Nazis not welcome in Victoria, premier says after clash
Nazis are not welcome in Victoria after white supremacists taunted transgender rights protesters outside state parliament, Daniel Andrews says.
The Victorian premier took to social media to condemn neo-Nazis after about 30 men from the National Socialist Movement marched along Spring Street at an anti-transgender rights rally on Saturday afternoon.
The black-dressed group repeatedly performed the Nazi salute and held signs calling transgender people offensive names, leading to violent clashes with hundreds of pro-transgender rights demonstrators.
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Mr Andrews said the anti-trans activists gathered to spread hate.
“I wish it didn’t have to be said, but clearly it does: Nazis aren’t welcome. Not on Parliament’s steps. Not anywhere,” he tweeted on Sunday.
“They were there to say the trans community don’t deserve rights, safety or dignity.
“That’s what Nazis do. Their evil ideology is to scapegoat minorities – and it’s got no place here. And those who stand with them don’t, either.”
Mr Andrews said his government would always support transgender Victorians because their rights are not negotiable.
Pro-trans protesters held signs that included messages such as “trans lives over terf hate” and “women aren’t defined by their bodies”.
Spring Street and the surrounding area remained blocked to traffic for several hours as police, including mounted officers, tried to keep the groups separated.
Three people were arrested, including a 22-year-old Point Cook man for allegedly putting a female officer in a headlock and taking her to the ground and a 23-year-old Thornbury woman for allegedly slapping a police officer on the neck.
Both are expected to be charged with numerous offences including assaulting police.
The two officers were uninjured.
The Victorian opposition has also slammed the actions of some protesters, declaring there is no space in society for neo-Nazism.
Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who was photographed at the rally with British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, said she was disappointed Victoria Police let the masked men into the buffer zone.
“Police managed to stop hordes of TRAs (trans rights activists), but somehow could only walk masked men past us (sic) they did a horri ble Nazi salute,” she tweeted.
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