In Melbourne, And Why?, Sinead Stubbins, Junkee, July 19, 2015 | PHOTOS: Anti-racist protesters in Perth demonstrate against Reclaim Australia, Chris Jenkins, Green Left Weekly, July 19, 2015 | 18th July, No Room For Racism’s counter-rally against Reclaim Australia, Moon Tzu, AG News, July 18, 2015 | Fascists fail in Melbourne – again, Ben Hillier, Red Flag, July 18, 2015.

Commentary [NEVER READ THE COMMENTS] : The Far-Right Australians Fighting Muslims, the Left and Each Other, Royce Kurmelovs, Vice (UK), July 22, 2015 | How racists are co-opting multiculturalism, Ruby Hamad, Daily Life, July 22, 2015 [Note: To be read in conjunction with John Safran’s article.] | Racism and cynicism – a powerful blend, The Guardian [CPA], July 22, 2015 | Thoughts after #July18 – A defeat for the far-right, Kieran’s Review, July 21, 2015 | Why Reclaim Australia is on the rise and how we can stop it, Charis Chang, news.com.au, July 21, 2015 | ISIS’s war inside the West, Hussain Nadim, the interpreter, July 21, 2015 | Extremist groups wilt under public scrutiny, Van Badham, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 21, 2015 | Something I learnt at the anti-racism counter rally, Nicole Mousley, Red Flag, July 21, 2015 | Comment: A tale of two protests, Saman Shad, SBS, July 20, 2015 | Reclaim Australia is the product of rising rightwing extremism, Anne Aly, The Guardian, July 20, 2015 | Some Reflections on Reclaim Australia, July 18th, Tom, Anarchist Affinity, July 20, 2015 | Confrontation is justified when fascists take to the streets, Corey Oakley, Red Flag, July 20, 2015 | Large police mobilisation at right-wing Reclaim Australia rallies, James Cogan, wsws.org, July 20 2015 | Australian race relations suffering from a lack of political leadership, Jenna Price, The Canberra Times, July 20, 2015 | Reclaim Australia rallies: Racial cohesion facing its greatest threat in 30 years, says president of the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW, Angela Lavoipierre, ABC (AM), July 20, 2015 | A G A I N S T N A T I O N A L I S M, totaltantrum, April 19/July 19, 2015 | Right-wing extremism equal to Muslim radicalisation, say academics, Rachel Olding, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 17, 2015.

B O N U S L E G A L S !

PUBLIC STATEMENT – RECLAIM AUSTRALIA & COUNTER RALLIES
18 July 2015, Melbourne, Australia

On Saturday the 18th of July 2015 Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS) fielded a team of eight (8) trained Legal Observers at the Reclaim Australia and counter rallies that took place near the intersection of Spring and Bourke Streets in Melbourne’s Central Business District.

Legal Observers monitored the actions of Victoria Police and recorded evidence throughout the 5 hour event.

We note that Victoria Police had a large presence and cordoned off the entire intersection in front of Parliament House. MALS acknowledges that Victoria Police efforts were directed at maintaining space between two opposing political groupings on the day in order to avoid physical confrontation.

Areas of concern:

Legal Observers noted several incidents of use of OC foam/spray by a specialist unit of Victoria Police at the event. According to the Melbourne Street Medics upwards of 100 people had to be treated because of the use of this spray. OC spray/foam causes severe burning for several hours, incapacitation and can affect the respiratory system causing breathing difficulties.

A particular area of concern was an incident that occurred at the corner of Spring and Little Bourke Streets at approximately 12:43 PM. An ad-hoc medic triage station had been set up on Little Bourke Street near the corner. One patient was semi-conscious on the ground and under the care of the Street Medics and waiting for the ambulance. A physical altercation between rival protestors began directly in front of the medic station when Police rushed around the corner and immediately and without warning sprayed into the crowd of 60-80 people present. Street Medics and other volunteers who were trying to keep the medic triage area clear were severely affected by the OC foam as were most people in the area (including journalists and bystanders). The injured person receiving care was again affected by the OC spray.

According to Legal Observers present the OC foam was not directed towards individuals who were threatening police or engaged in violence but instead was directed over and onto the entire crowd of people present. For this reason the MALS Legal Observer Team identifies the use of OC foam in this circumstance as indiscriminate and therefore unlawful.

MALS condemns the use of OC Foam against members of the public who were already injured and medical staff whose presence was made clear to police on a number of occasions before this incident occurred.

In the future as our group increases in capacity we hope to be able to provide more comprehensive assistance in such instances, however we would like to share the following information in the meantime:

We encourage people who want to take further action to immediately record all details from the event, including as much factual detail as possible, and to make duplicates of any footage of incidents depicting inappropriate use of force … [~ see the MALS website for moar infos ~]

Finally …

The UPF gathers to celebrate post-rally at The PumpHouse Hotel (128 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy).

slackbastard

Anarchy and apathy battle it out on @ndy's blog.

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