“Not a place for protest”
In the third day of anti-lockdown protests, tradies and far-right extremists gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne's CBD.
Hundreds of maskless protestors who have been rallying against Premier Dan Andrew's lockdown restrictions and suspension of construction sites marched to the War Memorial, where they were surrounded by police.
After a wall of officers had surrounded the protestors in a seemingly peaceful standoff, some protestors ran screaming from the stairs of the shrine and rushed towards police in a show of violence.
Image credit: Getty Images
Image credit: Getty Images
The mob began chanting "stand with us" and "walk with us" at officers, just moments after they were chanting "we want peace".
It is believed that protestors chose to congregate at the Shrine of remembrance in the hopes police would not attack them out of respect for fallen Anzacs.
Many took to Twitter to express their disgust towards the protestor's lake of respect, with Hawthorn RSL voicing their disappointment.
They shared a photo of the unfolding situation, saying, "The Shrine of Remembrance is not a place for protest."
"It is a sacred place for Australians to commemorate those who fought and died for us. "
"We gather there to remember with respect and dignity and it is not appropriate to use this hallowed location for any protest."
As some aggressors in the crowd continued their clash with police, any departing protesters were offered "safe passage" away from the stand-off.
Police began making arrests of those who continued to show violent and aggressive tendencies, as they attempted to control the hostile situation.
One protestor was seen holding up a large banner that read, "End Lockdown NOW. Dan-made Disaster!!!"
The protests began on Monday and were originally said to be regarding the Victorian Government mandating COVID-19 vaccines for construction workers after a forced two-week shutdown of work sites to control the outbreak of the deadly Delta variant.
Image credits: Twitter @HawthornRSL / Getty Images