Dozens of people have been arrested after protesters clashed with police at a major defense expo in Australia on Wednesday, which saw some demonstrators set fire to bins and target police horses and officers respond with pepper spray, according to local media.
Police officers struggled to control the crowd of around 1,200 people who tried to block attendees from entering 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 said 33 people have been arrested for offenses including assault, arson, blocking roadways, and assault of a police officer.
Some of the protesters threw horse manure, rocks, and fruit at police, according to Victoria Police and media reports.
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.
Attendees targeted
Protesters heckled attendees making their way into the expo Wednesday, 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.
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.”
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.”
About 1,000 firms from 31 countries are expected to attend the expo, according to the event’s website.
The disruption has caused traffic chaos across downtown Melbourne. Police have closed several major roads and urged motorists to avoid parts of the city, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said people had the right to protest but had to do so peacefully.
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.
But some local politicians have voiced support for the protesters.
Gabrielle de Vietri, a member of the Victorian Greens who sits in the state parliament, said the state government “is 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.