He described the wild and violent scenes that police were confronted with during the city’s protest, amid growing fears it may become a superspreader event.
As the whole state of Victoria entered lockdown, and Melbourne’s lockdown was extended and toughened in its fight against the latest Delta outbreak, 4000 people converged on the city.
There were many violent acts from protesters, some of who were maskless, and nine police officers were hospitalised.
“We saw over 4000 people turn up in the centre of Melbourne yesterday,” Mr Patton told the ABC.
“Of those 4000 people … the vast majority were men 25-40. Angry men. Men who came in with intent to cause trouble, to confront and to attack police.
“What we saw yesterday was totally unacceptable.”
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Protesters unleashed on police. Picture: Matrix Media GroupSource:Matrix
Mr Patton said even though some people attended the protests peacefully, they still acted illegally simply by attending. However, he said the majority of attendees committed shocking acts.
“What we saw over a lengthy period of time, over a number of hours, was attacks on police,” he said.
“We saw flares thrown at police, we saw flares thrown at police horses.
Many gathered in Melbourne yesterday. Picture: Matrix Media GroupSource:Matrix
“We saw marbles thrown. We saw ceramic insulators thrown.
“We saw people attack police, push police, knock them over. One police officer was assaulted, pushed against a wall and when they went to the ground were repeatedly punched and possibly kicked.
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Protesters clash with police. Picture: Matrix Media GroupSource:Matrix
“We had nine police officers go to hospital.
“We had people standing on awnings in the city.
“These people came along with an intention and that was pretty clear with what they were armed with when they came here … to be confrontational and engage in criminal activity. “That’s not about protesting about freedom. That’s criminal activity.”
Wild scenes in Melbourne. Picture: Matrix Media GroupSource:Matrix
He continued: “Yesterday my police officers were subjected to all range of abuse and assault.
“By and large they reacted brilliantly and I’m so proud of them … they showed restraint where necessary, took action where necessary and they did what they were supposed to do.”
Mr Patton said as a result of that, there have been around 250 people processed, with 260 penalty notices to be given out along over $1 million of fines.
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Police detain a man as the Freedom Rally protest starts marching up Lonsdale Street. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah MatraySource:News Corp Australia
As part of new restrictions which came into force in Victoria from 1pm Saturday, the lockdown has been extended across the whole state, though regional Victoria will not have to follow the curfew which Melbourne has in place.
The state recorded 61 new Covid-19 cases yesterday. Of those, 48 were linked to known clusters and 22 had already been in isolation.
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Police officers on the scene. Picture: Matrix Media GroupSource:Matrix
A cluster in Shepparton, in the state’s north, has grown to 21 cases.
Today, those numbers grew again with 65 cases recorded. There are now 389 active cases in the state.
There were thousands of protesters. Picture: Matrix Media GroupSource:Matrix