Mass turnout at Australia's BLM Protests

[loomer]

We have large scale turnouts in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide, and we'll see about Sydney shortly. There's a court challenge to have the protest there deemed legal at the last minute, but that won't make much difference. I can't attend my local in person (immunocompromised and care responsibilities for two severely immunocompromised people and a young disabled woman) so instead I've made a $250 donation to the ALS (it'll be pasta and lentils for a while...) Our march organizers are handing out face masks, hand sanitizer, and in some cases, hand shields (and from a rumour, even gloves) to try and combat the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

For those wondering why there's a protest for this here in Australia, well, two reasons. First, international solidarity. But far more importantly, Australia is very nearly as bad as the US (just as abusive, slightly less lethal) when it comes to Black lives being brutalized by the cops, both Indigenous and Settler. Last week footage emerged of a cop legsweeping a teenager who was already subdued and slamming his face directly into the pavement, which has given some fresh media attention to the issue, but for a real understanding of how ugly the picture is, consider the following:
Over the last 29 years, there have been 432 Indigenous people murdered by the police and the prison system. There has not been a single conviction stemming from this. There are very few convictions stemming from extremely well-documented, usually unprovoked, beatings of Indigenous men and women in custody. Australia has a problem.

[loomer]

Sydney, as expected, is turning up despite the ban. Not quite as massive as Brisbane or Adelaide yet, but a much higher police presence from what reporters are saying. EDIT: And they're apparently already starting to make arrests. Oh dear.

[loomer]

Hot damn. The headcount is at ~30,000 for Melbourne's protest. For you foreigners: Aussies don't turn out like that for much, let alone in the middle of a pandemic. EDIT: Brisbane too.

[loomer]

NSW police have ordered the closure of Town Hall station to try and limit how many protestors turn up, and are forming ranks at Town Hall in preparation for a fight, though so far they've left the riot gear at home - or at least around the corner.

[loomer]

The Court of Appeal has just overruled the Supreme Court to declare that the Sydney protest is a lawful gathering. We'll see if the coppers get the memo and reopen Town Hall Station.

[loomer]

For any non-Australians watching the streams, the reason the chant 'Always Was, Always Will Be' is so prominent is because here, unlike in America, the land was stolen from Black people and that issue is inextricable from police violence against Indigenous peoples. The issue of Black deaths in custody and at the hands of the police in both countries is a direct outgrowth of colonialism, but here, it's a genocidal program rather than the maintenance of a racially-constituted class of dispossessed labourers who are allowed to exist, but only as an underclass.

[ray245]

I'm just worried the gains in stopping the pandemic in Australia will go to waste. If the protest is taking place just a week or 2 later, you could have eradicate the virus like New Zealand.

[loomer]

I'm just worried the gains in stopping the pandemic in Australia will go to waste. If the protest is taking place just a week or 2 later, you could have eradicate the virus like New Zealand.

It's a concern, sure - but there's a reason not to delay.

[loomer]

Victoria Police will be fining the each of the organisers of the Melbourne Black Lives Matter protest for holding the gathering in “breach of the Chief Health Officer’s directions”.

They will be fined $1,652 each and police said they would continue investigate to determine if any follow-up “enforcement activity” would be needed.

Police said they “remain concerned” that such a large gathering happened without regard for social distancing.


“[Police] will now consider what action should be taken in relation to the organisation and conduct of this unlawful gathering,” Victoria Police said in a statement.


Otherwise, police were "generally pleased" with the behaviour of the crowd estimated to have been as high as 10,000 people.

As of 5:00pm, there had been no arrests and no reports of property damage.

Fresh off the ABC's live coverage here. So, if you were wondering if anyone could use a donation, well. I'd say WAR - the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance - could.

[ray245]

I'm just worried the gains in stopping the pandemic in Australia will go to waste. If the protest is taking place just a week or 2 later, you could have eradicate the virus like New Zealand.

It's a concern, sure - but there's a reason not to delay.

I get that, but I fear the movement will end up having to be curtailed if there was a rapid-spike in cases. You can't protest if a majority of people end up being sick from the virus.

[loomer]

I'm just worried the gains in stopping the pandemic in Australia will go to waste. If the protest is taking place just a week or 2 later, you could have eradicate the virus like New Zealand.

It's a concern, sure - but there's a reason not to delay.

I get that, but I fear the movement will end up having to be curtailed if there was a rapid-spike in cases. You can't protest if a majority of people end up being sick from the virus.

That's possible, and it's definitely a concern - it's why I didn't physically attend and instead whipped out my wallet and focused on signal boosting organizers - but we're already seeing restrictions ease enormously. There are crowds with far less precautions on beaches, in markets, and in shopping centers already.

Will we see a spike? Almost certainly - but that spike will begin in the next few days, not two weeks from now, because we already broke the lockdown's focus a the better part of a fortnight ago and have been allowing people to move relatively freely.

[loomer]

Apparently the bronze have kettled protestors who refuse to disperse in Central Stations and are getting violent.

[ray245]

That's possible, and it's definitely a concern - it's why I didn't physically attend and instead whipped out my wallet and focused on signal boosting organizers - but we're already seeing restrictions ease enormously. There are crowds with far less precautions on beaches, in markets, and in shopping centers already.

Will we see a spike? Almost certainly - but that spike will begin in the next few days, not two weeks from now, because we already broke the lockdown's focus a the better part of a fortnight ago and have been allowing people to move relatively freely.

I thought Australia is still rather cautious in lifting the lockdown? While some states have no cases of the virus, other states do. It would have been more strategic if the protests are mainly taking place in places where there is no reported cases for the past two weeks.

