Ten of thousands of Australians have taken to the streets to protest against police brutality and racism, and it turns out it was actually pretty damn peaceful, for the most part.
Despite the coronavirus concerns that unfortunately meant lots of immunocompromised anti-racism activists had to stay at home, thousands still showed their support and solidarity to Indigenous Australians after a staggering 432+ deaths in custody in the last 30 years.
At least 15,000 people flocked to Sydney’s Town Hall to protest today, with just 15 minutes to prepare after the Court of Appeal did a last-minute 180 to allow the event to go ahead.
Unfortunately, after a largely-peaceful afternoon, the situation quickly escalated with police using pepper spray on a group of roughly 100 non-violent protesters while blocking the exits to Sydney’s Central Station.
Police just made a super rough arrest at Central. The main exit is blocked. #blacklivesmatteraustralia pic.twitter.com/hOrIdtPOAA
— Zac Crellin (@zacrellin) June 6, 2020
Thankfully, police were much less aggressive elsewhere, with zero arrests reported in Adelaide, Brisbane or Melbourne as a result of the protests.
More than 10,000 took to the streets in Melbourne, where the protests were wrapped up with a traditional smoking ceremony and didgeridoo performance. However, the protest organisers were later slapped with a $1600 fine each, despite Victoria Police asserting that the demonstration was peaceful and arrest-free, according to SBS.
Melbourne #blacklivesmatter protest @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/XUMOZEPyWt
— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) June 6, 2020
Meanwhile, 5,000 people in Adelaide marched to Tarntanyangga (Victoria Square) to protest against racism, SBS reports. The protests were peaceful, with Police Commissioner Grant Stevens officially giving the green light to the demonstration on Friday afternoon.
Looking good Adelaide. The rally is already spilling out of Tarntanyangga on Kaurna country #AboriginalLivesMatter #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/H0z3Jk1Log
— Jessica Alice (@jessica_alice_) June 6, 2020
Similar scenes were observed in Brisbane, where approximately 10,000 protesters peacefully demonstrated at King George Square, spilling into Queen St Mall as numbers exceeded the area’s capacity. However, other reports estimate up to 30,000 people in attendance in Brisbane.
black lives matter protest in brisbane, australia #BlackLivesMatter #protest2020 #GeorgeFloydProtests #brisbane #australia #AboriginalLivesMatter #NoJusticeNoPeaceProsecuteThePolice pic.twitter.com/DllVbS5ML6
— rapfredrogers (@rapfredrogers) June 6, 2020
Smaller demonstrations were also observed in smaller cities like Townsville, Canberra, Hobart and Newcastle, thus proving that Australians all over the country aren’t going to be quiet about the history systemic racism and police brutality in this country anymore.
Across the country, we had next-to-no reports of violence or destruction of property from protesters, with only a handful of arrests being made. Considering the fact that tens of thousands of people joined in on the efforts, we’re going to call this a win for the Black Lives Matter movement, and for growth towards an Australia that is free from racism.
Unfortunately, the pepper spray ordeal in Sydney put a bit of a dampener on an otherwise phenomenal day of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians coming together to fight for the greater good. But Central Station aside, protesters nationwide all managed to recognise the significance of today’s event and thankfully all left their desire to destruct property or incite violence at home.
Today’s efforts well and truly proved where the violence is coming from in Australia, and it’s sure as hell not from those of us who are fighting for Black Lives Matter.
