Thread by @RightWing_Hack

1/ Regardless of your view of the recent protests, VicPol have clearly been employing new and far more violent tactics in recent days. It's extremely alarming.

Here's a super thread for #auspol of #VicPolViolence, starting with the well circulated Flinders St Station "arrest":

2/ A two in one here. A 74 year old lady is pushed to the ground and pepper sprayed by two cops. Simultaneously, a Nine News photographer is also sprayed. Notice the cops aren't the full riot gear ones. It's because many of them are refusing to show up to work.

3/ The high rate of leave (cops have unlimited mental health leave in Vic) leads to fewer, poorly equipped and less well-trained cops to handle protests, making kettling break outs like this one more likely and more violent. Poor tactics from VicPol in a kettle led to this:

4/Protests get violent when protestors think (rightly or wrongly) that they will be attacked. Incidents like this lead to the mistrust. The victim here has no criminal past and was not violent at the time of arrest. He was left in a coma and the police were cleared of wrongdoing

5/ August 21 - This is the first time pepper bullets (rounds loaded with chemicals) have ever been used in Victoria. Notice the cop fires across the line, hitting a protestor who is not violent at the time. He is shot multiple times. This is what erodes trust. Why the escalation?

6/ This footage is also widely circulating among the protestors. If this is how you believe the police will act, will your initial response be to deescalate and act calmly when confronted? This is why the protestors don't trust the police or the system.

7/ And another example circulating. Probably from pre-covid times.

8/ Posted today. Ask yourself: was that final kick necessary? Was any of that necessary?

9/ Australia once abhorred violence against women. It should be no different just because the person doing it is in uniform.

10/ Should shooting rubber bullets ever be a first response? Surely nobody would have supported this in 2019, before the Great Fear:

11/ Rubber bullets aren't a joke, here's what they can do:

12/ The #VicPolViolence looks indiscriminate too. This guy appears to be trying to report a crime, "I've just been grabbed". You won't believe what happens next...

13/ We are lucky to have this footage. It's people like @therealrukshan who brought this to our attention. But it nearly didn't happen. This is a very clear violation of free speech and free assembly. Thank God Rukshan didn't back down.

@therealrukshan 14/ It's not a once off either. he's the famous footage of the pregnant lady being arrested in her pyjamas because of a Facebook post:

16/ Another example. @Anthony_Lev is the victim here.

16/ And another. This time it's @TeabagginZombie's turn. The literal midnight knock on the door.

17/ And more police overreach:

18/ Given everything you have seen above, is it any wonder that VicPol have been trying to shut down footage:

19/ This is just *some* of the footage from recent days. Do you have more? Post it below: 👇

If anyone has the footage of the 6 cop cars to warn the female protestor off attending a protest, I'd be very interested in seeing it. #DictatorDan #AustraliaHasFallen #Covid19Vic

17/ And more police overreach:

(With apologies, I'm having issues with media not uploading and breaking the thread)

18/ Given everything you have seen above, is it any wonder that VicPol have been trying to shut down footage:

19/ This is just *some* of the footage from recent days. Do you have more? Post it below: 👇

If anyone has the footage of the 6 cop cars to warn the female protestor off attending a protest, I'd be very interested in seeing it. #DictatorDan #AustraliaHasFallen #Covid19Vic