Victoria police have defended an officer who appeared to slap his hand together in solidarity with that of an anti-Islamic protester during a rally in Melbourne’s CBD on Saturday.
Two anti-Muslim groups, the United Patriots Front and Reclaim Australia, held rallies around the country over the weekend, prompting counter-demonstrations from anti-racism groups.
Kon Karapanagiotidis (@Kon__K)
#WhitePrivilege in action in all its ugliness as a member of Vic Police shows his appreciation for #ReclaimAustralia pic.twitter.com/Nh0Rtw4W7V
July 18, 2015
The most chaotic scenes occurred in Melbourne on Saturday, where about 400 police attempted to control fights between the protest groups using capsicum spray. The anti-Muslim groups appeared largely outnumbered by those rallying against racism.
A photograph that emerged of a police officer locking hands with a United Patriots Front member outside Victoria’s parliament left some questioning the appropriateness of the gesture.
The United Patriots Front has embraced the image, describing the officer as a “patriot”, and saying the “police on the ground know whats [sic] up”, SBS reported.
Victoria police on Sunday urged the public not to “speculate” on the meaning of the image.
“The image of a police member engaging in a hand gesture with one of the demonstrators on social media at Saturday’s rallies in the CBD represents a split-second action in a dynamic environment,” a statement from police said.
“Speculation around the meaning of the interaction in such circumstances is both unfair and unfounded.”
The statement received mixed responses on Twitter.
Cameron Watt (@CameronWatt)@danwarne @Colvinius @VictoriaPolice @BernardKeane Aren't members trained to make good split second decisions in dynamic environments?
July 19, 2015
Video footage from the rally shows police locking arms in an attempt to keep the anti-Islamic and anti-racism groups apart, while members of the crowd lashed out at each other. Protesters can be seen hurling bottles and brawling, while police use capsicum spray.
First-aid officers and other medical professionals attended the rally to treat injured demonstrators as part of the “Melbourne street medic collective”. They said they were also hit with capsicum spray while trying to help people.
“While providing assistance to a casualty experiencing respiratory distress and awaiting medical evacuation via Ambulance Victoria, medics were heavily sprayed by Victoria police officers,” the group said in a statement.
“This was done in spite of clear and loud instructions from the crowd and a protective ring of protesters around the medics and their casualty that the police were entering into a first-aid treatment area, and that someone was receiving medical attention there.”
One of the medics who was sprayed, CJ Wallace, said he had been trying to help an injured demonstrator.
“We heard the crowd screaming and yelling as they made a line to protect us from being trampled because we could not move,” he said.
“I could see medics yelling to the police not to attack as there were people on the ground. But the police sprayed the crowd before directly spraying myself, my fellow medic and our injured casualty when we were all huddled on the ground.”
George (@theBotanizer)@VictoriaPolice please detail the investigation into the indiscriminate use of pepper spray on medics and protestors #NoRoomForRacism
July 19, 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.
However, as the day went on members of Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots Front attempted to break through the picket and make it through to the larger demonstration, he said. Video footage shows protesters from both sides getting into scuffles throughout the day.
A Victoria police spokeswoman said police had used the capsicum spray to keep the two sides apart.
“Police lines were about to be breached which required police to use [capsicum] spray,” she said.
In relation to the photograph, she said: “Police members are involved in a comprehensive briefing before every demonstration, which includes expectations around their behaviour.”
The acting minister for police, Jane Garrett, said police had worked hard to maintain the peace.
“Any operational decision they made would have been in this context,” she said. “In the chaos of a fast-moving situation, it is not fair or appropriate to speculate on the actions of individual police officers working to keep public order.”
