The protests grew along with the police brutality towards unarmed civilians. In September 2021 police ‘kettled’ protestors in the city and pushed them towards the Shrine of Remembrance, an iconic war memorial in Melbourne. There police in all black riot gear shot unarmed people, some singing the national anthem, with rubber and pepper bullets.
Video’s of this shooting went around the world and outraged Melbourne people. Protests grew bigger and more vocal. Police eventuall lost control of the enormous crowds.
Another iconic movement was on the 6th November 2021. Michael Gray Griffith a former playwrite organized a musician to play ‘Advance Australia Fair’ at a protest. Nobody was allowed to sing along, in memory of the country he felt we were losing.
Michael started the group Cafe Locked Out the following month. It became Australia’s largest alternative media outlet. Michael drove a bus all around Australia, interviewing people about the lockdowns, losing their jobs, the vaccine mandates and how they felt about the pandemic laws.
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