If you're not allowed to peacefully assemble and protest, then I don't think you can really claim that you're living in a free and open democracy anymore. And I'm not just singling Australia out for that. I think many Western 'democracies' have been guilty of the same, although a lot of it never gets properly reported in the MSM.
As for rioting, you should be aware from my previous posts in the other thread, that Australian police kettled hundreds of people with no way out. Instead of being able to march peacefully and then go home, the police crammed them closer and closer together. That made the situation worse for two reasons.
1. Covid transmission is more likely when people are crushed together.
2. The police deliberately created a confrontation instead of a de-escalation.
I'm sorry if you think that breaking through a police line after being kettled is 'rioting' because in my opinion that situation was totally avoidable, and entirely created by the police. And even after the protesters broke through the police line, the police continued spraying people with pepper spray, which was totally pointless, and appeared to be motivated by a desire for revenge.
And I don't know the background to that elderly woman being shoved to the ground and pepper sprayed, but I think it's fairly obvious that someone who's already been shoved to the ground poses very little threat. So why spray her in the face? And not just one cop, but two cops doing it!
A lot more than one need disciplining. And as I previously said, kettling protesters seemed designed to create a confrontation. They got the confrontation they wanted, and used it to make the protesters look bad. And then people like you take the side of the police, which is exactly what the police and authorities wanted to happen. Don't you feel even a tiny bit manipulated that the police engineered the whole situation to make those protesters look violent? And now that protesters know they may be kettled, pepper sprayed and generally assaulted by the police, do you think it's more likely that a few might decide to bring a chair leg with them next time, just in case they get kettled again?
I think you're getting the wrong idea. I'm not anti-police or anti-Australian. I support the right for peaceful assembly and protest, because it's one of the cornerstones of democracy. And I think it's totally unrealistic to expect to ram through controversial vaccine mandates, while also banning protest. From that point of view the police need a better approach.
And I've got plenty of complaints about the way UK police have approached protests in the UK. We've had lots of police heavy-handedness here in the UK, so please don't think I'm singling out Australia. And
just recently we've learned that a policeman may have used covid lockdown rules to enable them to kidnap, rape and murder a young woman.
With all of that in mind, please don't take this personally, or as an attack on Australians or Australia. I've nothing against you guys, and have always found Australians to be warm, friendly and pleasant.
