Contributed by Joe Montero

Police have laid charges on four people over what happened outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the biennial Land Forces Expo was being held over three days from 11-13 September.

According to police allegations, a 28-year-old man committed 6 counts of assaults on police and abuse of an animal. The assaults were the spraying of an “irritant” at the police, and horse. But proper perspective is called for here.

This substance was thrown. At first police command claimed it was acid. This has now been demoted. The truth is that lactic acid produced by cheese was mixed into water in a plastic bottle. It does not harm, although it does deliver an unpleasant smell. Perhaps not the wisest of acts. Hamming this up to make it sound much worse than it is likewise unwise unless there is an ulterior motive.

Photo by Justin McManus: Part of the crowd at the Convention Centre on 11 September

The other person, a 62-year-old man, faces charges of affray, assaulting police, intentionally obstructing police, discharging a missile, and abuse of an animal. These are the kinds of charges that are routine for what police consider being a nuisance.

Four others have already been charged for a combination of obstructing police, abusing an animal, and theft. They are on bail and due to appear in court on 21 November.

The context in which these allegations are supposed to have taken place was a previously planned politically driven assault against those who took part in the protest. The premier had spooked up violence days before. So had police command. Sydney’s had been booked and brought down for the occasion.

I am one of the eyewitnesses who can testify as to what really happened. After arriving early at 7 am on the first morning, it was Plain that there was already tension you could taste on the police side. Protestors were peaceful and even jovial. A few did should the occasional insult. One or two of the thousands there did throw a plastic cup or half bottle of water in the direction of the police. It you classify this as violence it was minimal.

It did not warrant a response in the form of capsicum spray charges into the crowd. It did not warrant bringing in police horses to physically remove the crowd. These are decisions that were made by commanders, who in turn were commanded by the Victorian government. It is plausible that the initial push came from Canberra, where the Albanese government faced a backlash over its handling of the Israeli attack on Gaza. This was at the forefront of the protes the Land Forces Expo.

Photo by David Crosling: Riot Squad Police officer carrying rubber bullet riffle. These were used indiscriminately. Other officers carry stun grenade rifles.

In other words, the police were used to use violence as a weapon for political ends. Anyone who was anywhere near the place saw this immediately.

Photo by Justin McManus: Running from a flash bomb and covered in capsicum spray

The horse assault failed because enough people realised that if you formed a tight pack and didn’t move, the horses could nowhere. They were withdrawn. In response to this, police command moved in the Sydney riot squad. All at once they started to fire potentially lethal rubber bullets indiscriminately and fired stun grenades into the crowd. This was followed by charges and the use of batons and shields as weapons. Next came other officers behind a cloud of capsicum spray. These attacks continued.

Photo by Chris Hopkins: Forming a human wall to stop police horse charge

Subjecting any crowd to this sort of treatment will generate anger. The miracle is that that any form of violence from the protestors was minimal.

This raises the question of why these heavy-handed police response? The federal and state governments want to create a negative image of the huge movement in support of Palestinian rights. They have been doing this all along, and they thought they had a good opportunity here to lift this to a new level. Secondly there has been a trend towards harsher policing across Australia and the gradual erosion of civil liberties. Thirdly, in the view of the Victorian government, the Expo was worth millions to the Victorian economy. They had outbid the Queensland government, and didn’t want to wear egg on their face.

The pressing on with charges against individuals is more than anything else a public relations exercise for both police and government, aimed at burying what they did. The charged are entitled to and deserve our support. What is being done to them is disproportionate at best, amounts to a political trial, and is therefore is a violation of their rights. And this poses a potential threat to all of us. We must call for the charges to be dropped.