Victoria Police on protests - BLM "we're not able to stop people protesting" - anti-lockdown "we'll be out in the suburbs, we're not waiting, you'll be held to account"
Thursday, 03 September 2020
Compare and Contrast
Exhibit One - 8 June, Premier Andrews on the "worthy cause" of Black Lives Matter protests.
“As Victoria Police made very clear, we weren’t able to stop people (ie BLM protesters)."
“For instance if we said we were going to stop people and close off the CBD, the protests would have happened somewhere else.
“You can’t lock 5,000 or however many thousand people up, you just can’t do that."
Exhibit Two - Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius today on the 'unworthy' cause of the "batshit crazy, tinfoil hat brigade" who want to protest the lockdowns
Mr Cornelius said he was “outraged” at people planning to protest on Saturday and again urged everyone to stay at home.
He said Victoria Police had arrested and charged four people with incitement so far, including a 78-year-old Windsor man twice.
More than 80 people have also been issued official written warnings after being determined they were at risk of attending protests.
“We’ll be ready for you,” Mr Cornelius said.
“We’re not standing by to wait until you get into the city, we’ll be out there in the suburbs, and you can expect to be held to account.
Journo: Rules should be applied evenly. Why are we in a situation where 10,000 people were allowed to attend a protest without being penalised, and a woman’s been charged with incitement for allegedly posting something on Facebook.
— Keira Savage (@KeiraSavage00) September 3, 2020
Dan Andrews: It’s a matter for Victoria Police pic.twitter.com/ek6OiUzesP