Protest at Christopher Pyne Sydney speech turns violent as students pepper sprayed

[azureline**]

Are protests now not allowed in Australia?

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/protest-at-christopher-pyne-sydney-speech-turn...

[azureline**]

A protest by university students opposing the federal government's education reforms has turned violent.

Police used pepper spray to deter about 40 students who were trying to enter a lecture by Education Minister Christopher Pyne in Sydney's CBD on Friday morning.

The air of the centre's foyer was thick with pepper spray, as some of the students sat crying in the gutter, while being comforted by fellow demonstrators.

[raptor_rebooted]

Are protests now not allowed in Australia?

"All of a sudden the situation erupted as the students tried to force their way inside the building."

i agree with this reader comments 

from The Guardian:

Comply with police or be pepper sprayed, it's not that hard.

The kids are idiots that is not the way to have your protest taken seriously, they care about nobody but themselves and have no self respect or self discipline.

[lionrose.7]

Julia seems to know all the student personally.

[vicr3000]

Julia

That is a very good comment from the paper and very true.

The Police don't start these things, they react.

Also applies to the G8 and G20 "Rent a Welfare Protest crowd"

Because of the violence, no one takes the protests seriously.

[raptor_rebooted]

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@vicr3000 wrote:

Julia

That is a very good comment from the paper and very true.

The Police don't start these things, they react.

Also applies to the G8 and G20 "Rent a Welfare Protest crowd"

Because of the violence, no one takes the protests seriously.

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exactly.  and it is a shame.

[polksaladallie]

Pepper spray is only two actions before guns are deployed.

Two separate reports overnight of children being pepper sprayed over train tickets.

USA, here we come.

[debra9275]

i hope all these politicians remember their own uni protest days... not much has changed really.. except for the use of pepper spray

[raptor_rebooted]

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@polksaladallie wrote:

Pepper spray is only two actions before guns are deployed.

Two separate reports overnight of children being pepper sprayed over train tickets.

USA, here we come.

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when the cops were asking them

to move back, they shouldn't have 

continued to force their way into 

the building.   what do you think the

cops should have done?

[polksaladallie]

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@debra9275 wrote:

i hope all these politicians remember their own uni protest days... not much has changed really.. except for the use of pepper spray

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It was batons which were used on students in the Petersen days in Queensland. 

I know of a police officer who was sent to the country because a television camera captured him doing this, and only because it couldn't be covered up.