Protesters clash with police at Australia defense show

By Lex Harvey and Hilary Whiteman, CNN

(CNN) — Dozens of people have been arrested after clashes between police and protesters outside a major defense expo in Australia on Wednesday, during which police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators and both sides accused the other of violence.

Video from the scene showed protesters setting fire to trash cans and throwing projectiles at officers as they struggled to restore order at the Land Forces international exposition in downtown Melbourne.

The three-day event brings defense experts from around the world and showcases military equipment, heavy-duty trucks, semi-automatic guns and other weapons.

The protests come at a time when heightened tensions sparked by global conflicts have deepened public anger in many countries towards the arms industry and its profits.

Victoria Police had expected protests and deployed more than 1,000 officers to the event in their biggest planned operation in 24 years.

When protesters arrived Wednesday, rows of officers were already guarding the exhibition center ready to repel any attempt to interfere with the event.

By mid-morning, around 500 protesters were outside the venue, according to Gabrielle de Vietri, a member of the Victorian Greens who sits in the state parliament. She said she arrived around 10 a.m. and witnessed police using “excessive force.”

“I saw people with blood running down their faces having been shot in the face by rubber bullets, people with welts on their arms from being shot, people who had torn their clothes off from being sprayed with pepper spray. It was a horrific scene of police brutality,” de Vietri told CNN.

However, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said complaints police used excessive force were “rubbish,” calling the protesters “hypocrites” for their behavior which he said was “absolutely appalling.”

“I’ve used the term hypocrites because we support peaceful protest, and we facilitate that all the time. What we saw today was not peaceful protest,” Patton told a news conference later Wednesday.

He said police had been abused, pushed, shoved, and had bottles and balloons thrown at them containing liquid that analysis showed to be “low-level acid that caused irritants.”

Police horses had been punched and horse manure was thrown at officers, Patton said, adding that of around 1,200 protesters, 39 had been arrested for various offenses including obstructing police, assault, arson and blocking roadways.

“We were forced to deploy some non-lethal munitions, which we did, and I’m still of the view that they were appropriately deployed and appropriate risk assessments were made,” he said, confirming that police used rubber bullets, flash distraction devices and pepper spray.

Two dozen police officers required medical treatment, a police spokesperson told CNN, adding that while police horses were also targeted, none sustained serious injuries.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said two people were taken to hospital but couldn’t say if they were involved in the protests.

Members of the crowd, many waving Palestinian flags and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, demanded an end to violent conflict, CNN affiliate 9 News reported.

The organization behind the protests, Disrupt Land Forces, said in an open letter they “unequivocally oppose the glorification of death, destruction, and genocide being carried out with weapons developed on this continent and showcased at Land Forces.”

The group called for an end to funding “states engaged in genocide and militarized repression,” including Israel.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on Hamas, according to the health ministry in the enclave. The Israeli government has vowed to wipe out Hamas following the group’s attacks on October 7, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza is being investigated by the International Court of Justice, in a case lodged by South Africa which accused Israel of genocide against Palestinian people. Israel has denied that characterization as “grossly distorted.”

Attendees targeted

Protesters heckled attendees making their way into the expo, which was expected to host around 1,000 firms from 31 countries, 9 News reported.

“We have seen many delegates coming through and we want to make it uncomfortable for these (people) to go inside and make million-dollar contracts and buy more weapons or sell weapons that are going to be used to commit genocide in Palestine and other places in the world,” protester Natalie Farah told 9 News.

Jacinta Allan, Victoria state premier, strongly criticized any protesters making threats or using violence against police officers.

“They’re doing their job supporting community safety,” Allan told Australian public broadcaster, the ABC. “They deserve to be treated absolutely with respect by people who are attending this protest.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said people had the right to protest but had to do so peacefully.

“You don’t say you’re opposed to defense equipment by throwing things at police. They’ve got a job to do and our police officers should be respected at all times,” Albanese told CNN affiliate Channel 7.

Speaking to ABC Radio National from Melbourne before the conference started on Wednesday, Bec Shrimpton, director of defense strategy and national security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said “it’s very unfair to tarnish everybody with a genocide brush.”

“The world is not as we would all like it to be and it is not a peaceful and stable place at the moment. Things like this event are actually really, really important to help with the defense of our nation and our national interests,” Shrimpton said.

Earlier Wednesday de Vietri, the Greens MP, said the state government was “turning our city into a display of war machines, spending millions to protect the profits of genocide.”

“We pleaded for them to cancel Land Forces, but they didn’t listen. Disruption is all we have left,” de Vietri wrote on X.

The Victorian Greens have called for an independent inquiry into Victoria Police’s use of force at the protests, according to a post by the leader to X.

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CNN’s Isaac Yee contributed to this report.