<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/27/like-being-stabbed-in-the-eye-the-risk-of-serious-injury-by-police-at-protests-is-escalating-experts-warn>
"Alex Zucco was cleaning her camera lens when a police officer hit her directly
in the face with a stream of capsicum spray.
“It feels like you’re being stabbed in the eye,” the photojournalist says. As
the protest she was covering roiled around her, Zucco could hear the sounds of
flash-bang devices going off and screams from the crowd but she could not see
for almost an hour.
Zucco was taking photos on 11 September 2024 at a rally outside the Melbourne
Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition. Footage seen by
Guardian
Australia shows an officer spraying Zucco with foam from a police line as she
looks down at her camera.
Lawyers and activists say such encounters are representative of an increasingly
dangerous use of force at protests in Australia, including the deployment of
largely unregulated “less lethal” police tools including oleoresin capsicum
(OC) spray, baton rounds and explosive “distraction devices”.
It comes amid a national crackdown on activism, with at least 49 laws enacted
by governments that have constricted the right to protest over the past 20
years. This is creating a “permissive environment” for use of force by police,
some lawyers and activists argue.
Dr Ross Hendy, a criminologist at Monash University and a former New Zealand
police sergeant, says the conduct of officers at protests reflects the
increased militarisation of police.
“Police [officers] are trained to use minimal amounts of force and only when
necessary – but they’re being pushed into situations where they’re asked to use
more and more force.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
