Police arrested more than 250 people Saturday as protests swept Australia in response to renewed lockdown orders amid rising cases of COVID-19.
Hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters swarmed the streets of Melbourne and Sydney, which led to the hospitalization of seven police officers, according to Reuters.
“Mounted police used pepper spray in Melbourne to break up crowds of more than 4,000 surging toward police lines, while smaller groups of protesters were prevented from congregating in Sydney by a large contingent of riot police,” Reuters reported.
In Melbourne, 218 people were reportedly arrested, 236 were fined, and three were placed in custody for allegedly assaulting police. In Sydney, 47 people were charged with violating public health orders or resisting arrest, and police issued more than 260 fines.
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JUST 🚨 Chaotic scenes as protesters break through police barricades in Melbourne, Australia #Melbourneprotest #sydneyprotest pic.twitter.com/vHOXIjtpav
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) August 21, 2021
JUST IN 🚨 People in Melbourne’s anti lockdown protest chanting “Freedom, Freedom” #melbourneprotestpic.twitter.com/j1hCi99cUg
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) August 21, 2021
Since last Saturday, residents of Sydney and its state of New South Wales have faced a potential fine of $5,000 for violating the extended stay-at-home orders, according to Reuters.
“We are in a very serious situation here in New South Wales,” state Health Minister Brad Hazzard said. “There is no time now to be selfish, it’s time to think of the broader community and your families.”
A priest at a freedom protest in Sydney last month recently explained to Rebel News why he opposes the ongoing government lockdowns. Explaining how his generation had been called to fight communism in Vietnam, he warned that Australians now face an even greater threat to liberty from their own government.
“My dad was very much in favor of conscription [for the Vietnam War]. He explained to me that it is important that we stand up because this country was founded in democratic principles that enshrined certain freedoms,” he said.
“And we don’t want to live in a country where they can tell you you can’t go to church on Sunday. We don’t want to live in a country where they have electronic surveillance on you, where they can tell you when you come in and when you go out, whether you can go to work; who you can associate with, you know, whether you’re able to embrace people. I mean, God, it wasn’t even that extreme, I don’t think, but, you know, the so-called communist menace at the time was going to deprive us of all these rights,” the priest continued.
The priest went on to assert that if public health officials genuinely cared about public health, they would take into consideration the toll on mental health that continued forced isolation is taking on people, which he said is leading many people to commit suicide.
“They strip us of our humanity, they break down community, and they destroy the country we fought for, the country we love, the values we cherish. We need to stand up and fight not violently, but we need to be ready to have violence done to us, I suspect, by police and others. We’ve got to be ready to count the cost, as our mothers and our fathers did when they fought to give us these freedoms. It’s time for us now to stand up and fight to preserve them,” he added.
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