As for the spike, I will not be surprised if politicians are using it to blame on the protest. And regardless of who is responsible for the spike, the issue still remains. If a significant portion of Australia is now contracting the virus, they won't be able to protest because they are sick, or they will be spreading it. And while precautions can certainly reduce the spread, it does not halt it entirely. People are still standing next to each other for a considerable period of time, people have to use public toilets and etc.

[loomer]

We're being relatively cautious, yes, but we still have fuckwits going in large numbers to outdoor markets without masks, hand sanitizer, or other precauations.

[loomer]

The bronze are pepper-spraying people in Central Station now. We were so close to a protest that the police didn't get thuggish at, too.

[ray245]

We're being relatively cautious, yes, but we still have fuckwits going in large numbers to outdoor markets without masks, hand sanitizer, or other precauations.

I see. The issue is this virus seems to spread most via super-spreading events, even if it is outdoors. The UK didn't ban events like the Cheltenham Festival and the football matches because they thought the virus won't spread as easily if people are outdoors in large crowds.

So outdoors markets is one thing. An actual gathering is another issue altogether. But we should know in a few weeks time what kind of outdoor activities will spread the virus more easily.

[loomer]

We're being relatively cautious, yes, but we still have fuckwits going in large numbers to outdoor markets without masks, hand sanitizer, or other precauations.

I see. The issue is this virus seems to spread most via super-spreading events, even if it is outdoors. The UK didn't ban events like the Cheltenham Festival and the football matches because they thought the virus won't spread as easily if people are outdoors in large crowds.

So outdoors markets is one thing. An actual gathering is another issue altogether. But we should know in a few weeks time what kind of outdoor activities will spread the virus more easily.

Yeah. I agree from a disease control standpoint this is risky, but in the Australian context it needs to be contrasted with events that are being permitted to proceed - including large anti-lockdown protests - without legal challenge. The one thing that disease control is being trotted out against is a BLM protest, despite extensive efforts to minimize risk (and if you check the footage you'll even see a remarkable level of social distancing through most of the protest) on the part of organizers, which means the question has been fundamentally politicized.

[ray245]

Yeah. I agree from a disease control standpoint this is risky, but in the Australian context it needs to be contrasted with events that are being permitted to proceed - including large anti-lockdown protests - without legal challenge. The one thing that disease control is being trotted out against is a BLM protest, despite extensive efforts to minimize risk (and if you check the footage you'll even see a remarkable level of social distancing through most of the protest) on the part of organizers, which means the question has been fundamentally politicized.

Fair enough. What concerns me is that the virus can still spread even with the best of precautions. Even in Hospitals with adequate PPE, people are still getting infected. One of the reasons WHO was against wearing of mask is that it might lure people into a false sense of security. So wearing mask might help to limit the spread, but its effectiveness goes down depending on the situation. Mass Mask wearing might stop you from passing on the virus or getting infected at supermarkets ( if you are not in it for a prolonged duration), but its effectiveness will drop in events like a protest. Same with social distancing and other measures in place. Singapore tried to simply rely on social distancing without going into lockdown, but it didn't work.

What I desperately hope for is that the protesters will be aware that they might be infected without knowing it, and be asymptomatic ( especially if they are young and healthy), and avoid further contact with their family members and those who are more vulnerable. Meaning if they go to a protest, they might need to self-isolate for at the least seven days. I am just stressed that people might have a false sense of security just because they have taken precautions.

[mr friendly guy]

I thought Australia is still rather cautious in lifting the lockdown? While some states have no cases of the virus, other states do. It would have been more strategic if the protests are mainly taking place in places where there is no reported cases for the past two weeks.

As for the spike, I will not be surprised if politicians are using it to blame on the protest. And regardless of who is responsible for the spike, the issue still remains. If a significant portion of Australia is now contracting the virus, they won't be able to protest because they are sick, or they will be spreading it. And while precautions can certainly reduce the spread, it does not halt it entirely. People are still standing next to each other for a considerable period of time, people have to use public toilets and etc.

Some of the states have shut the borders with each other. So even if the protests do cause a spike in NSW, Qld or SA, it won't do anything to Western Australia for example.

[loomer]

The police have - apparently - threatened to deploy an LRAD against today's BLM rally in Hyde Park.

[mr friendly guy]

Scott Morrison displays his hypocrisy on protests
Long story short - right wingers protesting the shutdown due to a worldwide pandemic, freedom of speech. Left wingers protesting racism, shut up.

Who saw this coming? Western leaders when they say free speech, really mean freedom of speech for me and mine, but not for you. What a shocker.

[The Romulan Republic]

Scott Morrison displays his hypocrisy on protests
Long story short - right wingers protesting the shutdown due to a worldwide pandemic, freedom of speech. Left wingers protesting racism, shut up.

Who saw this coming? Western leaders when they say free speech, really mean freedom of speech for me and mine, but not for you. What a shocker.

Whereas the leaders you support are consistent in their belief in no free speech at all.

[loomer]

Oh shut the fuck up and stop following people from thread to thread to take shots and do literal whataboutism.

[mr friendly guy]

Oh shut the fuck up and stop following people from thread to thread to take shots and do literal whataboutism.

For some reason that unemployed loser gets triggered like a snowflake every time someone points out Western hypocrisy.

[The Romulan Republic]

Oh shut the fuck up and stop following people from thread to thread to take shots and do literal whataboutism.

It is not "whataboutism" to point out mr friendly guy's one note hypocrisy on this issue. Nor is it "whataboutism" or "following people from thread to thread" to disagree with something someone says.

If you think I'm violating a board rule (which "following people from thread to thread to take shots" would be), take it to a mod. I wish you as much luck as I had reporting the many people who made a habit of following me around the board and harassing me.