Australian police agents clash with anti-lockdown protesters after failing to suppress dissent with overwhelming force, arrests, heavy-handed confrontations and threat of arrests. Clashes erupted with police agents in Melbourne, Australia after a large gathering of anti-lockdown protesters gathered to demand an end to many weeks of draconian restrictions, despite an all-out effort by authorities to prevent demonstrations.

The protesters, who numbered thousands (many thousands more being cordoned off by a ring of steel), showed up in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond on Saturday morning to denounce government lockdown policies. State police previously attempted to shut down all transport into Melbourne’s Central Business District using a series of checkpoints, but that merely prompted organisers to shift locations.

Brief clashes with police operatives were captured on film, with protesters seen hurling bottles as police responded with pepper spray. At one chaotic moment, demonstrators crashed through a police line, setting off a melee as the crowd proceeded down the road. A massive police response was seen in aerial photos taken by local media (censored by national media), showing riot lines closing in on a crowd of demonstrators. The law enforcement presence involved more than 2,000 heavily-armed police operatives, according to local reports.

The state of Victoria recently claims to have eased restrictions, allowing residents to ‘socialize or exercise’ with one person from another household for a whopping four hours. It also permitted up to five people from two different households to gather at one time – if all of them are fully-vaccinated. The ludicrous ‘easing of the rules’ did little to quell angry locals fed up with lockdowns, however, as Saturday’s protest went off regardless.

Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Foley has suggested the state could remain under lockdown until 70-80% of residents have been coerced into being punctured. To date, just shy of 42% of the state has been fully vaccinated, according to data gathered by the Guardian.

Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne is currently under its sixth lockdown since the Covid-19 pandemic kicked off in late 2019, with residents required to remain at home barring a few exceptions for ’essential’ work and travel. The shutdowns have prompted a spate of people protests across Australia in recent weeks, including in other major cities like Sydney. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!