12 September, 2024

Australia: Wild moment ABC reporter is swarmed by anti-war protesters as chaos grips Melbourne for the second day in a row

Being "anti-war" is childish. These "anti-war" protestors are just egotists doing self display under the pretence that they are saying something original. As a former army psychologist, I think I can can assure everyone that soldiers are anti-war too. They get shot at in wars. But like most people they can see that wars and preparations for war can be needed for defence and are prepared to do something about that instead of closing their eyes to reality

Protesters gathered for the second straight day on Thursday morning to rally against the Land Forces Defence Expo being held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

After wild scenes on Wednesday, which saw protesters clashing with police, throwing horse manure and rocks, while officers made arrests and swung batons, tensions were high on day two.

Violence was sparked when ABC reporter Stephanie Ferrier and multiple security guards were interrupted by protestors during a live cross.

It marks the latest instance a journalist has been caught up in the protests after a Daily Mail Australia journalist was shot with rubber bullets by police.

During the ABC live cross, a protester walked in front of the camera and was pushed aside by a security guard.

The protester then appeared to swing a punch at the security guard.

A second security guard then stepped in and appeared to shove the protesters.

Another attendee at the rally could be seen breaking up the fight and urging the pair to 'calm down'.

'At the moment, we're obviously trying to report on this and we're getting a little bit of difficulty here,' the reporter says.

As the reporter attempted to move away from the crowd, more people follow her.

The tense scenes come after Channel 7 Sunrise reporter Teegan Dolling was swarmed by protesters on Wednesday.

One female protester put her hand over the camera lens, Dolling pushed her arm away and what appeared to be private security guarding the reporter stepped in, but the protester managed to put hands on the camera at least one more time.

'That's not on if people are actually mishandling our reporter,' host Natalia Barr said from the studio.

In the hours after the protest, she penned a piece for 7News where she described the protest as 'vile and violent'.

'First there was the stench of OC spray in the air, then came the overwhelming smell of vomit, as protesters threw water balloons filled with sick at police, delegates and media,' Dolling wrote.

'Ducking for cover as padlocks, apples, chairs and horse manure were hurled towards anyone the activists assume held different views.'

She said Melbourne had once been the most liveable country in the world and has seen many protests, but 'none this vile and violent'.

'The aggression came in waves, as police surged towards the 2000-strong group to remove them from the road, escort members of the public to safety, or to extinguish flames,' she wrote.

Ms Dolling said protesters did not heed directions to move and reacted with attacks on police and cruelty towards horses.

It was the city's largest protest in 24 years and resulted in 42 people being arrested.

Disrupt Land Forces say they will continue to protest during the remainder of the conference this week.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13840671/ABC-reporter-anti-war-protest-Melbourne.html

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